McCormick Cup Final
St. James 0-14 St. Joseph’s 1-9
Fergal Burke gave an exhibition of free taking as St. James Aldergrove overcame a second half rally from neighbours, St. Joseph’s Glenavy in this first McCormick final to be played for three years at Dunsilly on Wednesday evening.
Burke was to the fore from early in the game as he kicked a 2pt free to give Aldergrove the lead after 5 minutes and he would convert two more from closer to goals as Glenavy concede unnecessary frees.
St. Joseph’s had a number of opportunities to open their account but were wasteful before Fergus Cunningham got them off the mark with a fine 2 pointer in the 13th minute.
Play swung again to the other end as Lewis Smyth kicked the Crumlin side’s first point from play to move them 0-6 to 0-2 ahead and the same player converted from a placed ball before Burke made it 0-8 to 0-3 from yet another free.
Conor Browning extended the Aldergrove lead to six with their second point from play of the opening half in the 30th minute with Finn Shannon replying with the final point of the half for St. Joseph’s to leave it 0-9 to 0-3 in favour of the Crumlin side at half-time.
The Chapel Hill side had been second best during the opening half as they kicked away good possession and were extremely wayward in their shooting but they were right back into contention when Darragh Moore robbed keeper, Christopher Taggart to finish to an empty net in the opening minute of the second half.
St. James responded and Corey Fogarty sent over an excellent point at the other end before Fergal Burke brought his personal contribution to 0-7 from another free as he continued to punish unnecessary free conceded by the opposition.
When Kian Jones added another from play to move St. James six ahead again by the 13th minute normal service appeared to have been restored but a number of substitutions by the Glenavy management saw them start to get back into contention.
Finn Shannon from a 20 meter free and Shay O’Neill following a strong solo run from deep had it back to 4 by the 16th minute but they were thankful to the crossbar as Kian Jones broke free at the other end but watched his shot rebound back into play.
Burke continued to display unerring accuracy from the placed ball as he put four between the combatants with five minutes remaining but Glenavy were now enjoying the better of the exchanges.
The Chapel Hill side had strong appeals for a penalty waved aside when James Monaghan appeared to be dragged down and a goal then would certainly have made it interesting.
Niall McCann for St. Joseph’s and Kian Jones for St. James exchanged further points before McCann concluded the scoring with an excellent late 2pointer for Glenavy to leave just two between the sides in the end.
A well contested McCormick Cup final and Stephen Graham and his South West officials deserve credit for resurrecting the competition after three years since it was last played and with the O’Cahan Cup having already been finished it has been a good year to date for the South West committee.
The game itself was the proverbial game of two halves with Aldergrove threatening to run away with it in the opening half, thanks mainly to the free taking of Fergal Burke and vital points from play from Kian Jones.
Darragh Moore’s early second half goal seemed to lift the Chapel Hill side who enjoyed the better of the second half exchanges but that excellent 2 pointer from Niall McCann came just too late to affect the final result.
Aldergrove: Christopher Taggart, Emmet Magee, Michael McCarthy, Lee McCusker, Corey Fogarty, Cayden Lagan, Malachy Burns, Christopher Browning, Conor Browning, Sean Patrick Fay, Fergal Burke, Aaron O’Connor, Anthony Brown, James Trowlan, Lewis Smyth.
Subs: Kian Jones, Eoin Hamill, Michael Smart, Danny Bell, Shea O’Connor.
Glenavy: Gareth Collins, Nicholas McNally, Odhran Arthurs, Se O’Neill, Padhraic McKevitt, Dara McAlister, Ben McCambridge, Chris Grant, Niall McCann, Fergal Green, Fergus Cunningham, Finn Shannon, Darragh Moore, James Monaghan.
Subs: Dominic Gallagher
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