The St Paul’s team which defeated Omagh CBS in their first game of the Danske Bank Ulster Colleges MacRory Cup. 

St Paul’s, Bessbrook, kicked off their Danske Bank Ulster Colleges MacRory Cup campaign with a hard fought win against Omagh CBS.

The match, which was played at St Paul’s, Lurgan, opened with St Paul’s flying out of the traps and scoring in the first few minutes of play with a superb point by midfielder Shane Conlon.

Micheál McNamee followed up the opening score, with a swiftly slotted point over the bar and a complementary free kick. Omagh CBS hit back with two points from free kicks leaving the score at 0-03 – 0-02 to St Paul’s after fifteen minutes.

St Paul’s edged ahead of Omagh CBS, with another point from an on form midfielder Shane Conlon, and Aaron McKay made it 0-05 to 0-02 at half time with a terrific point from play.

Omagh CBS finished the second half with a free kick resulting in another wide, which concluded their fourth wide in the first half of free kicks.

Half time: St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook 0-05   Omagh CBS 0-02

The second half opened with a point from Shea Hoey of St Paul’s, which was quickly returned by a free kick, plus two points from open play by Omagh CBS.  Omagh CBS then started to get a foothold in the game with the scores at 0-06 to 0-05 after 36 minutes.

St Paul’s held on to their one point lead with some outstanding defensive displays from all over the field, including in the 41^st  minute which saw a decisive moment in the game as Jody McGovern smashed the ball into the back of the net, along with Micheál McNamee scoring his fourth point of the game to make the scores 1-08- to 0-06.

However Omagh CBS responded with two points of their own to reduce the deficit. Ryan Hughes from St Paul’s then hit back with an outstanding long range effort for a point.

Both teams exchanged points throughout this stage of the match however St Paul’s in the later stages of the match came through very strong with two points from Jarly Óg Burns and a point from Jody McGovern to see off Omagh CBS.

Full time: St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook 1-12   Omagh CBS 0-10

St Paul’s Scorers: Jody McGovern 1-1, Micheál McNamee 0-4, Shane Conlon 0-2, Jarly Óg Burns 0-2, Aaron McKay 0-1, Shea Hoey 0-1, Ryan Hughes 0-1.

Omagh CBS team that played St Paul’s, Bessbrook in their opening game of the Danske Bank Ulster Colleges MacRory Cup.