Red High denied the Kirk Cup but McCarthy pleased getting to the final

Under the imposing skyline of Black Mountain, dominated by the 750ft television and radio mast, St. Brigid’s GAA Club, Musgrave Park hosted the Danske Bank Ulster Schools GAA Kirk Cup between St. Patrick’s Grammar School, Downpatrick (Red High) and St. Mary’s Grammar School (SMGS), Magherafelt.

Ballycran’s Sean McCarthy had the honour of captaining Red High and once referee Patrick Tumelty from Lámh Dhearg completed the coin toss and set out his ambitions for the game, the sliotar was rolled in at 2:30pm against the low level murmur of traffic noise drifting over from the M1.

St. Patrick’s Grammar School, Downpatrick Year 12 Kirk Cup Team (SMGS v RH 1)

St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt Year 12 Kirk Cup Team (SMGS v RH 2)

Sean McCarthy, Referee Patrick Tumelty and Charlie Curly (SMGS v RH 3)

The imposing skyline of Black Mountain’s TV and Radio mast (SMGS v RH 4)

Kirk Cup under way (SMGS v RH 5)

With a slight breeze blowing diagonally across the pitch from east to west, Red High enjoyed that slight advantage on their backs for the first half. SMGS set about their business in quick fashion with an opening goal from Shea Devlin (13) in just 6 minutes. Red High’s DJ Farrell (10) responded with Red High’s opening point.

SMGS’s Patrick Birt (14) was on sizzling form for most of the first half and along with Jack Convery (12) , nudged the scoreline up to 1-03 to 0-01 before Birt struck the back of the net for SMGS’s second goal. Red High remained composed and Matt Dornan (15) had a realistic chance to score a goal but had to watch keeper Rónán McCallion (1) save and diffuse the threat.

Red High’s Noah Rogers (14) would offer hope with three consecutive points, one taken after being awarded a free and two points from play, the latter being a spirited display of being alert to the loose ball with a determined solo run to release the sliotar over the bar from the half forward line.

By now, Red High had settled into their stride, managing to pin SMGS to just another two points from scoring magnet Patrick Birt. At the half time whistle the scores stood SMGS 2-05 Red High 0-04.

With everything to play for in the second half, Red High started with an opening point from Sean Murphy but the re-energised Red High’s enthusiasm attracted the attention of referee Tumelty and SMGS wasted none of those opportunities to inch the scoreline up another three points from free taker John Sargent (6). Red High’s Sean McCarthy (9) was prowling for a goal and an on target shot was cautiously deflected over the bar by McCallion (1) for a fine point nonetheless. At this stage of the game, the scoreline was drifting in favour of SMGS at 2-08 to 0-06.

SMGS applied more pressure with a couple of points from Devlin (13) and McConnell (15) before a 25th minute goal that descended down almost vertically into the corner of the goal, possibly influenced by Lorán McDonnell (15), gave SMGS their third of the day.

An awkward sliotar finds the back of Red High’s net for a third time (SMGS v RH 6)

Red High’s Farrell (10) was a model of determination and that paid off when he slammed the sliotar into the back of the net, well beyond the reach of keeper McCallion (1).

DJ Farrell (10) strikes out of shot for Red High’s only goal (SMGS v RH 7)

The Kirk Cup roller coaster for Red High was about to take another down hill run when Dara Coulter (3) went heavily to ground after a tackle whilst on a searing solo run from the full back position to the half forward line.

Dara Coulter sets off on his solo run that ended with an untimely injury (SMGS v RH 8)

Losing Coulter (3) in the back line to a shoulder injury renewed the threat from SMGS’s full forwards once again and SMGS’s Ryan O’Neill (19) seized that opportunity with a tremendous catch and turning niftily on the edge of the square, opened up for a shot on target, only to be hooked by Leigh Morgan (6) and a pull saved by Clarke (1) fed a waiting Ciaran McCourt (2) who competently took the sliotar wide and away.

Outstretched O’Neill (19) plucks the sliotar out of the air (SMGS v RH 9)

Leigh Morgan (6) saves the day with a timely hook to force O’Neill (19) off target (SMGS v RH 10)

The sliotar drops to the ground (SMGS v RH 11)

O’Neill (19) pulls on target for a second bite at the cherry (SMGS v RH 12)

Cian Coulter (1) blocks the shot to a waiting Ciaran McCourt (2) (SMGS v RH 13)

Red High’s McCourt (2) collects and dispenses the sliotar to safety (SMGS v RH 14)

O’Neill wasn’t finished though and a goal scoring opportunity would come his way before the final whistle as he parted company from Red High’s defence and drilled the sliotar well left of Clarke (1) into an open goal. Referee Tumelty blew for full time and the record books will record SMGS 4-12 Red High 1-6.

O’Neill savours the moment as he parts Red High’s defence and a shot into an near open net (SMGS v RH 15)

Red High were overpowered at times as the SMGS full forwards applied constant pressure to an overworked full back line. Although Red High would have wished for a different outcome, they can be very proud of their gutsy performance and some players on the team have been hugely fortunate to have played a part in the Schools Mageean Cup success. Congrats to SMGS, a good game of hurling and that’s always a fitting way to claim a title.

Sean now focuses on his County engagements and under the direction of Club U17 manager Gary Savage, we look forward to seeing what the rest of the hurling year brings.

Here’s a few more photos from the game in Musgrave Park.