St Paul’s take Newry derby in MacRory

Danske Bank MacRory Cup
St Paul’s Bessbrook 2-16 Abbey CBS 3-11
A goal from Conor Quinn midway through the second half in Pairc Esler pulled St Paul’s Bessbrook clear for the first time in the derby fixture with Abbey CBS and they hammered home that advantage by scoring the next four points to hold on to their 100% record in the competition and qualify for the MacCormack Cup semi-finals.
In the first half, Ryan Hughes scored the St Paul’s goal that put them 1-4 to 0-3 up, but Abbey hit back immediately with frees from Jamie Martin and Ruairí McCormick and then an excellent team goal from Martin.
Another good team goal from Abbey finished by Billy Campbell in the 28th minute left them 2-5 to 1-6 up at the break.
Although Seamus Loughran and Tom O’Hagan levelled immediately after the break, Abbey went three up again with points from Ethan Lennon, Cathal Gorman and Lorcan Forde.
However over the next 12 minutes, Bessbrook hit 1-8 with only a point from Gorman in reply and the league points were in the bag.
The goal came right in the middle of that scoring blitz and was followed by points from Ryan Connolly, Seamus Loughran, Shea Magill and Eoin Woods, meaning that the fine goal that Cathal Gorman scored in the 58th minute counted for little.
St Paul’s : Conor Quinn 1-3, Ryan Hughes 1-1, Seamus Loughran 0-4, 0-3 frees, Ryan Connolly 0-3, Tom O’Hagan 0-1, Shea Treanor 0-1, Shea Magill 0-1, Eoin Kearns 0-1 free, Eoin Woods 0-1.
Abbey : Jamie Martin 1-3, 0-2 frees, Cathal Gorman 1-2, Billy Campbell 1-0, Ruairi McCormick 0-4 frees, Lorcan Forde 0-1, Ethan Lennon 0-1.

Photograph from Maurice McKey