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Croke Park to host Masita Post Primary action

Peter Canavan is in charge of Holy Trinity, Cookstown.

Peter Canavan is in charge of Holy Trinity, Cookstown.

By Damian Lawlor

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It’s a weekend of football fever in the Masita GAA All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools series as four college teams, including some final debutants, battle it out for national honours.

St. Nathy’s College take on Holy Trinity Cookstown in the Drummond Cup (SFB) final at Croke Park on Saturday (2pm).

Shortly afterwards new kids on the block St Ronan’s Lurgan, only in existence three years, tackle Rice College Westport (4pm).

The Drummond Cup decider promises to be an absolute cracker. St Nathy’s, a diocesan college in Ballaghaderreen, close to the Roscommon/Mayo border is a school with a long and proud footballing heritage.

“The senior team first tasted All-Ireland success, winning the Hogan Cup in 1957,” says teacher Jamie Dockery.

“They won a further All-Ireland in 2000 under the stewardship of John O’Mahoney, the Ballaghaderreen native and a former teacher at the college. The school currently holds six Connacht Senior titles following victory in this year’s final against Scoil Mhuire, Strokestown.”

Many of St. Nathy’s former students are prominent figures in the modern history of Gaelic games, chiefly among them, Dr. Padraig Carney and Dermot Earley. Current inter-county footballers Colm Lavin, Seánie McDermott, Cathal and Finbar Cregg, (Roscommon), David Drake and Sharoize Akram (Mayo) are also past pupils of the school. St. Nathy’s College is very proud to be the former secondary school of current Footballer of the Year, Mayo’s Andy Moran.

Among this current batch of All-Ireland hopefuls at St Nathy’s are eight members of inter-county u17 and Under 20 panels.

This group of players have proven pedigree, winning First Year, Juvenile and Junior Connacht League titles.

They also remain unbeaten in competitive football this season. This season’s Connacht League title was a titanic battle against Presentation College, Athenry.

The teams needed two periods of extra-time before St. Nathy’s triumphed in a 45 shoot-out with Jason Doory producing the deciding score. The team has had to call upon all this experience in a number of intense and closely fought Championship games this season.

They won a hard fought Connacht semi-final against St. Joseph’s of Galway 3-10 to 0-17 while extra-time was needed to defeat Scoil Mhuire of Strokestown by two points, 2-12 to 1-13 in the Connacht final. In the All-Ireland semi-final, despite performing well against Lucan CBS, St. Nathy’s found themselves two points down in injury time.

Man of the match, centre-back Bryan Molloy won possession and the ball was worked up the field where, following a shot that rattled the crossbar, substitute Luke Hester scored the goal that sent St. Nathy’s into their first All-Ireland final since 2000. The men from the west will hope for the same outcome as 18 years ago when the Paddy Drummond Cup was brought across the Shannon.

But Holy Trinity College, Cookstown are formidable opponents and enjoyed an amazing comeback to overpower Pobalscoil Inbhear Sceine in a cracking encounter at Abbottstown two weeks ago.

In their roller-coaster semi-final clash Holy Trinity absolutely turned on the style in the after the Kerry side completely dominated the opening quarter to establish a 2-5 to 0-1 lead.

Holy Trinity, though, rolled up their sleeves and played some fantastic football. Mark Devlin, Tarlach Quinn and Pauric Lagan all hit quality points, while full-forward Tiernan Mackle palmed in a goal before Tiernan Quinn levelled matters with a second to the net.

It was 2-6 each at the break but Donal O'Sullivan and substitute Tom Murnane edged the Kerry lads two in front. They failed to score again, though, as Devlin took his personal haul to 0-6 with Oran Mulgrew and Sean McKenna getting goals in a superb Holy Trinity finish.

Their manager, Tyrone legend Peter Canavan, thought he'd seen it all, but his Holy Trinity Cookstown school team came back from 10 points down to win by nine!  This was a U-turn of enormous proportions.

“We got two goals before half-time and the fighting display they showed in the MacLarnon Final was there in buckets," says Canavan.

Holy Trinity will need the same again when they face St Nathy's on Saturday. What an exciting clash we have in store.

Peter Canavan is in charge of Holy Trinity, Cookstown.

Peter Canavan is in charge of Holy Trinity, Cookstown.

Hogan Cup Final Preview

Rice College Westport has the better of Naas CBS when the dudes met four years ago at junior level - and they still held that edge when the sides met in the Hogan Cup semi-final a fortnight ago.

Westport are still fresh from their first Connacht title at this level and that solid win over a Naas CBS side that had also won its first Leinster title in recent weeks.

In defeating St. Attracta's, Tubbercurry in the final Rice College inflicted heartbreak the Tubbercurry side who experienced their fourth Connacht final defeat in five seasons.

Their semi-final date with Nass CBS came down to the last kick of the game when Naas’ John Lawlor saw a low effort blocked on the line by a mass of Rice College defenders.

The full-time whistle went within seconds and the Westport school were on their way to Croke Park for their first ever tilt at the big one in schools football.

They will look to Keith Joyce who has so effectively played as a one-man full-forward line at stages this season.

The final should be another fascinating affair because St Ronan's of Armagh are on a high as well after ending the recent dominance of Kerry schools in the Hogan Cup by stunning Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s PS Chorca Dhuibhne in the recent semi-final.

This is even more remarkable given the fact the school only came into existence three years ago.

In 2015, St. Marys girls school, St. Pauls boys and St. Michael’s Grammar amalgamated to form St. Ronan’s.

The success that football has brought this year may well have put any doubts about the merger to rest. A new site for the school is currently under construction meaning classes are split between the three campuses, and because of this they have had to rely on help from GAA clubs in the town for use of their pitches.

But the Lurgan side is on a high and followed their maiden MacRory Cup triumph up with an absolutely convincing victory over the Kerry side.

There were joyous scenes on the field once the final whistle sounded as the Lurgan school reached their first ever Hogan Cup final.

Goals in either half from Rioghan Meehan and substitute Josh Megoran saw the team – who are managed by former Armagh footballer David Wilson – over the line against a talented PS Chorca Dhuibhne outfit.

In the process, they broke the stranglehold enjoyed by Kerry schools on the coveted silverware.

PCD were aiming to collect a fifth successive title for the Kingdom after both they and St Brendan's, Killarney pulled off back-to-back wins.

The Munster representatives would have been reasonably happy at the halfway stage when they led by 1-7 to 1-6 but substitute Josh Megoran's second-half goal swung the penultimate stage clash in the Ulster side's favour.

The Lurgan students enjoyed the better start with Rioghan Meehan finding the back of the Dingle side's net but Dylan Geaney cancelled that out at the opposite end of the field in the 26th minute.

Both teams traded blows throughout the second-half but Megoran's 55th minute goal proved to be decisive and Wilson’s side's reward is this final date with Rice College of Westport.

Alongside Wilson at the helm are Mickey Donnelly who guided Tyrone minors to an All-Ireland final in 2013 and Collie Fegan, who, with Wilson guided St. Michael’s to two McLarnon cup titles before the amalgamation.

Oisin Smyth and Jamie Haughey were in outstanding form last time out and they’ll need to be again when they face Rice College Westport in Saturday’s final.