Spot on Mhuire bag Senior Ulster crown
Scoil Mhuire Secondary School, Buncrana 0/0 St: Eunan’s College, Letterkenny (AET - Scoil Mhuire won 5/4 on penalties)
Scoil Mhuire’s accuracy from the penalty spot earned them some revenge for a narrow defeat in the Junior final as they defeated local rivals St Eunan’s in a shootout at Rathmullan last Tuesday (March 25):
A cool finish from Mark Coyle from the fifth penalty sealed the win as he stroked his spot kick into the bottom right corner after the outstanding Caolan McGonagle had saved St: Eunan’s fourth penalty for William O’Connor’s side:
The Buncrana boys will now take on Patrician Secondary School in the All Ireland semi/final in Gortakeegan, Monaghan this Tuesday (April 1)
It was a final that could have gone either way with both sides coming close to the breakthrough goal both in normal and extra time
Just as in the Junior final, the Letterkenny College had the better of the first half as they pressed high up the pitch in search of the opening goal but Scoil Mhuire’s well organised rearguard, marshalled by Peter Doherty and Paul McDermott held firm:
They did create one clearcut chance before the break however as Daire McDaid got on the end of a good move inside the box but his shot from a good position was high of the target:
While the first half was cagey, the second half was much more open as both sides upped their tempo levels in their search for the opening goal:
Caolan McGonagle produced a good reaction save to deny Michael Miller early on and Scoil Mhuire did well to break the length of the pitch from the throw out only for Georgie Kelly to be denied by a good reaction save from Patton:
The second half was much faster paced than the first with both teams playing some fantastic football as they pushed for the opening goal of the game: After a shot from Michael Miller was saved, Scoil Mhuire broke quickly and were in on goal only to be denied by a fine save from Shaun Patton:
The St: Eunan’s goalkeeper had to be on his toes again moments later when a deep free/kick found a Buncrana attacker at the back post but Patton was equal to the header:
St: Eunan’s had a clearcut chance with 10 minutes remaining but Chris Flanagan failed to make contact with Michael Miller’s cross and Scoil Mhuire cleared:
The pace of the game dropped somewhat in extra time as both sides looked to tire and the best chance of the first half fell to McDaid but his shot from 20 yards was saved by McGonagle:
Both sides held their nerve for the first three penalties before McGonagle’s save handed the initiative to Mark Coyle who again proved the match winner after his long range effort settled the Junior final last season:
Scoil Mhuire SS, Buncrana: Caolan McGonagle; Michael Noone, Ryan Doherty, Peter Doherty, Paul McDermot; Calum Gallagher, Michael Coyle, Ryan Varma, Georgie Kelly; Mark Coyle, Liam Doherty
Subs:John Campbell, Kealan Dillon:
St: Eunan’s College, Letterkenny: Sean Patton; Jordan McBride, Sean Hume, Glenn McNulty, Paddy O’Loan; Oisin Hassett, Chris Flanagan, David Tyrell, Daire McDaid, Michael Miller, Jason Doherty
Subs:Conor Coll:
