Masita Hogan Cup semi-final
Mercy, Mounthawk v St Patrick’s, Maghera (tomorrow, Abbotstown, 5pm)
IN all of their Hogan Cup campaigns, St Patrick’s, Maghera have failed at the semi-final stage on just four occasions and only once since 1983.
That was in 2015 when Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne needed extra-time to beat the MacRory Cup champions. The Kerry school went on to win the final against Roscommon CBS.
Maghera face another Kerry side in this season’s second semi-final. Last week, St Colman’s, Claremorris beat the weather to claim their place in the final, but will they face last year’s beaten finalists Mercy, Mounthawk from Tralee or the newly-crowned MacRory winners?
The Kerry school were comfortably beaten by Omagh CBS in their first-ever final last year (3-14 to 0-11), but bounced back three weeks ago to win the all-Kerry Corn Uí Mhuirí final by 2-11 to 0-10 against St Brendan’s, Killarney.
The Tralee school had seven from the starting team for the Hogan Cup final playing against the Sem – James Fisher, Pádraig O’Halloran, Ben Murphy, Daniel Kirby, Seán Corkery, Paddy Lane and Tomás Kennedy, while defender Ben Sharp was a sub used against Omagh.
Mounthawk started the Munster final at a blistering pace and were 1-5 to 0-1 up after 15 minutes with Kennedy the key player. The goal, however, was created and finished by defenders Sharp and O’Halloran.
Maghera were caught for early scores in the MacRory decider against Abbey Vocational School and were six points down by the end of the first quarter. But they were able to work their way back into the game and, while they won by a margin of just a single point, they were comfortable winners.
Looking back on the opening half in Celtic Park, little went right for the Derry side – six wides, they hit the upright twice, dropped some shots short and wasted three goal chances. The key point was that they persevered and were quickly back on level terms at the start of the second half.
While Maghera were pinned back in their own half for many of the games leading up to the final, this seemed to be a different type of game where, apart from the concession of the early goals, Maghera were on the offensive for longer periods and then had the players who could make the scoreboard move.
Their opponents Mounthawk had things pretty easy on their way to the Munster final and that seven-point win over Killarney was the closest any school got to them.
They have quality players through the team and Maghera may well find themselves grinding their way through this semi-final. That’s where their path to the MacRory final could help them. However, they will still need scores on the board and that means getting the full-forward line of Gabhan McIvor, Darach McGonigle and Cormac óg Murphy into scoring positions on a quick break.
It’s been nine years since Maghera have played at this level. Some things haven’t changed; Kerry schools are still setting the pace in Munster. But a lot more has and it will be interesting to see if St Patrick’s have evolved enough to take on the challenges of a Hogan semi-final against a team from the Kingdom.
The evidence of their run to the MacRory title suggests that they have the equipment to reach a 12th final.