St. Mary's Magherafelt into MacRory Cup semi-finals after derby win at Owenbeg

MacRory Cup Quarter-final 

St Mary’s Magherafelt 1-6

St Patrick’s Maghera 1-4 

With Derry minor star Conall Higgins kicking 1-4 in the second half, St Mary’s Magherafelt turned the tables on Derry rivals St Patrick’s Maghera on Friday night at Owenbeg. 

Their reward is a semi-final against reigning champions Omagh in two weeks’ time. 

It was Maghera who held sway for much of the opening half after taking the lead just 23 seconds in through Johnny McGuckian. 

In front of a bumper attendance of 1,906, it was a systematic first half as Maghera setup perfectly to close down the game. 

It cut off the space for St Mary’s to kick or run into. With Shea Birt helped with the transition, Maghera went three clear with points from Ciaran Chambers and Eoin Mulholland. 

Two booming James Sargent scores gave St Mary’s hope and they trailed by a point at the break, 0-3 to 0-2. 

Maghera hit the net in the 34th minute from Dara McPeake but they missed chances when they had the opportunity to push on. 

Enter Conall Higgins. First he fired over the bar before taking a pass from a potent Eamon Young run goal to slot under ‘keeper McCloy to level matters,1-3 each after 45 minutes. 

Higgins added three frees to cement the St Mary’s advantage before Maghera registered a consolation point late on. 

Teams and Scorers

St Mary’s: Karl Campbell; Charlie Curley, Daragh Casey, Ben McLarnon; Luke Grant, Rory Small, Jack Harney; James Sargent (0-2), Cathair McBride; Eamon Young, Caolan Higgins, Charlie Mulholland; Patrick Birt, Conall Higgins (1-4, 3f), Pearse O’Neill  

Subs: Michael Higgins for P O’Neill (42), Cohen Cassidy for C Mulholland (56), Shea McGeehan for P Birt (59) 

St Patrick’s: Jack McCloy; Joe Dillon, Bobby Butcher, Eamon Hassan; Tiernan McCormick (0-1), Fionn McEldowney, Shea Birt; Dara McPeake (1-0), Cahal McKaigue; Antain Donnelly, Johnny McGuckian (0-1), Lee O’Neill; Conor Downey, Ciaran Chambers (0-1), Eoin Mulholland (0-1) 

Sub: Kevin Barry Mullan for L O’Neill (53) 

Referee: Mark Loughran (Errigal Ciaran)