Schools GAA: Formidable big four Ulster schools get ready to rumble

Following their league success in November, St Paul’s Bessbrook may well be favourites for a first ever MacRory Cup title come March but nobody’s taking their eyes off a St Patrick’s Maghera side who have yet to show their full hand.

The 14-time champions are in pursuit of ‘three-in-a-row’, and a very average league campaign has been put down to the team being without a number of regulars due mainly to injuries, plus a number of their players being held back due to club and school hurling commitments.

Omagh CBS largely dominated the league; they went undefeated right up until the final where surprisingly they were quite comprehensively dismissed by St Paul’s.

Finalists the year before last, St Paul’s brand of attacking football, moving through the phases at pace, was displayed in all its glory during their 2-18 to 2-8 league final victory.

Their star player is Jarlath Óg Burns, a two-time Ulster All Star like his father before him, former Armagh stalwart Jarlath snr, is a commanding midfielder with impressive high-fielding capabilities.

Along with Omagh, St Patrick’s Cavan and Abbey CBS, St Paul’s have qualified directly into the championship quarter-finals having finished either first or second in the two league pools of 13 schools.

St Patrick’s Cavan won the Rannafast Cup two years ago, the equivalent of the southern provinces’ ‘junior’ grade, and much of the same team make up the current senior panel.

They haven’t reached a MacRory Cup since 1975 though, and haven’t won a title since 1972.

Such is the draw this year, that if league form is anything to go by and St Pat’s Maghera emerge at full strength then themselves, Omagh CBS, St Patrick’s of Cavan and St Paul’s, the four favourites for many, appear well set for the semi-final spots.

Yet in the year of the 93rd MacRory Cup and past that the 97th ever Ulster senior colleges title, none of the 12 teams in the competition can be disregarded. Such is the nature of Ulster football. For instance, St Mary’s Magherafelt boast the most 2015 Ulster All Stars, three of them, and they aren’t necessarily amongst the teams earmarked for glory at this point of the year. However they clearly contain the potential to beat any team on their day.

As for the stars of the competition, where to start? St Patrick’s Cavan’s Thomas Galligan and centre half back Cian McManus are ones to watch, Enniskillen’s Tyrone corner forward Lee Brennan is remarkably a three-time Ulster All Star and Pearse Óg McCrickard of St Colman’s Newry is a talented dual player with a big future ahead of him.

St Patrick’s Maghera typically carry within their ranks midfielder Conor Glass, arguably one of the most talented schools’ footballers nationwide.

In his third year starting on the school’s senior team, which has reached consecutive All-Ireland finals, the rangy midfielder’s performances to date have set him up for a career in the AFL where Hawthorn are reportedly the Derry youngster’s destination. His displays in this year’s competition are being eagerly anticipated as he missed much of the league through illness.

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