McGovern penalty seals MacRory shock
Danske Bank MacRory Cup Eliminator
Abbey CBS Newry 1-7 St Mary’s Magherafelt 0-9
LAST season’s beaten finalists are out of this year’s Danske Bank MacRory Cup before the Christmas break after Abbey CBS delivered a shock result in this eliminator at the Loup.
St Mary’s Magherafelt were favourites to set up a quarter-final play-off against St Macartan’s in late January but they simply couldn’t break the Newry side down during the opening half of a very tight game.
The half-time score-line tells it all, Magherafelt ahead by three frees (Ben McErlean (2) and Padraig Mitchel) to just a single Abbey point from Drew McVerry.
Nevertheless both teams had good passages of play and Shea Murray in the Magherafelt goals needed to be sharp to keep his net safe. Pearse McPolin, Jamie Martin and Jamie Lynch were very good for Abbey and only Dominic McAteer looked capable of breaking through to create further scores.
The Newry side came out of their shell more during the second half and quickly drew level with points from John McGovern and Sean Rock. Over the course of the next 15 minutes the sides traded points until Eunan McElhennon edged the Convent ahead 0-7 to 0-6 in the 49th minute.
Then came the pivotal moment of the game; Ronan McCarthy was taken down and referee Kevin Falloon awarded a penalty. Up stepped Rannafast Cup player John McGovern to slot the spot-kick home.
Eoin Carr added a quick point and suddenly Abbey had a three point advantage with seven minutes remaining.
St Mary’s pressed hard for those seven minutes and Dominic McAteer tagged on two points, but the equaliser simply wouldn’t come. Even from a very late free from Ciaran O’Neill the ball pulled wide of the target and signalled celebrations worthy of a later stage in the competition.
Abbey CBS : John McGovern 1-1, 1-0 pen., 0-1 free, Eoin Carr 0-2, Drew McVerry 0-1, Sean Rock 0-1, Jamie Lynch 0-1, Ronan McCarthy 0-1.
St Mary’s : Dominic McAteer 0-4, Ben McErlean 0-2 frees, Pádraig Mitchell 0-1 free, Kealan Friel 0-1, Eunan McElhennon 0-1.
