Danske Bank MacRory Cup round two
Section A
Holy Trinity, Cookstown 0-8
St Patrick’s, Armagh 4-17
ST Patrick’s, Armagh produced a ruthless display of attacking football to comfortably get the better of Holy Trinity, Cookstown at Paddy Cullen Park yesterday.
It was a contest that was as good as over by the break, with Armagh leading by 11 points on a day when they had nine different marksmen.
Wing half-back Jamie Concannon had opened the scoring for Holy Trinity with a fine effort from distance but that was as good as it got for them.
Full-forward James Daly crashed home a fifth-minute goal and the winners never looked back, with the outstanding Michael McSorley to the fore.
He kicked seven first-half points, with Caomh Agnew and Ryan Dynes also on target. Karol Wawrynkiewicz responded with a superb brace for Cookstown.
Armagh always looked dangerous on the break and when Turlough Muldoon scored a 29th-minute goal it gave them a 2-11 to 0-6 advantage at the turnaround.
A well-taken point from Concannon opened the second-half scoring in the first attack but St Pat’s came straight down the field for Oisin Gribben to find the net to dispel any thoughts of an unlikely comeback.
Muldoon, Agnew, Daniel Gribben and Jordan tagged on points, with man-of-the-match McSorley continuing to wreak havoc in the Cookstown defence on a day when he finished with 1-9 to his name.
Cahir McKeown got Holy Trinity’s only other score in the second half, as Armagh made it two wins out of two. Cookstown are still looking for their first points.
Scorers
Holy Trinity J Concannon 0-3; K Wawrynkiewicz 0-2; A Quinn, C Murphy, & C McKeown 0-1 each
Armagh M McSorley 1-9 (0-4f); T Muldoon 1-1; J Daly & O Gribben 1-0 each; D Gribben & C Agnew 0-2 each; C Hughes, D Jordan (f) & R Dynes 0-1 each
Section C
St Ronan’s, Lurgan 1-4
St Patrick’s, Maghera 0-9
THERE was always the chance that St Ronan’s might break at the end of the game as they had done at the close of the first half and grab a match-winning goal, but St Patrick’s, Maghera had heeded the earlier warning and held out for their second victory in Section C.
Conditions were far from ideal in St Paul’s Park and, in any case, this was never likely to be a game of open football.
James McCooe pointed in the first minute for St Ronan’s, but their only other score of the first half came a minute from the end.
In between, Maghera hit five points unanswered, with two of them coming from midfielder Odhrán Doherty, including a superb one from distance.
Maghera were building for a sixth point in the 29th minute when Lurgan broke up their attack and raced down the field for Aodhán Henderson to expertly finish to the net.
McCooe levelled the game at 0-5 to 1-2 in the third minute of the second half, but again there was a long spell before St Ronan’s scored again.
Maghera added another three points through Daragh McGonigle, Marc McGurk and sub Dara O’Kane, with McGonigle’s shot goal-bound brilliantly turned over by Lurgan goalie Liam Carroll.
Although Callum McKerr and McCooe landed late points, Pádraig Haran secured the points for Maghera with a point in added time.
The last games in the group will see Maghera and their Cavan namesakes in a head-to-head to top the group, while St Ronan’s and St Michael’s, Enniskillen will battle it out at the foot of the table.
Scorers
St Ronan’s A Henderson 1-0; J McCooe 0-3; C McKerr 0-1
Maghera M McGurk & O Doherty 0-2 each; C McCloskey (f), G McIvor, D McGonigle, D O’Kane & P Haran 0-1 each
