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St Joseph’s claim famous victory in Arthurs Cup

Thursday 03.03.2011
Team Talk Mag
Club


IT’S ALL OVER!!! Coalisland are the Arthurs Cup champions for 2011 following a thrilling 2-7 to 0-8 victory over St Mark’s Warrenpoint at the Athletic Grounds. After racing into an eight point lead with some scintillating football, highlighted by two superbly taken goals from Daniel Lowe, St Joseph’s then had to dig deep for the rest of the match as St Mark’s delivered five points in a row to put serious pressure on the Coalisland defence. But the Tyrone champions somehow weathered the storm, thanks in no small part to two great saves by Shane Hanna and an earlier outstanding block by Caolan Corr, and there was a huge sense of relief when St Joseph’s ended almost 28 minutes without a score with the last two points of the game to seal a brilliant five point win over a strong and determined St Mark’s outfit…

St.Joseph’s Coalisland – S Hanna, J Donnelly, C Corr, T Bayne, D McKenna, R McHugh, Conor Quinn, M Quinn [0-1], S Donnelly, D Devlin, C Morgan, G Quinn, D Lowe [2-3], D Magee [0-2], Cahir Quinn. Sub – D Robinson [0-1] for G Quinn

Coalisland finally take some of the pressure off with a long awaited score from the unstoppable Daniel Lowe, who points with his weaker left foot to end a long barren spell for his side, and then seconds later substitute Donal Robinson sends over another point for St Joseph’s to leave five points between the teams, with Cahir Quinn also hitting the Warrenpoint post seconds later. Things are looking much better again for St Joseph’s whose supporters have been breathing a huge sigh of relief following those couple of badly needed points…

There are now just seven minutes to go and Coalisland have their goalkeeper Shane Hanna to thank for a superb double save which prevented Conor Doyle and then Neil O’Hare from grabbing an equalising goal for Warrenpoint who are bombarding St Joseph’s in these closing minutes. Coalisland are hanging on to a rapidly diminshing lead and could really do with a score to relieve some of this sustained pressure from the Down team…

The pressure is increasing rapidly on the Tyrone representatives who are now just three points ahead with ten minutes to go in this exciting Ulster final. Some well taken frees from Cory Quinn and Conor Doyle have significantly altered the complexion of the game and Warrenpoint, who now trail by 2-5 to 0-8, are very much in the ascendancy as we enter the closing stages, Coalisland still awaiting their second score of the half…

It’s now twelve minutes into the second half and Coalisland haven’t pushed on since Daniel Lowe’s second goal just after the interval. While Coalisland have failed to add to their tally in the last 11 minutes, Cory Quinn has pointed for St Mark’s at the opposite end to make it 2-5 to 0-4 in favour of the Tyrone champions. It remains a healthy lead for St Joseph’s but they will want to get another score on the board soon…

GOAL!!! The second half isn’t even a minute old but there’s just no stopping All-Star Daniel Lowe on what is turning out to be a memorable day so far for St Joseph’s Coalisland. Rian McHugh sends a long range free towards goal and Daniel Lowe wins the ball, then beats two men and shoots to the Warrenpoint net to propel his team into a 2-5 to 0-3 lead. It will now take a mighty effort from St Mark’s Warrenpoint to turn this one around but there’s still a long way to go and Coalisland must keep going as they have been doing…

It’s half time at the Athletic Grounds and after a quiet enough opening quarter, in which St Joseph’s scored just a solitary point in the very first minute, their management duo of Richard Thornton and Dermot Daly will be absolutely delighted with the way their team came alive in that second quarter as they registered another 1-4 to gain a very useful 1-5 to 0-3 cushion at the halfway stage. Daniel Lowe has been outstanding in attack, while Daryl Magee has led by example and Darren Devlin has also impressed up front. Macauley Quinn has got through some great work in midfield and Rian McHugh, who has thankfully recovered from that injury, Dwayne McKenna and Caolan Corr have been real stars in defence, with Corr’s block one of the highlights of that opening half…

Coalisland extend their lead to five points as team captain Daryl Magee converts a free he won himself, but moments earlier there was a real scare for St Joseph’s as Warrenpoint full forward Darren Mynes expertly fielded a long range free from Gareth Caulfield and looked certain to hit the back of the Coalisland net only for an amazing block by Derrytresk full back Caolan Corr…

Daniel Lowe is on fire for St Joseph’s and is the outstanding player in this final so far as he polishes off another 40 metre run with a great score to extend Coalisland’s lead, although this is soon followed by another good point from Caulfield at the other end to leave it 1-4 to 0-3 in Coalisland’s favour. The play is currently stopped with five minutes left in the first half as Coalisland’s All-Star Rian McHugh receives treatment for an injury which hopefully won’t end his involvement in this final…

GOAL!!! Coalisland are really flying now as a tidy build up results in Gerard Quinn launching the ball towards goal and when the Warrenpoint keeper fails to hold it, Daniel Lowe pounces in great style to palm the ball to the net, giving St Jospeh’s a vital 1-3 to 0-2 advantage. The Tyrone lads have now scored 1-2 in a very short time and are well on course for the victory they so desperately want…

Coalisland hit two points in quick succession as Daniel Lowe scores a brilliant individual point following a 40 metre run, which brings the sides level, and then a minute later Daryl Magee sends in a high ball which the St Mark’s keeper nearly drops into the net but a poor clearance paves the way for Magee to score an excellent point at the second attempt…

The third score of the match arrives in the 13th minute but it goes the way of St Mark’s as Gareth Caulfield delivers a fine score from the right wing to give the Down outfit a 0-2 to 0-1 lead. Both sides have recorded two wides so far and defences have been on top in the opening quarter, with Caolan Corr and Dwayne McKenna doing well for Coalisland who haven’t scored since the opening minute of the game…

The score remains unchanged after ten minutes as both sides attempt to settle down and produce the kind of football that got them through to the Ulster final. There is lots at stake for these young lads and neither side has found their rythm in the opening stages…

Stewartstown’s Macauley Quinn gets St Joseph’s Coalisland’s challenge off to a superb start with a great point after just 23 seconds but it soon becomes clear that this is going to be a tough battle all the way as Cory Quinn equalises for St Mark’s Warrenpoint from a 5th minute free, making it one point apiece in the early exchanges…

Teamtalkmag.com is bringing you updates every five minutes from the 2011 Arthurs Cup final at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh, which has just got underway. St Joseph’s Coalisland are flying the Tyrone flag in this year’s decider and are facing St Mark’s Warrenpoint for the right to represent Ulster on the All-Ireland stage. It’s ten years since St Joseph’s last captured the Ulster Under-16 Vocational Schools title and they have won this title three times in their history, winning two All-Irelands in the process. St Mark’s have been Arthurs Cup champions no fewer than eight times and All-Ireland winners a total of seven times, but 1997 was their last provincial success, so both schools are hoping to bridge a considerable gap today. Coalisland defeated last year’s All-Ireland champions Holy Trinity in the Tyrone semi-final before taking the county title with a comprehensive win over Dean Maguirc College. In Ulster they have disposed of the challenges of St Joseph’s Enniskillen and Rosses, Dungloe, although it took extra time to see off the Donegal side in the provincial semi-final. Key players for St Joseph’s today include the three players who were awarded Vocational Schools All-Stars in Tyrone last night – Daniel Lowe, Daryl Magee and Rian McHugh. Full back Caolan Corr, Dwayne McKenna, Macauley Quinn and Shane Donnelly are also important players for the Tyrone champions, while in attack much depends on the team captain and top scorer, Daryl Magee, plus Darren Devlin and Cahir Quinn.

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