Danske Bank Rafferty Cup, Play-Off 

St. Marys CBGS 2-15-1-17 St Ciaran’s Ballygawley 

From Kevin Herron at Aghagallon 

A late own-goal saw St. Mary’s CBGS battle back and lead for the first and only time in their 2-15-1-17 Play-Off win over St Ciaran’s Ballygawley in the Danske Bank Rafferty Cup clash at Aghagallon on Tuesday afternoon. 

The Tyrone natives settled quickest and racked up four unanswered points in the early stages. 

James Hurson clipped over the first two, Ethan McCarron’s high shot dropped between the posts and Hurson turned provider for Mark McDermott to add a further score in a dominant opening. 

In response Padraig Kelly landed St. Mary’s first score of the afternoon, a second followed through Matthew O’Neill and a close range Kelly free reduced arrears to the bare minimum. 

Free-takers Hurson and Kelly traded placed balls, and two points from play were then exchanged, first when James McGinley slipped in Sean Winters whose shot flashed over the bar with the goal at his mercy, at the other end Jude Burns played a one-two with Sean McMullan and fisted over to make it 0-6-0-5. 

Ballygalwey talisman Hurson clipped over an angled point for his fourth point of the half and things got better when his low shot found the net, despite the best efforts of Conan Mulligan- giving his side a 1-7-0-5 lead. 

St. Mary’s temporarily broke St Ciaran’s momentum when Darragh O’Sullivan picked out Gerard Delaney for a point, though James Hurson landed a magnificent two-pointed attempt that pushed the advantage to six. 

A converted two-pointed free from Padraig Kelly gave his side a much needed lift and shortly afterwards the Glen Road outfit found the net. 

 Darragh O’Sullivan carried the ball from defence and play was switched to Cristoir McCabe who played a one-two with shot low past Jude Jordan in the St Ciaran’s goal to ensure the narrowest of margins separated the sides at the interval (1-9-1-8). 

The second half began much more evenly than the first, Cahair McGill shot over and extended his side’s lead, only for Oliver Fay to send a quickly taken free into Cristoir McCabe’s path and a point followed. 

Padraig Kelly swung over a leveller for Matthew O’Neill’s pass, but his side were unable to forge ahead and needed to show their bouncebackability in several occasions. 

Mark McDermott edged the Tyrone men in front again, only for Kelly to kick his third free of the afternoon. 

Further points were traded after James McAnely swung a shot over and Kelly landed a 45’ to make it 1-12 apiece. 

It took St Ciaran’s talisman James Hurson until the final quarter of an hour to add to his 1-6 amassed in the opening period- clipping over a point after intercepting a loose pass across the face of goal. 

The margins widened thanks to an Ethan McCarron point, though Padraig Kelly kicked his second two pointed free of the day to draw the sides level at 1-14 all. 

Try as they might, St. Mary’s were unable to take the lead as Ballygawley pushed for home. Mark McDermott converted a free, Darragh McVeigh popped over to restore their two-point advantage and Cahair McGill landed a fine angled point that looked to have got the job done. 

A second Cristoir McCabe point of the afternoon ensured that St. Mary’s had hope, however time was quickly elapsing. 

It looked as though their chance had passed them by when Darragh O’Sullivan carried the ball towards goal and switched to Jude Burns- though a square ball infringement saw the attack falter. 

The Glen Road side’s timing was impeccable as they hit the front for the very first time in the 60th minute. 

Padraig Kelly drove in from the byline and cut the ball back to the small square where an attempted palm towards goal saw the ball spin off the boot of a St Ciaran’s player in an attempt to clear and find the bottom corner to make it 2-15-1-17. 

St. Mary’s broke the resulting kick out and missed the opportunity to add to their slender lead, with St Ciaran’s working the ball towards the edge of the arc in an attempt to force extra time as the very least, but St. Mary’s held out and booked their place in the last eight where they will meet St Eunan’s Letterkenny. 

To view more photos from the game, click in the link below

https://myalbum.com/album/EaV5FfY7Ee6h67/?invite=c40c90d8-b066-42f8-aaab-81f587ccc006

Danske Bank Rafferty Cup, Group A Round 5 

St. Mary’s CBGS qualified for the Play-Off round of the Danske Bank Rafferty Cup after victory over St Paul’s Bessbrook at the Glen Road on Tuesday afternoon. 

Having won their opening two group encounters against Sacred Heart Omagh and St Malachy’s Castlewellan, the West Belfast natives were beaten by Holy Cross Strabane on Friday and needed victory to secure a place in the Play-Offs following the Halloween break. 

The hosts were impressive throughout and goals from Padraig Kelly, Darragh  O’Sullivan and Marc Killyleagh set the tone.

Kelly and Cristoir McCabe added points with a quickfire double from Eoghan Fegan and Pauriac McGinity giving the visitors a platform to build upon. 

Odhran Marley swung over a fine point and Kelly dropped over a two-pointed score from play ahead of Oisin Cribben converting a free as the hosts led at the interval. 

The sides traded early scores after the break through Matthew O’Neill and Sean Og Quinn. St. Mary’s added to their tally through an Oliver Fay goal and a converted Oliver Robb penalty late on. 

It sealed victory for the Glen Road natives who will face a knock-out tie following their Halloween break in a bid to reach the last-eight of the competition. 

More photos from the game can be accessed from the link below

https://myalbum.com/album/jHHaRSnfYm2yFy/?invite=be038c22-5a2a-4de8-9904-06431f402771

Danske Bank Rafferty Cup, Section A Round 2 

St Malachy’s Castlewellan 3-16-6-9 St. Marys CBGS 

Kevin Herron reports from Castlewellan 

St. Mary’s CBGS made it back-to-back group stage victories in the Danske Bank Rafferty Cup as Padraig Kelly netted a penalty with the final kick to the game to secure a dramatic 6-9-3-16 comeback win over St. Malachy’s Castlewellan on Monday afternoon. 

The Glen Road natives were caught cold in the early stages, conceding 2-1 inside of the first seven minutes. 

Paraic McAleenan slipped a pass into Rhyan O’Neill to roll a shot past Conan Mulligan to get the hosts off to a perfect start. 

McAleenan pointed following a one-two with Thomas Kane and things got better when Finn Feenan drove through the heart of the St. Mary’s defence and rifled home. 

It took St. Mary’s a while to settle but after Cristoir McCabe’s shot was deflected behind for a 45’, Padraig Kelly would kick the resulting placed ball to get the visitors up and running. 

After securing the resulting kick-out Darragh O’Sullivan swept a crossfield pass to McCabe to pop over. 

In response Paraic McAleenan added two further points as St. Malachy’s had restored their seven-point advantage. 

St. Mary’s reduced arrears with their first goal of the afternoon. Sean McMullan found the run of Matthew O’Neill to lay the ball off to Cristoir McCabe and he showed great composure to find a way towards goal and steer a low shot in at the near post to make it 2-3-1-2. 

McCabe kicked his second point of the afternoon shortly afterwards and had his side on level terms. 

Darragh O’Sullivan won the break and floated a high ball towards the goal with Cristoir McCabe getting the vital touch with his hand to steer the ball past Padraig McAnearney and into the net to make it 2-3 apiece. 

It was enough to awaken St. Malachy’s who finished the half stronger and led at the interval. Thomas Kane shot over his first of the afternoon, McAleenan increased his personal tally and Setanta Laverty dropped over his first as the hosts held a 2-6-2-3 lead at the break. 

The Mourne men picked up where they left off and tagged on four scores on the spin. Cillian McCann extended the lead, Padraig Bannon then clipped over, Paraic McAleenan scored his fifth of proceedings and a Finn Feenan point had a seven-point deficit between the sides for the third time (2-10-2-3). 

St. Mary’s briefly sparked to life again, they should have had their third goal when Cristoir McCabe picked out Padraig Kelly and his goal bound shot was superbly parried over the bar by Padraig McAnearney in the St. Malachy’s goal. 

Kelly then kicked his third of the afternoon from a mark, but the seven-point margin was restored after Padraig Bannon conjured up his second point and Eoin Polly converted a free. 

A third goal of the game gave the Belfast side renewed hope. Darragh O’Sullivan found Padraig Kelly and his slipped pass released Cristoir McCabe to fire home his third goal and make it (2-12-3-5). 

Kelly added a point from a free and after substitute Anton Corr found McCabe and he swung over, the visitors had a spring in their step. 

For the first time in the game St. Mary’s hit the front. Padraig Kelly thundered a goal bound shot off the crossbar, the ball broke out and bobbled into the path of Matthew O’Neill who made no mistake and blasted his side into a 4-7-2-12 lead. 

It was only a brief advantage though as Padraig McAleenan found Matthew O’Shea to pop over a leveller, Eoin Polly kicked a close range free to edge his side back ahead and further scores from Setanta Laverty and McAleenan had the hosts back in the ascendancy. 

The topsy-turvy encounter took another twist in the closing stages when Darragh O’Sullivan closed down Luke Rice and laid the ball off to Padraig Kelly to rifle home and restore parity (2-16-5-7). 

It looked as though St. Mary’s fightback would fall just short as Eoin Polly tucked away St. Malachy’s third goal of the game with just over a minute remaining. 

The visitors would close out the game with a man advantage for a black card offence outside the arc and Padraig Kelly kicked the resulting two-pointed free to leave the narrowest of margins the difference with less than 30-seconds remaining. 

It was imperative that St. Mary’s got hands to the resulting kick out and they did just that with Crisotir McCabe twisting and turning towards goal, only to go down under a challenge and the referee signalled for a penalty. 

Padraig Kelly stood over the pressure kick and showed no sign of nerves as he blasted to the net with the games final kick to ensure his side ran out 6-9-3-16 winners and maintain their winning start to the groupstage. 

More photos of the game are included in the link below

https://myalbum.com/album/cner4jSdCSwWgz/?invite=067ee1f5-2132-4b0a-b2a1-757614f825bf

Danske Bank Rafferty Cup, Section A Round 1 

Sacred Heart, Omagh 4-16-5-14 St. Mary’s CBGS 

Kevin Herron reports from the Mid Ulster Sports Arena 

St. Mary’s Year 12s kickstarted their Danske Bank Rafferty Cup campaign with a hard fought 5-14-4-16 win over Sacred Heart, Omagh in a thrilling encounter at the Mid Ulster Sports Arena on Thursday afternoon. 

The Belfast side registered the opening score when Padraig Kelly swung over a point, but the opening goal fell to Sacred Heart after Charlie Byrne picked out Oran McMenamin and he in turn slipped a pass to Ronan Colton to shoot low past Aidan Holbrook. 

Points followed from Oran Gallagher and Charlie Byrne as Sacred Heart extended their lead, in reply Kelly doubled his account and then landed a two-pointer after Cristoir McCabe claimed a mark and offloaded into his direction. 

The second goal of the day went St. Mary’s way , Cory Rea won back possession in his own half and set the wheels in motion and the move ended with Sean McMullan popping the ball across the face of goal where Jude Burns palmed home at the backpost to make it 1-4-1-2. 

Charlie Byrne squeezed over his second point to half the deficit, but they fell further behind when Sean McMullan was fouled and Padraig Kelly kicked his second two-pointer, Cristoir McCabe converted a close range free and Kelly added to his personal tally from play. 

In the closing stages of the half James Harvey and Luke Patterson swung over scores between a Sean McMullan effort as Sacred Heart trailed 1-9-1-5 at the break- though they would play with the advantage of the breeze in the second period. 

St. Mary’s made an ideal start to the second period with Oisin McGuinness reacting quickly to bundle in his sides second goal. 

At the other end Charlie Byrne clipped over his third of the day, though the pressure intensified on the Sacred Heart defence as Padraig Kelly floated over a further point, hard working Matthew O’Neill chipped in with his first score and after Cristoir McCabe intercepted a kick-out from Adam Conlon and slipped a pass to Darragh O’Sullivan the ball ended up in the net and St. Mary’s were 3-11-1-6 to the good. 

Although seemingly poised for victory the pendulum swung in the game, St. Mary’s were denied a fourth goal by the base of the post and Sacred Heart made them pay as they worked the ball downfield and swept home their second of the afternoon. 

An onslaught followed with Garbhan O’Donnell playing a one-two with Caiden Harold and adding a point, Oran McMenamin kicked a further point and then added a goal to reduce arrears to three (3-11-3-8). 

A converted free from McMenamin was his third score on the spin and successive Luke Patterson points tied things up a 3-11 each with the advantage firmly with the Omagh men. 

They surged clear through back-to-back Charlie Byrne points and a further from Luke Patterson had his side 3-14-3-11 up with eight minutes to play. 

St. Mary’s came back to life and levelled when substitute Oliver Robb shot low past Conlon at his near post and they crept back in front through successive points from talisman Padraig Kelly. 

It was a frantic conclusion that perhaps reassembled a basketball game swaying end to end. Oran McMenamin’s point halved the deficit and a Charlie Byrne goal in the aftermath had his side 4-15-4-13 ahead. 

The late drama wasn’t finished as St. Mary’s replied with their final goal of the day, substitute Anton Corr did well to win possession and lay off to Gerard Delaney who sent a ball down the channel for Cristoir McCabe to run onto, McCabe got into a shooting position before rifling high to the net to give the Glen Road outfit the slenderest of advantages (5-13-4-15). 

Oisin Connelly shot over and looked to have earned his side a point, though there was still time for St. Mary’s to push for a winner that came through McCabe, sweeping over from close range to conclude the afternoons scoring in the Mid Ulster Sports Arena. 

More of Kevins photos can be viewed below

https://myalbum.com/album/nKJ5KSqWSbsbmm/?invite=abd4026c-0fa9-4136-9815-f261c02ce90c