Search

06 Sept 2025

REPORT: Valiant Abbey CBS Tipperary crushed by quick goals for St. Josephs in the All-Ireland final

St Joseph's (Tyrone ) 2-12 Abbey CBS (Tipperary) 0-9

Abbey CBS took on St Joseph's in the Paddy Drummond Cup final

Reporter:

Stephen Gleeson

11 Mar 2023 8:33 PM

 
Two second half goals gave St Joseph’s of Donaghmore the breathing space they needed to see off a gallant Abbey CBS side in the keenly contested Senior B Schools Football final at a rain swept Bekan in county Mayo. 

Driving wind and rain outside the airdome meant that the ground was sticky, and with clean handling vitally important in a tight encounter, the slick passing from defence to attack in the second half gave the northerners an edge. 
 
The Ulster champions started sharpish firing over two early points from Cormac Drayne and Noah Grimes who coolly slotted over the second before Orrin Jones found his range from the forty for the Abbey on 11 minutes.
 
 St. Joseph's kept the pressure on in the early stages and Abbey keeper Robbie McGrath in goals had to bring off a fantastic save on 14 minutes from the aforementioned Grimes who was to prove troublesome throughout. 
 
The pressure increased for the Abbey when they lost their sweeper and captain on 17 minutes, the influential Paddy Downey.
 
Five wides to one in favour of the Tyrone side at this stage tells you all you need to know about the pressure Abbey were under, but to their credit the Tipperary Town side didn't wilt but instead rallied despite the loss of their captain. 
 
Shane O Grady levelled it up for Abbey CBS at 0-2 a piece, as they grew in determination and then began to dominate the game as the half wore on. 
 
 Bill Quirke took a nice pass from Orrin Quirke 20 minutes in to slot over the bar then two minutes later Conal Grogan added another before young David Ryan of the Arravale Rovers club made it 0-5 to 0-2 in the Tipp sides favour. 
 
It took serious effort for St. Joseph's to steady the flow of the game by then, and it was the excellent Noah Grimes who popped up with two quick points on 27 and 29 minutes. 
 
The first was a free, the second he shook off two Abbey defenders, found some room to turn and calmly slotted over the bar.
 
That left it 0-5 to 0-4 with Abbey CBS leading at the break but for all their dominance in the last fifteen minutes of the half, they could have been further up but for a number of efforts just dropping short into the goalkeepers hands. 
The Tipp side were first out of the dressing room for the second half but were left waiting for a few minutes as the Tyrone side regrouped and reorganised in the dressing room.
 
Once the half eventually started Abbey continued to attack, first a free from the influential centre forward Orrin Jones and then through full forward Conal Grogan who struck a nice point from play to leave it 0-7 to 0-4 three minutes into the half.
 
Again the Tyrone side looked to Noah Grimes who pointed just before the key move of the match.
 
A fickle twist of fate if you will, as Darragh Doherty gathered possession from a Grimes play and attempted a strike at the posts but the ball skimmed off his boot and across the goals backfooting defenders and attackers alike until Mattie McNally arrived at the edge of the square to sidefoot to the Abbey CBS net on 39 minutes. 
 
A roar went up from the crowd and from there St. Josephs took control as they smelled blood. 
 
Two quick points from Ronan Molloy and then Grimes again before another mishit ball arrived nicely to Mattie McNally on 45 minutes, and once again he rattled the net to leave it 2-7 to 0-7. 
 
 Abbey CBS players felt the goalscorer had been by the square but their pleas for a square ball and a free out were ignored by the referee and from there St. Josephs controlled the game with Abbey forced to go long in search of a goal against the confident northerners. 
 
Abbey fought valiantly with the cause led by Orrin Jones until the end, but the class of Noah Grimes and company was enough to see St. Joseph's crowned All-Ireland champions.
 
Overall the goals made the difference, Abbey were to the fore until the first goal snuck in, but from there a different match developed and the Paddy Drummond cup went northwards.
 
Afterwards Abbey CBS manager Sean Mullins agreed his side gave it everything they had: "We had to go chase the game in the second half and that left us open to be picked off but in relation to the way we played and the character we showed, we're nothing but proud of the boys," he said after a tense encounter. 

Scorers for St Joseph’s GS: N Grimes (0-7, 4 frees); M McNally (2-0), D Doherty (0-2, 2 frees); C Drayne, Shane Scullion (0-1 each), Ronan Molloy (0-1, 1 free)

Scorers for Abbey CBS: O Jones (0-4, 3 frees); C Grogan (0-2, 1 free); S Dee, B Quirke, C O’Grady (0-1 each). 

ST JOSEPH’S GS: L Quinn (Galbally Pearses); J McNally (Donaghmore), B Hughes (Donaghmore), D Doherty (Galbally Pearses); J Rafferty (Galbally Pearses), J Clarke (Donaghmore), C O’Neill (Donaghmore); S Scullion (Derry), J McKenna (Donaghmore); L Hughes (Dungannon Clarkes), N Grimes (Donaghmore), C Sweeney (Carrickmore); C Drayne (Donaghmore), M McNally (Carrickmore), R Molloy (Donaghmore). 

Subs: E O’Neill (Galbally Pearses) for Sweeney (47, blood); O’Neill for Sweeney (50); O’Neill for Molloy (54); MJ Mansell (Clonoe) for McNally (57); J Field (Donaghmore) for J McNally (59).

ABBEY CBS: Robbie McGrath (Galtee Rovers); Gavin Cussen (Arravale Rovers), Darragh O’Brien (Aherlow), Emmet Bonner (Galtee Rovers); Eoin Doocey (Arravale Rovers), Colin O’Grady (Oola), Paddy Downey (Oola); Bill Quirke (Galtee Rovers), Stephen Dee (Solohead); Shane O’Grady (Oola), Orrin Jones (Kickhams), Liam Carew (Aherlow); Cian O’Dwyer (Galtee Rovers), Conall Grogan (Galtee Rovers), Joe O Dwyer (Kickhams). 

Subs: David Ryan (Arravale Rovers) for Downey (16, injured); Daniel O’Dwyer (Galtee Rovers) for J O’Dwyer (42); Gavin O’Meara (Arravale Rovers) for Grogan (53); Evan Kennedy (Galtee Rovers) for C O’Dwyer (55).

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!

Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.

Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Most Popular

Sponsored Content

Multimedia

We've got Donegal Covered...

Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie

Buy a paper

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Buy Now
Get the news

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.

Register Here
Iconic Media is Ireland's largest independently owned regional newspaper and media group, with an unrivalled audience in print, online and mobile. We have 19 regional newspapers and 21 digital sites.

Iconic Digital Titles

  • Carlow Live
  • Clare Live
  • Derry Now
  • Donegal Live
  • Éire Bheo
  • Inish Live
  • Ireland Live
  • Kildare Live
  • Kildare Now
  • Kilkenny Live
  • Laois Live
  • Leitrim Live
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Live
  • Longford Live
  • Louth Live
  • Mayo Live
  • Nenagh Live
  • Offaly Live
  • Tipperary Live
  • Waterford Live

    • Iconic Print Titles

  • Clonmel Nationalist
  • County Derry Post
  • Derry News
  • Donegal Democrat
  • Donegal Post
  • Dundalk Democrat
  • Homes in Donegal
  • Inish Times
  • Kilkenny People
  • Leinster Express
  • Leinster Leader
  • Leitrim Observer
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Leader
  • Longford Leader
  • Mayo News
  • Midland Tribune
  • Tipperary Star
  • Tullamore Tribune

    • This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.

    © 2025 Iconic Media