By Michael McMullan

COACH Ronan Devlin couldn’t believe the change in the St Mary’s, Magherafelt players when they reported for MacRory Cup duty in September.

He compared it to not seeing a nephew or cousin for a few years and seeing the “shocking change” in them.

“I saw them out on the pitch and I couldn’t get over how big some of them had got,” said Devlin.

“In lockdown, these boys don’t look like they played about on their PlayStations. They must’ve been running, they must’ve been gyming and they came back different animals completely.”

Devlin put the progress in the squad down to the clubs and the players themselves working away on their own bat.

“I am not a believer in flogging cubs for the sake of getting them fit,” he continued.

“When we left school two years ago, Tom Shivers was called wee Tom…now he is 6’ 1”, but I remember him in first year and he was a small cub.”

The school’s increased profile from their 2017 success, followed by a final place the following year, has added to the GAA reputation of St Mary’s. Devlin points to a great group of first years and a crop of ‘third and fourth’ years who have the potential to maintain their progress in the latter stages of the MacRory Cup in years to come.

“I totally think they all came here because of the success three or four years ago,” Devlin stated.

“Three finals out of five is not bad for a school that hasn’t got a big (MacRory) history. It has helped the buzz coming from down the school.”

A late vocation to the teaching profession, Devlin worked for seven years as a Development Officer between Tyrone GAA and Cookstown Council, with the remit of coaching GAA in primary schools.

Blaine Ryan, Shea Lawn, Shea Quinn and Jack Martin are among the Holy Trinity players lining out this weekend to avail of this coaching.

“I could’ve told you those boys would be brilliant footballers,” Devlin said. “It makes you feel old. I don’t know if the boys remember me or not, the boy who came in with a bag of footballs and took them out of class.”

This weekend, he will be part of the Magherafelt management team aiming to take away their MacRory hopes.