St Eunan’s College flourish in MacLarnon Cup opener

St Eunan’s College 1-27

Aquinas Belfast 2-11

BY MATTHEW WILSON

St Eunan’s College commenced their MacLarnon Cup campaign with a convincing victory over Aquinas Belfast in Maghera on Wednesday afternoon.

The Letterkenny school led by three at the interval however, a very impressive Act Two display saw them ease over the line.

St Eunan’s College enjoyed a bright start to this encounter, racing into an early seven-point advantage.

The opening score of the contest came after two minutes, with Cathal Doherty finding the target.

Further scores from Matthew Enright (2), Evan Hickey, Pauric Devine, Paul Mullen and Callum McGilloway left them seven to the good on the quarter hour mark.

It took Aquinas Belfast 18 minutes to get off the mark on Wednesday afternoon, with Rhys Bray fisting an effort between the posts.

They began to find their rhythm however, as Conn Huston added a second point shortly afterwards before they landed a major.

Valo Martilla raced through and squared the ball across goal where Jacko Watson was on hand to palm home.

Further white flags courtesy of JJ Higgins and Jacko Watson left us all square on 25 minutes.

The Letterkenny school responded well though, with a trio of points through Shea Boyle, Cathal Doherty and Evan Hickey leaving them three ahead at the break.

The Antrim men kicked the opening score of Act Two, with Conn Huston seeing the orange flag raised for his effort 30 seconds after the restart.

However, St Eunan’s College hit back immediately in the form of a goal. Jonah Cannon made an immediate impact after being sprung from the bench by firing the ball beyond Owen McCrory.

Shea Boyle (two-pointer) and Callum McGilloway added further scores for the Donegal school before Jacko Watson landed a short-range free for the Belfast outfit.

Aaron McGinley and Conor Frazer traded scores before St Eunan’s began to push on, kicking nine points without reply.

This fruitful spell began with a good effort from full-back Liam McGinley before further scores courtesy of Callum McGilloway (two-pointer), Matthew Enright (2), Pauric Devine (2), Jonah Cannon and Evan Hickey left them with a 15-point advantage.

As we entered the closing ten minutes, JJ Higgins (2), Shea Boyle and Nathan Grant traded scores before the Belfast men hit the back of the net through Higgins.

This was closely followed by a fine point from James McEvoy however, the afternoon’s scoring was concluded by the Donegal school as Callum McGilloway landed another two-pointed free to cap off a fine afternoon.

Teams

St Eunan’s College: Cormac Crossan; Noah Casburn, Liam McGinley (0-1), Ronan Lynch; Jack Robinson, Evan Daly, Cathal Doherty (0-2); Callum McGilloway (0-6,2tpfs), Pauric Devine (0-3); Jack Duddy, Evan Hickey (0-3), Aaron McGinley (0-1); Paul Mullen (0-1), Matthew Enright (0-4), Shea Boyle (0-4,1tp). Subs: Jonah Cannon (1-1) for Mullen (35 mins), Michael Gallagher and Nathan Grant (0-1) for Duddy and Aaron McGinley (52 mins).

Aquinas Belfast: Owen McCrory; Oliver Quinn, Frank Heaney, Oscar O’Connor; Shane Bell, Conor Frazer (0-1), Darragh McQuaid; James McEvoy (0-1), Padhraig O’Hare; Conall Vaugh, JJ Higgins (1-3,2f), Rhys Bray (0-1); Jacko Watson (1-2,1f), Conn Huston (0-3,1tp), Valo Martilla. Subs: Rory McConnell for McQuaid (44 mins), Joseph Williams for Frazer (59 mins).

Referee: Keenan Canny