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08 Sept 2025

Markey Cup final heartbreak for St. Columb's College

St. Columb's College

Agony and ecstasy a the final whistle. Pic by Sideline Photography.

Reporter:

Seamas McAleenan

01 Feb 2025 7:33 PM

Danske Bank Markey Cup final

St Columb’s Derry 1-10

St Patrick’s Keady 2-8 AET

IT’S unusual for any school to play in two Ulster senior finals in the same week, one hurling and the other football. St Columb’s Derry achieved that feat this week, but unfortunately they ended up losing both.

There was a significant margin between St Columb’s and St Patrick’s Dungiven in Monday evening’s Danske Bank Casement Shield final. But how agonising was it for the Buncrana Road boys to then lose the Markey Cup through a goal in injury time of extra time in Greencastle – to another St Patrick’s school in Keady.
Coincidentally Keady had won their hurling final just before Christmas coming from nine points with ten minutes left with their captain Jack Loughran picking up player of the match. On Friday evening Loughran scored the winning goal after St Columb’s had turned around at the break in extra time with a lead of 1-9 to 1-5.
It was a lead that looked pretty good in a low-scoring encounter that didn’t really take off until ten minutes into the second half.
The first score of the game was a rather fortunate Keady goal, Sean óg McNaughton's side-line kick going all the way to the Derry net with pressure applied by Liam Rafferty on the goalie. Sean Woods tagged on a point before captain Jude Bryson opened St Columb's account with a point after 16 minutes.
The teams swopped points, Somhairle McFadden the Derry scorer, before the break to leave it 1-2 to 0-2 at the change of ends.
Bryson and McFadden made it a single point game with points each on the restart. Although Darragh Geraghty responded with a point, scores from Tiarnan McFeely and Bryson levelled the tie, 1-3 to 0-6, with ten minutes to go.
However Keady seemed to kick on with points over the next five minutes from Sean Woods and Jack Loughran. But points from Liam Meenan and then Tiarnan McFeely put a hold on celebrations. McFeely’s score came four minutes into added time.
Jude Bryson pointed midway through the first half of extra time. There were no further scores until a minute before the break when a shot from Matthew James came back off the Keady goalie John Flannagan and Tiarnán McFeely stabbed it home soccer-style to give St Columb's a 1-9 to 1-5. The College looked set for their first title since 2019.
After the break it was all Keady however as they rose from the floor with three unanswered points to leave the minimum between the teams. Then McFeely produced another bit of magic to point again.
However Keady went for broke with a high ball into the goal area. It deflected off a defender and Loughran turned to hit the net. There was simply no time for St Columb’s to recover.
St Patrick's: S óg McNaughton and J Loughran 1-1 each, S Woods 0-3, L Rafferty 0-2, D Geraghty 0-1.
St Columb's: T McFeely 1-3, J Bryson 0-4, S McFadden 0-2, L Meenan 0-1.

St Columb’s: C Green, J Kealey, F Cutliffe, Joe Bryson, C O’Donnell, J Mullan, C Wray, O Donnelly, L Meenan, E O’Kane, T Coyle, S McFadden, T McFeely, Jude Bryson, JP McCafferty.

Subs: B McDaid for E O’Kane (ht), O O’Connor for C Wray (37), Joe Bryson for J Kealey (52), for S McFadden (68)
St Patrick’s: J Flannagan, A Brady, D Cosgrove, T Fox, D McKee, P Keegan, C Mone, J Loughran, O Kurowski, S óg McNaughton, S Woods, L Corr, P Comiskey, L Rafferty, D Geraghty.

Subs: D McGee for C Mone (41).

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