By Michael McMullan

SEAN Marty Lockhart hailed the St Patrick’s Maghera grit and spirit after Sunday’s MacRory Cup victory.

Including their shared title with St Colman’s in 2020, it was the 17th success and Joint Manager Lockhart – their winning captain 30 years ago –   couldn’t find the words to describe the feeling.

“Maghera just love doing entertainment, they make life hard for themselves, but we came through in the end,” he said, referring to Abbey hitting 2-1 in the rampant first quarter.

With their cornerstone being their defence, it wasn’t something they’d contemplated.

“It happened and it was a good time to happen,” said Lockhart, an All-Star defender for both college and county.

“We still knew we had the footballers to come back in the game and we pegged it back to four points (2-2 to 0-4) to half time.”

After getting to grips with the pace of Abbey’s counter-attack, Maghera were able to engineer attacks at the other end but were wasteful.

Shots spun wide. Balls came down off the post into a red jersey. Abbey players threw themselves on the line to repel goal chances.

The was some home truths relayed by the Maghera management at half-time before they put in place their second half plans.

It was a fine balance between chasing a four-point lead and closing the door on any further Abbey goal threats.

Maghera’s half back line made the Abbey playmakers defend. Cahal McKaigue stayed with Tiarnán McBride drifting from midfield to full forward where he had made the Ulster final winning goal for Four Masters.

Finbarr McShane and Padraig O’Kane would eventually win their battles with Kevin Muldoon and Conor McCahill. Add in points from Cormac Óg McCloskey and Darragh Doherty.

“The first 10 minutes of the second half was phenomenal, we brought the game back to two points, one point in then a draw,” Lockhart said of the turnaround.

“We pushed on from there and we were three up and still missed chances. Then, they came down the field and we got a black card in the last 10 minutes.

“It was true Maghera spirit; true Maghera grit and we pulled through in the end.”

Lockhart also referenced how they pressed the Abbey kick-outs like they didn’t do in the first half. There was also the element of risk in leaving O’Kane’s dual with McCahill as “one v one” until they could get support back.

“You have to take a risk sometimes,” he said. “Full credit to Finbarr (McShane) and Padraig (O’Kane) and all our defence.

“The boys sat down Friday morning and they went through each one of their (Abbey) players, their sidesteps, their runs, their tip-dummies

“They have scored 2-5, but I thought our defence was phenomenal, collectively phenomenal.”

With the game ebbing and flowing in the second half, Lockhart hailed the leadership of his side. Abbey were dangerous and clawing for a chance to get back in contention.

“There’s so many people to thank, like our backroom team,” he said.  “You have to acknowledge Willie McAteer and Chrissy McKaigue.

“Ollie Cummings, our Strength and Conditioning Coaches and Tiarnán McHugh (Video Analysis).

“You also have to acknowledge Martin McConnell, behind the scenes, doing a lot of organising  and PR work.

“You also have to thank Mrs Crilly (Principal). She has come through a tough time the last couple of weeks there.

“Today was just a blessing for her. She’s invested the time, she’s invested the money in the school, and she’s seeing the rewards now.”

We have a MacRory and MacLarnon Cup theme to this week’s Monday pod.