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Flanagan Leads the Way for St. Louis - 22/02/03
Bank of Ireland
McLarnon Cup Semi final
St. Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel
0-16 Loreto Convent Team1-04
 St.
Louis Grammar School. Kilkeel have once again created
a piece of history, they have qualified for the final
of the Bank of Ireland Ulster Colleges McLarnon Cup.
They will represent the Mournes and indeed, Down, on
Saint Patrick’s Day at Casement Park, as a curtain raiser
to the MaCrory Cup final. St. Louis qualified for their
first ever McLarnon Cup Final, by virtue of a magnificent
team performance in their victory over Loreto Convent,
Coleraine, in the quarter-final. However, they will
meet St. Colmb’s, Derry, a school steeped in the tradition
of Ulster Colleges Gaelic Football, win many victories
attached to their name. It will not be an easy task
ahead, but St. Louis have showed the rest of Ulster
what they are made of in recent years, with five titles
in four years, at various levels. It is certainly a
time of great excitement ‘up at the Convent’, but it
is certainly a case of hard work paying off by the dedicated
coaching staff and players at the school.
St. Louis went into this semi-final
tie as slight favourites having disposed of the competition
holders and favourites St. Michael’s Grammar School,
Lurgan, in the quarter-final. Loreto Convent, Coleraine,
for their part, managed to overcome a strong St. Patrick’s
High School, Keady side, which certainly would have
set the alarms off in the Kilkeel camp. The management
team of Peadar McLaughlin and Cahill Murray ensured
that their charges where well focussed on the game and
left no stone unturned in their rigorous preparation
for this semi-final tie.
The sun may have been shinning in the
impressive setting of Pomeroy, but the battle commenced
right from the first blast of the referee’s whistle.
The expected conflict between the St. Louis mid-field
pair of James Colgan and Kilkeel Captain, Aidan Flanagan,
with their Coleraine counterparts began immediately.
Although they tried hard, the Coleraine largely played
second fiddle the highly impressive Mournemen, who know
each other extremely well as the have partnered each
other of ‘many a team’ for An Riocht and both have also
played with the Down minor team. Whilst Colgan played
well in a more defensive role, Flanagan was able to
attack with great energy. In the opening ten minutes
Flanagan had notched up three points from frees to give
St. Louis a healthy start. The Coleraine defence, although
resolute, where finding the relentless attacking flair
of Martin Clarke and Ritchie Annett a lot to handle,
and resorted to conceding frees, which Flanagan was
only to happy to punish.
To suggest that this Loreto team were
going to be pushed over would have been naive in the
extreme. Coleraine replied with a fine point from a
free and should have added to their early tally, but
some poor finishing would leave them feeling frustration.
They did, however, manage a significant breakthrough
in the twelfth minute as Frank Kealy scrambled the ball
into the St. Louis goal, amidst some confusion. St.
Louis reacted with great composure, by soaking up the
renewed vigour of the Coleraine attack. It was at this
time when the Kilkeel defence showed what they were
made of as the full back line of Luke Howard, Michael
Sloan and Hugh Magee controlled their area with impressive
maturity.
With wing-half backs Eamon McConville
and Paul Sherry adding to the Kilkeel attack, St. Louis
gradually took control of the game again. St. Louis
lost the unfortunate Kevin Keenan after twenty minutes,
due to an injury sustained earlier in the year, which
it was obvious he had not fully recovered from. The
introduction of young Luke Toner, a member of the successful
Herald Cup side, injected new pace into the slick Kilkeel
attack. However, St. Louis, normally blessed with accurate
forwards, squandered a number of chances both from play
and from frees. A total of six wides were registered,
from what would be considered score-able opportunities
in the first half, in comparison to three from the Coleraine
attack. The presence of Glenn Burden proved at centre
half back proved a mighty obstacle to the counter-attacks
of Coleraine. A point from a free by Martin Clarke and
points from play from Flanagan and Ritchie Annett, gave
St. Louis a three-point lead going into the break.
Half time score – St. Louis 0-7, Loreto Convent, Coleraine
1-1.
The resumption of the second half was
hampered with the sort of shenanigans that have become
popular at inter county championship matches as Coleraine
remained in the changing rooms for a considerable time,
whilst Kilkeel waited eagerly on the pitch. After the
second half commenced, it was apparent that the pride
of the Loreto players had been hurt, as they ferociously
challenged for every ball in every area of the field.
An early Coleraine point was quickly cancelled out by
another Aidan Flanagan free after Martin Clarke was
robustly tackled by an increasingly stretched Coleraine
defence. However, in the opening ten minutes of the
second-half the St. Louis attack tormented Coleraine,
with Conor Murphy, Luke Toner and Sean Cunningham repelling
any breakouts. The lively Conor Annett ensured that
St. Louis were not going to as wasteful up front as
he scored two impressively taken individual points.
Luke Toner added to this with a fine point taken following
some great interplay involving Clarke and Conor Murphy.
Coleraine attempted to rally, but found
the St. Louis defence in mean form. Michael Sloan added
to his growing reputation with a solid performance at
centre full back, much to the frustration of the Derry
school. However, the Derry tactic of playing an extra
midfielder back-fired to a large extent as the result
was the positioning of Luke Howard to follow the player
and the Bryansford defender outplayed his opponent emphatically.
With Coleraine adding another point, St. Louis kept
looking to seal their victory with a goal. With the
introduction of James Cunningham into the Kilkeel attack,
the fluidity of the continued to pose problems for Coleraine.
They nearly scored the much sought after goal on two
occasions as full forward John Fitzpatrick saw his rebounded
effort roll frustratingly wide and substitute James
Cunningham drove a fierce shot into the side netting.
Further points from Flanagan and Clarke put further
distance between the teams as the gap rose to eight
points.
Paul Brennan in the St. Louis goal
had a reasonably quiet second half, much to the credit
of the defence in front of him, but the Glasdrumman
stopper did manage to get down to stop a threatening
low Derry shot, but dealt with this threat with a degree
of comfort. An injury forced the retirement of Luke
Toner and the introduction of the energetic Darren McAlinden
added a new impetus to the game. With St. Louis dominating
the proceedings in most areas of the pitch and especially
at midfield, the remainder of the game was played out
with relative ease by the Kilkeel side. Further points
from Clarke and Flanagan (2 frees), confirmed their
superiority.
St. Louis had finished this semi-final
winners, by a nine point margin and the result was a
fair reflection on the game as a whole. Over the hour
the St. Louis defence conceded only four points, with
one being from a free. They had also conceded a goal,
which would normally have been cleared with ease, but
generally the defence can be pleased with their afternoon’s
work. The performances of Michael Sloan, Glen Burden,
Eamon McConville and Paul Sherry justified their selection
in the Down minors teams over the past year. However,
the quality of play from Luke Howard and the young Hugh
Magee, would suggest that the County squad may yet have
a few additions. The dominance of James Colgan and Aidan
Flanagan in the middle of the park was awesome, they
will surely pose a great threat to St. Colm’s in the
final. The Kilkeel attack must be more clinical with
their finishing, yet have proved quite a handful to
all the defences in this competition so far. A dozen
wides should be put in the context of the quality of
the opposition, as the Coleraine defence stuck doggedly
to its task. The absence of the young but influential
Bryansford and Down attacker Joseph Ireland has been
a major blow to St. Louis, but the other players have
rallied to the cause. Coaches Peadar McLoughlin and
Cahil Murray have built up a strong panel and their
quality in evident when substitutions are made.
This semi-final victory was a proud
day for the parents and pupils of the St. Louis. Gaelic
football is certainly on a high in the school as the
BT Herald Cup has already been captured this year, with
another victory over the unfortunate Loreto Convent,
Coleraine. It is probable that the Gaels from the Mourne
clubs of An Riocht, Ballymartin, Attical, Longstone
and Glassdrumman as well as Rostrevor, Warrenpoint,
Castlewellan and Bryansford, will now mark St. Patrick’s
day in their diary, with Casement Park, Belfast being
their likely destination. This team is capable of winning
this competition and bring the McLarnon Cup to the Mourne
school for the first time.
St. Louis Team;
Paul Brennan (Glassdruman), Luke Howard (Byransford),
Michael Sloan (An Riocht), Hugh Magee (Longstone), Eamon
McConville (Rostrevor), Glen Burden(Longstone), Paul
Sherry (An Riocht), James Colgan (An Riocht), Aidan
Flanagan (An Riocht) Captain 0-8, Sean Cunningham (Attical)
0-1, Kevin Keenan (An Riocht), Conor Murphy (Brynasford),
Ritchie Annett (An Riocht) 0-3, John Fitzpatrick (Ballymartin),
Martin Clarke (An Riocht) 0-3.
Subs; Luke Toner (Castlewellan) 0-1
for Keenan (18), James Cunningham (An Riocht) for Murphy
(45), Darren McAlinden (An Riocht) for Toner(53), Barry
Lawless (Warrenpoint), Eamon Trainor (Bryansford), Fergal
Doyle (An Riocht), Kieth Morgan (Attical), Mark Rafferty
(Bryansford), Francis Meddlicott (Rostrevor), Luke Byrne
(Bryansford), Joseph Ireland (Bryansford).
Loreto Convent Team;
Gareth Mullan, Ciaran Rainey, Daniel Bradley,
Brian Óg McAlary, Eoin McCluskey, Sean McMahon,
Aidan Rainey, Sean Paul Henry, Paddy McGill, Mark Quinn,
Frank Kealy (1-2),Paddy McAlary, Sean Leo McGoldrick
(0-2), Eugene Mullan, Kevin Boyle.
Subs; Lórcan McCluskey for PMcGill (38)
St. Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel would
like to thank An Riocht for the use of their jersey’s
for the semi-final as there was a clash of colours.
Gratitude is also expressed to the Bryansford club,
who also provided the school with the use of their jerseys
in case they were needed.
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