MacRory Cup Last Eight Set For January
December 28, 2025
Last eight get ready for the bright lights in January
Next month’s four Danske Bank MacRory Cup quarter-finals will take place on four consecutive evenings from January 7-10.
All four group winners have qualified for the quarter-finals and have ‘home’ venues in these ties.
First up on Wednesday evening is the meeting at O’Neills Healy Park of Omagh CBS and St Patrick’s, Armagh. The pair met in a first-round group game on October 23 at the same venue when Armagh scored a shock 4-12 to 2-12 win.
Omagh, however, impressed in the rest of their group games and topped the standings on the head-to-head rule over Abbey CBS, who inflicted a heavy defeat on Armagh in their final group game.
St Patrick’s, however, recovered to edge home against the other Newry school St Colman’s in the quarter-finals.
Abbey CBS are in action in the second game when they travel to Owenbeg on Thursday, January 8 to play the holders St Patrick’s, Maghera.
Abbey have been returning high tallies in their more recent games, although they did well to hold off St Patrick’s, Cavan in the last 16, the Breffni lads coming back from a deficit of 12 points at the break to almost snatch the win. Cavan were in Maghera’s group and the Derry boys went on to beat St Paul’s, Bessbrook in the quarter-final.
Since then their Dungiven contingent have had a busy spell in both codes and will see more before the Abbey tie.
The winners of the first two quarter-finals will meet in the last four.
Friday’s action will be in Convoy where last year’s beaten finalists Abbey Vocational School are up against Magherafelt, who come into the game a little under the radar, although their only defeat to date was against St Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon.
Donegal town club Four Masters were beaten by Dungiven last weekend in the Ulster minor football tournament and the school also lost in the Rafferty Cup final on Thursday.
Abbey will be keen to arrest that run of scorelines and get back to winning ways.
Friday’s winners will qualify for a semi-final against either the Academy or Our Lady’s, Castleblayney who meet on Saturday January 10 in Stewartstown.
The Academy have done little to suggest that their elect front-runners in the Danske Bank MacRory on the back of a Rannafast title two years ago has them over-rated, with four wins and a draw so far.
Castleblayney’s only loss was by three points to Abbey Vocational School, while they also drew with St Michael’s, Enniskillen in their last 16 outing against St Joseph’s, Donaghmore was perhaps their best performance to date.
Quarter-finals (updated)
Friday, January 9 (7:30pm)
Omagh CBS v St Patrick’s, Armagh (Fintona)
Friday, January 9 (4:30pm)
Abbey Vocational School v St Mary’s, Magherafelt (Convoy)
Saturday, January 10 (4pm)
St Patrick’s, Maghera v Abbey CBS (Owenbeg)
Saturday, January 10 (7:30pm)
St Patrick’s, Academy v Our Lady’s, Castleblayney (Stewartstown)
There will be a two-week gap between the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, which are scheduled for dates between January 21-24.
By Séamas McAleenan published in The Irish News 22 December 2026
