BY MATTHEW WILSON
ABBEY Vocational School coach Jamie Brennan expressed that with the quality left in the MacRory Cup, they will have to bring their A game if they are to advance in the competition.
The Donegal Town school are in MacRory Cup semi-final action this weekend courtesy of a six-point win over St Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt in the last eight.
Pauric O’Donnell’s men were three points adrift at the break in this quarter-final contest but they fought back after the restart to get over the line which Brennan was pleased about.
“It was a tough battle”, said Brennan. “The first half, a lot to be desired to be honest, there wasn’t good shot selection and anytime they attacked they seemed to knife through us pretty easily.
“It was a matter of trying to get a plan in place at half-time. There were a lot of good footballers out there, a lot of them understand the game and can figure it out on the pitch. That’s really helpful and we’re just trying to facilitate it.
“These lads are coming from a really high standard, we’ve three clubs involved and it’s just trying to give them a bit of guidance along the way. It was great to get over the line and we’ll look forward to the semi-final.”
The Abbey Vocational School sparked into life in the second stanza, with Thomas Lenihan’s 35th minute major being the catalyst of their comeback.
They found some momentum after this goal from the corner-forward and it was closely followed by some more big scores, including two orange flags from Lewis McCaughan, to leave them firmly in the driving seat.
“Exactly, at this age and this level it’s while momentum and momentum can swing games usually. That gave us a bit of a platform to go at their kickouts more, we got a couple of breaks and drew some fouls. Luckily Lewis was able to kick them so we’ll just look forward to the semi-final.”
Pauric O’Donnell’s outfit will now face St Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon in the last four this Sunday in Donegal (Venue TBC), with a 2pm throw-in scheduled.
It’s the school’s second semi-final appearance in succession and they’ll be aiming to make it back-to-back appearances in the decider with a win on Sunday aftenoon.
The Dungannon school ran out narrow one-point winners over Our Lady’s, Castleblaney in the quarter-finals, a side the Abbey Vocational School overcame in the group stage.
Brennan discussed that the group have a lot to work on from their quarter-final encounter and with the quality of sides left in the competition, they’ll have to be at their best to come out on top.
“We’ve loads to work on. The game was videoed so we’ll have loads of dissecting to do and a lot to work on. We’re pleased that there’s so much more to work on and we’ll just get the heads down.
“There’s a lot of good teams left in this competition now so we’ll really have to be on our best game.”
