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Narrow Defeat For St.Josephs
Wednesday 18.12.2024
St.Pius X Magherafelt 1-9 St.Joseph’s Donaghmore 0-11
St.Pius X Magherafelt staged a smash and grab at Rossa Park yesterday afternoon as they hit two injury time points to come from behind to lift the Ulster Schools Rafferty Cup at the expense of a shell shocked St.Joseph’s Donaghmore side.
St.Joseph’s were never behind in the second half until that late winner on a day when they will rue a number of missed chances. Emmet Spiers proved to be the match winner for the Derry lads with the winning point with the last kick of the game moments after Eoghan Musgrave had levelled matters.
Callum Leacock opened the scoring for St.Pius X but centre half back Larry Shields levelled matters before Feidhlim O’Hagan edged St.Joseph’s in front. Musgrave and Shields then exchanged points before a brace from Leacock helped the Magherafelt School establish a 0-4 to 0-3 lead. That proved to be their last score of the opening period however as St.Joseph’s finished strongly.
After a few wides they found their shooting boots as Eoghan Donnelly registered twice before centre half forward Emmett Heagney got his name on the scoresheet to leave it 0-6 to 0-4 at halftime.
While both sides may have been guilty of missed chances the quality continued to be good with playing switching from end to end. O’Hagan had the opening score of the second half but then St.Pius X struck for the only goal of the game through Leacock to leave it all square.
Donnelly edged St.Joseph’s back in front only for midfielder Caodhan Kane to bring St.Pius X back on level terms. Going into the final quarter it was obvious that this was a game that was going right to the wire but when Donaghmore moved two in front thanks to scores from Sean Og O’Donnell and Ben O’Neill it looked as though they could make a decisive break.
Magherafelt though refused to panic with Musgrave narrowing the ap to the minimum before the same player fired over the equaliser. With time running out Heagney put St.Joseph’s back in front but the real drama was still to come. As Magherafelt pushed for the equaliser they were repelled by a couple of good defensive blocks but the referee then adjudged that the ball had been touched on the ground and Musgrave converted the resulting free.
St.Joseph’s won possession from the next kickout but they were blown for holding onto the ball too long and when the resulting free was taken quickly Musgrave was picked out unmarked and he duly slotted over the winning score.
St.Pius X scorers: C Leacock 1-3, E Musgrave 0-4, C Kane 0-1, E Spiers 0-1
St.Joseph’s scorers: E Donnelly 0-3, L Shields 0-2, F O’Hagan 0-2, E Heagney 0-2, S Og O’Donnell 0-1, B O’Neill 0-1
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