Abbey CBS knock holders St Patrick’s, Maghera out of MacRory Cup

Danske Bank MacRory Cup quarter-final
St Patrick’s, Maghera 0-12 Abbey CBS 2-15

Second-quarter scoring blitz sets up semi-final meeting with CBS rivals from Omagh

Abbey CBS came to Celtic Park, they saw and they conquered. The Newry school stepped on the gas in the 10 minutes before half-time to leave St Patrick’s, Maghera’s dreams of back-to-back MacRory Cup titles in tatters yesterday afternoon.

Abbey played with the advantage of the steadily rising breeze in the opening half. They led by three points after 15 minutes of play. Maghera then pulled them back with their first three points between the 15th and 21st minutes and it looked as if the holders would be in a good position at the break. Not so! Abbey stepped up a gear and fired 2-5 in the remaining 10 or 11 minutes of the half to take a lead of 10 points into the break.
They opened the second half with the first two scores to give themselves a platform to deal with the expected onslaught for the rest of the half.

That comeback never really took off – despite Odhrán Doherty landing three two-pointers and Dara Doherty another between the 33rd and 47th minutes. It seemed to be Maghera’s sole tactic to haul the lead in as they pulled five or six shots from that range wide after the break.

But focussing on Maghera’s shortcomings doesn’t give proper credit to the effort from the Abbey team, who were very disciplined at the back and had superb leadership in midfield from Diarmuid O’Rourke and Keelan McEntee, each a son of a 2002 All-Ireland medallist. They controlled the play and hit a combined total of eight points. We wondered, as conditions worsened through the second half, if the Newry side had the fitness to see the game out. We need not have worried. Michael O’Neill went down with cramp at the start of added time to be replaced by Ethan Lavelle – their only sub of the game.

McEntee hit the opening two points, each from a run through the centre and Daniel McKernan added a third. But they also hit several wides during that period before Odhrán Doherty got Maghera off the mark from their very first scoring chance. Seán O’Kane added a point and Doherty pointed a free. Maghera looked in a good place.

Daniel Carr edged Abbey ahead again, O’Rourke took another point and then Ryan O’Hare set Carr up for a 25th-minute goal. Maghera looked to take the sting out of those scores with a fisted point from Don Mulholland, but McKernan quickly cancelled it.

Then, a fast move on the left wing found Michael O’Neill in front of goals. He side-stepped the tackle and hit the net. Daniel Carr’s two-pointer in added time left Abbey 10 clear at the short whistle. That gap stretched to 12 on the re-start with a free from O’Rourke and a quick interchange of passes between O’Hare and O’Neill.

Dara Doherty and Odhrán Doherty picked off a couple of two-pointers before O’Rourke and McEntee conjured up a point to lift Abbey again. Two more two-pointers from the Portglenone Doherty edged Maghera back to a deficit of five points, 2-11 to 0-12, but it was the last score of the game from the holders.

O’Rourke lifted Abbey with a two-pointer free off the ground, the score of the game. Charlie McGrath took a fine point on a break and D McKernan finished the scoring with a 20-metre free for a breach of the three defenders in the half rule.

Game over and the certainty now of a Christian Brothers’ school in the final with Omagh in Abbey’s sights in a fortnight.

Last night’s final quarter-final between St Patrick’s, Dungannon and Our Lady’s, Castleblayney was postponed.

SCORERS
St Patrick’s O Doherty 0-8 (tpf, 2tp, 0-1f); D Doherty 0-2 (tp); D Mulholland & S O’Kane 0-1 each
Abbey CBS D O’Rourke 0-4 (0-2, 0-2f); D Carr 1-2;  D McKernan 0-3 (tp), M O Neill 1-2 (tp); K McEntee(0-2); C McGrath, J O’Mahoney,   0-1 each

SEMI-FINALS
(dates & venues TBC) Omagh CBS v Abbey CBS Abbey VS, Donegal v St Patrick’s, Dungannon / Our Lady’s, Castleblayney

By SÉAMAS McALEENAN published in The Irish News 12 January 2026