St Louis’, Ballymena 4-16 Gaelcholáiste Dhoire 1-14
A blazing start and a strong finish saw St. Louis, Ballymena advance to the semi-final of the Danske Bank Gallagher Cup when they overcame the challenge of an excellent Gaelcholaiste Dhoire in Ballymena on Thursday afternoon.
The Kintullagh side looked on their way to a comfortable victory when they raced into an early two goal lead on their own 4G pitch with Joe Casey powering through for both goal in the early exchanges.
Cody McGarry who score 0-9 (6f’s) for St. Louis in their Danske Bank Gallagher Cup win over Gaelcholaiste Dhoire on Thursday
Casey added a point to his two majors and at this stage there was only one team at the races but slowly the Dungiven College began to gain a foothold.
Gaelcholáiste dominated the middle part of the half and hit back with four points between the 38th and 46th minutes, while Ballymena goalie Harry McKay was called on to make two superb saves.
The Dungiven lads got their game together after playing second fiddle for the opening 10 minutes and closed the gap to 2-6 to 0-9 by half-time, with four of those points coming from Harry Ó Cearnaigh.
The Gaelcholaiste comeback gained further momentum with Brógan Ó Dughail-Ó Cinnéide closing the gap further with the opening score of the second half but this score appeared to waken St. Louis from their slumber.
The Ballymena side moved six clear with four unanswered points through Casey, free-taker Cody McGarry (two) and Blaney to give them some breathing space.
The visitors kept plugging away with Harry O’Cearnaigh prominent with his free taking and looked at one stage like over hauling the St. Louis lead but a double strike from half-back Harry Blaney in the 51st minute lifted the Ballymena side and they pushed on to win by 11 points in the end.
St Louis’ now face St Mary’s, Belfast in the semi-final, while the first semi-final involving St Patrick’s, Maghera and Cross & Passion, Ballycastle is pencilled in for Portglenone on Monday.
St Louis’ J Casey 2-2; H Blaney 2-1; C McGarry 0-9 (0-6f); EL Bradley 0-3 (0-2f)
Gaelcholáiste H Ó Cearnaigh 1-7 (1-6f); B Ó Dughail-Ó Cinnéide 0-3; O Ó Gilláin 0-2; O Ó Cléirigh (f) and MJ Mac Oscair 0-1 each
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Cross & Passion held off the challenge of Calasanctius College to claim the Paddy Buggy Cup for the fourth time in their history on Saturday afternoon.
One point separated the sides at the end of the hour, in truth the score line flattered the Oranmore school, their goal came with the last puck of the game.
It was an excellent second half from the Mageean Cup winners who held a slender on point lead at the interval but held the Galway school scoreless for the opening 16 minutes of the second half. In that same period of time, they rattled over four points to open a five point gap that was effectively the winning of the game.
It was a tough, physical game of hurling with neither side taking a backward step. Defensively, CPC were excellent with Liam Glackin putting in a captains performance at centre half back. He had plenty of support with Cian Baudant, Reece Cunning and Eunan Johnson all excelling while Darragh Kinney and Ronan ‘Rosey’ Fitzgerald combined superbly in midfield. Up top, Oisin McCallin and Cadhan Crawford were always a threat and the Oranmore school did well to curtail their influence on the game, especially in the second half while Roan McGarry’s accuracy from placed ball was a major factor in deciding the outcome of this game.
Calasanctius scoring was heavily reliant on the prodigious talents of Colm Burke. The midfielder would finish with 12 points – four of those coming from open play and he was a constant threat that CPC had to deal with. He had little in the way of support however as the Oranmore school struggled against a strong CPC defence.
Roan McGarry and Crawford top scored for CPC, McGarry with four white flags while Crawford showed his predatory instincts with his sides goal in the eighth minute of the contest.
Man of the match came from further out the field however. Conor Donnelly had an excellent game, more so in the second half while Rosey Fitzgerald signed off his school hurling career with an outstanding display but Glackin got my nod with a commanding performance that lead his side to All Ireland glory.
Both side showed signs of nerves in the opening exchanges before Colm Burke opened the scoring in the fourth minute. It would be the Galway schools last score for 12 minutes though as CPC settled into the final.
Points came from Niall McClean and McCallin, the latter with a superb score from wide on the left before Crawford struck his major. Roan McGarry’s effort for a point came back off the upright and with the Calasanctius defence on their heels, Crawford stole in behind to make the most of the dropping sliotar and the goal at his mercy.
Crawford would hit the next point of the game, capitalising on a poor puck out to fire over as CPC looked to make the most of their purple patch.
The Galway school added to their score by points from Gus Lohan and Colm Burke (free) before they were awarded a penalty in the 15th minute. Lohan causing problems in the CPC defence before evading the challenge of ‘keeper Anthony Mullan. Reece Cunning looked to retrieve the situation with some excellent last gasp defending but he was adjudged to have fouled Lohan. It looked a harsh decision but it was given after consultation with his umpires and Cunning given a yellow card for his troubles.
Colm Burke stood over the penalty but fired over the bar with a rasping drive. He would score another brace (one free) to tie the sides before Roan McGarry edged CPC ahead once again but a trio of scores from Costello and Colm Burke (one free, one ’65) gave Calasanctius a two point lead with three minutes of the half remaining.
CPC finished the half on top however. Padraig Martin split the uprights before McCallin and Fitzgerald followed suit in the time that remained. It could have been even better for CPC but Conor Donnelly’s effort was cleared off the line by Thomas Blake but it was a deserving half time lead for the Ballycastle school.
The opening exchanges of the second half was the winning of the game for CPC. Scores came from Kinney, McCallin with his third of the final before a brilliant steal and score from Conor Donnelly. Roan McGarry fired over CPC’s first from a free in the 39th minute as the CPC lead grew to five.
As the second half progressed, indiscipline was creeping into Calasanctius and Tiernan Grealish saw red for an off the ball incident with Martin and gave his school an uphill task with 18 minutes of the game remaining.
They would score the next two points of the game with Colm Burke adding to his tally with a brace of frees but CPC dug deep in the final quarter.
Rosey Fitzgerald (two) and Roan McGarry (free) in the space of six minutes came with a solitary free from Colm Burke the only response from Calasanctius.
With two minutes of the final remaining, Roan McGarry split the uprights to put five between the sides once again and while it was CPC’s last score of the final, it was enough. The Oranmore school laid siege on the CPC goal with Jake Keady’s rasping drive superbly saved by Anthony Mullan and while Colm Burke fired over his 12th point of the final at the end of the hour, time looked to be running out.
They did manage to score a goal with what was the last action of the final. ‘Keeper Harry Keady sending a ’65 to the edge of the square and while CPC dealt with the initial danger, substitute Niall de Paor squeezed the sliotar over the line.
It was too little, too late for the Galway school however as CPC had done enough and earned the right to be called All-Ireland Champions for 2025!
Subs: Conan Johnson for N McClean (52); Logan McConville for P Martin (60); Aidan Richmond for O McCallin (Inj)
Scorers: R McGarry 0-4 (3fs); C Crawford 1-1; O McCallin 0-3; R Fitzgerald 0-3; D Kinney 0-1; N McClean 0-1; C Donnelly 0-1; P Martin 0-1
CCO: Harry Keady; Sean Martyn, Thomas Blake, Alan Connaughton; Shay Rabbit, Fionn Fahy, Tiernan Grealish; Colm Burke, Eanna Costello; Matthew Furey, Jake Keady, Charlie Healy; Gus Lohan, Michael Leahy, Liam Burke
Subs: Stephen Ruane for M Furey (47); Darragh King for L Burke (52); Niall de Paor for S Rabbit (53)
Scorers: C Burke 0-12 (7fs 1’65); N de Paor 1-00; E Costello 0-1; G Lohan 0-1
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Above – The Cross & Passion team and management wearing an Antrim strip for their All Ireland semi-final win over Clonmel two weeks ago. The boys will be back in the school colours on Saturdsay or the final
Masita GAA Post Primary Schools Paddy Buggy Cup Final
Cross & Passion College v Calasanctius College Oranmore at Ballyshannon
When you think of venues for big hurling finals Ballyshannon does not instantly spring to mind, but tomorrow Cross & Passion Ballycastle travel to the Donegal town to face Galway’s Calasanctius College Oranmore in the Paddy Buggy Cup final. Two weeks ago when they beat Munster champions Clonmel in the semi-final in UCD, Bellfield we all thought that the we would be back in Dublin for the final, with Abbotstown the probable venue….but it was not to be. We were all thinking of venues in the Dublin area, and to be honest nobody would have thought of Ballyshannon, Co Donegal as a venue for an All Ireland hurling final, but that is where it is fixed for. That is not a complaint, for word has it that the pitch is in great shape and the venue is equidistant from for both teams, the drive for both sets of fans around the two and a half hour mark.
Cadhan CrawfordConor Donnelly Arden Kelly Team captain Liam Glackin
CPC’s opponents are different than most of the teams they have faced in the past, with the vast majority of their players coming from one club, the local Oranmore-Maree GAC.
In their semi-final win over Leinster champions Enniscorthy of Wexford thirteen of the starting team were from Oranmore, the other two came from Castlegar, a club that is well known in Ballycastle. When the McQuillan’s became the first Antrim team to reach an All Ireland club final back in 1980 it was Castlegar they faced in the final in Navan, the Galway champions, back-boned by the famous Connolly family, winning a tight game by four point.
Oranmore were excellent in their semi-final win over Enniscorthy. Like CPC’s semi-final against Clonmel this was a really had fought contest and when the Wexord champions went two ahead with ten minutes left for play they appeared to be on course for a place in the final. However Oranmore finished strongly, hitting the last six points without reply to seal their place in the decider.
Joe Cassidy and his backroom team are reporting a clean bitt of health going into tomorrow’s game and are expected to line out along the same lines as they did against Clonmel.
Eoin Richmond should start in goal with Reece Richmond, Cian Baudant and Eunan Johnston taking their places in the full back line. Darragh Donnelly, team captain Liam Glackin and Arden Kelly formed the half back line in the semi-final and should do so again tomorrow, while Ronan Fitxgerald and Darragh Kinney should again be at midfield. Niall McClean, Conor Donnelly and Paudie Martin should once again form the half forward line with Oisin McCallin, Roan McGarry and Cadhan Crawford wearing the 13, 14 and 15 jerseys.
Its tem years since CPC journeyed home with the Paddy Buggy Cup. Tomorrow they are bidding to do it for the fourth time. They will face very tough opposition, but they have the players to do it, and if they can produce a performance like they did in Dublin two weeks ago that should get them over the line again.
Oisin McCallin celebrates after scoring CPC’s second goal in the semi-final win over ClonmelRoan McGarry sends over a point during Cross & Passions’ Paddy Buggy Cup semi-final win over Munster champions Clonmel CBS at UCD Sports, Dublin. Pic by John McIlwaine
Google Maps is showing the journey to take roughly two and a quarter hours so fans should be on the road early. The team will leave the school at 8am and the fans will probably start setting off around 10ish. Enjoy the journey and the game. These chances don’t come along too often.
Former GAA President Paddy Buggy, the man who Saturday’s trophy is named after, is seen here in Ballycastle during the All Ireland Feile na nGael in 2002. Lets hope the trophy will be back again on Saturday evening
Paddy Buggy has enjoyed the last year in North Antrim. Im sure he would like to come back for another year!
For those who can’t make it to Ballyshannon here is the link to watch the game online.
All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Paddy Buggy Cup Final
Cross & Passion College v Calasanctius College Oranmore
Antrim’s Cross and Passion claim All-Ireland schools hurling title in Thurles
Masita GAA All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Paddy Buggy Cup final
Cross and Passion College, Ballycastle (Antrim) 1-16 Mountrath Community School (Laois) 1-12
This match report appeared in 42.ie in 2015
LAST YEAR’S BEATEN finalists Cross and Passion, Ballycastle, were crowned Masita GAA All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Paddy Buggy Cup champions in Thurles this afternoon.
The Antrim boys went one step further than 2014 as Shan McGrath hit 1-2 in the second half to floor Mountrath Community School.
Cross and Passion were superb at Semple Stadium in a tie that was level seven times.
McGrath’s 55th minute goal was brilliantly created and superbly finished by the Loughgiel Shamrocks forward.
Shan McGrath celebrates after scoring CPC’s goal
Alex O’Boyle did brilliantly to offload on the 45m line to Cormac McClafferty and his pass was batted home by McGrath.
There was still time for Mountrath to launch a late revival as Dylan Conroy scored a consolation goal in the final minute.
Mountrath had another goal disallowed in stoppage time for a square ball offence but overall, they didn’t do enough after trailing by just a point at the break, 0-8 to 0-9.
Twin brothers Stephen and Aaron Dunphy scored six of Mountrath’s points in that opening half but they Conroy was his team’s sole scorer after the break – and that late goal was Mountrath’s only score from play after half-time.
Cross and Passion, fuelled by the hurt of their 2014 final defeat to Coláiste Phobal, Roscrea, were superb in that second half and Diarmaid McShane scored a 48th minute point from long-range that will live long in the memory.
Scorers for Mountrath: Dylan Conroy 1-4 (0-4f), Aaron Dunphy 0-4, Stephen Dunphy 0-2, Conor Hiney & John Lennon 0-1 each.
Scorers for Cross and Passion: Shan McGrath 1-3, Cormac McClafferty 0-5 (3f), Shea Hunter & Diarmaid McShane 0-2 each, Tiarnan Butler, Conor Patterson, Johnny McErlain & Alex O’Boyle 0-1 each.
Mounrath:
1. Shane Cuddy (Castletown)
4. Shaun Moore (St Fintan’s Mountrath) 3. Kevin O’Rourke (Ballyfin, capt.) 2. Eoin Peters (Castletown)
Calasanctius College Oranmore 1-22 Enniscorthy CBS 2-15
at Rathdowney, Co Laois
CPC’s rivals in Saturday’s Paddy Buggy Cup final, Calasanctius College Oranmore, are formidable opponents who are backboned by the Oranmore-Maree club in Galway and in fact there were thirteen players from the club on the side that beat St Mary’s Enniscorthy in the semi-final two weeks ago. The Wexord school pushed their Galway rivals hard for much of that semi-final in Rathdowney, but Oranmore showed great composure down the home straight to squeeze through a hard fought contest Enniscorthy CBS were caught on a couple of occasions trying to play possession out of defence and were punished by the superb free-taking of Colm Burke, and the speed and accuracy of Gus Lohan (nephew of Clare manager, Brian). At the other end of the field, Enniscorthy CBS weren’t making the same inroads with their inside line, thanks chiefly to the brilliant performance of Thomas Blake who gave a dominant display in his starting position of corner back, and later at centreback when he moved out to pivot the defence. Enniscorthy CBS couldn’t get the ball to ‘stick’ in the final line, and while Páuric Doyle, Bobby Codd and Peter Wickham all delivered big moments at various stages in the half-forward line, they needed a back-up reserve to freshen things in the last quarter when Oranmore’s overall dominance began to tell The Connacht side found the patches of space they needed in the home straight; and their efficiency was impressive when they did. Enniscorthy CBS couldn’t have given any more, but they will be disappointed with a couple of their eight wides. The Wexford boys also dropped five shots short, where goalkeeper Harry Keady, son of the late Galway legend Tony Keady, was a dominant figure. In terms of physicality, Oranmore held an advantage, and while the Enniscorthy CBS short game out of defence paid dividends on occasions, they tried it once too often, and the hits and tackles from their well-conditioned opponents led to turnovers that were converted into scores.
The pitch was in excellent condition for hurling, and from the opening whistle it became apparent that it was going to be a classic. Enniscorthy were quick out of the traps and were 2-0 up after three minutes thanks to a Bobby Codd free and a Larry Cloke effort from play. Oranmore then hit back with seven of the next nine points. Jake Keady was particularly effective during the first-half, with Colm Burke also a growing influence. The Enniscorthy CBS half-backs were under pressure, but were doing enough. There was confusion when Peter Wickham’s goal was disallowed for an earlier infringement after nine minutes, and on 19 minutes, when Gus Lohan stroked home the sliotar, following a powerful run by Michael Leahy, Enniscorthy CBS had reason to be concerned that they were now five points down. But a minute later, Peter Wickham’s defiance paved the way for Shane Reddy to net for the Leinster champions Jake Keady and Páuric Doyle exchanged a couple of fine points during this spell, with Doyle winning his battle on the ’40. Trailing by three at the interval, Enniscorthy CBS hit 1-3 in the first ten minutes of the second-half to go 2-11 to 1-11 ahead.
Oranmore’s team line out for their semi-final win over Enniscorthy
There followed a couple of crucial plays, where a combination of Oranmore’s calmness and opportunism, and Enniscorthy CBS getting caught in possession in their own half, saw the Galway side regain the momentum. Colm Burke pointed two frees from the forced errors, with Lohan and Leahy added terrific points from play. It was already at a high level, but the match tempo went up another notch for the final quarter. Eoin Cloke and Shane Reddy were as busy as ever at midfield, and more excellent scores followed. Among them was an exchange of points between Lohan and Hyland, the latter following great play in the last line of defence by Ivers. When Codd made a driving run and pointed, with Hyland following up after a quick one-look and strike on 52 minutes, Enniscorthy CBS were back on top, leading by two with eight minutes to play and looked to be in a strong position. But despite battling ferociously to the final whistle, that was to be Enniscorthy’s last score of the game as Oranmore hit the final six points, including three Burke frees, one from play from the centre-forward, with the skilful Lohan adding another two to his tally. Overall Enniscorthy’s attitude and application on the day was tremendous, but Calasanctius College Oranmore just had a few more aces in their deck and deservedly got over the line to set up a final meeting with Ulster Champions Cross & Passion College, Ballycastle
Calasanctius College (Oranmore):
Harry Keady; Seán Martyn, Thomas Blake, Alan Connaughton; Tiernan Grealish, Fionn Fahy, Shay Rabbitt; Charlie Healy, Éanna Costello; Jake Keady (0-3), Colm Burke (0-12, 10 frees), Matthew Furey; Darragh King, Michael Leahy (0-2), Gus Lohan (1-5). Subs. – Stephen Ruane for King (HT), Liam Burke for Costello (59), Niall De Paor for Furey (63).
St. Mary’s CBS (Enniscorthy):
Eamon Asple (Ballyhogue); Brian Ivers (Marshalstown-Castledockrell), Kyle Curran (Oylegate-Glenbrien), Oisín Cloke-Rochford (Ballyhogue); Jamie Downey (Oylegate-Glenbrien), Jack Nolan (Oylegate-Glenbrien), Tadhg Doyle (Ballyhogue); Eoin Cloke (Davidstown-Courtnacuddy), Shane Reddy (Rathnure, 1-0); Bobby Codd (Monageer-Boolavogue, 0-8, 5 frees), Páuric Doyle (Davidstown-Courtnacuddy, 0-3), Peter Wickham (Oulart-The Ballagh, 0-1); Larry Cloke (Davidstown-Courtnacuddy, 0-1), Rhys Wickham (Oulart-The Ballagh, 1-0), Seán Hyland (Rapparees, 0-2).
