On Monday 24th June we celebrated the achievements of our KS3 pupils at our annual Junior Prizegiving Ceremony. Guest speaker for the event was past pupil Grace Conneely. Grace qualified as a pharmacist and is now working in Antrim Area Hospital. Those in attendance were delighted to hear of her time at school and her career pathway.
Pupils were rewarded for their effort and achievement in their subjects and through extra- curricular activities along with excellent attendance. For the Year 10 pupils this marked the end of Junior school as they now prepare to enter KS4 and their GCSE pathways.
Congratulations to Year 10 pupils, Grace McCullagh who was awarded the Hugh Rafferty Memorial Cup, Áine Mullan who received the KS3 Achievement Award. Most Endeavour award went to Cara Harte and the Joseph McKernan Cup was received by Marcus Conway.
Congratulations to our Camogs who have had such success making history this academic year by winning three Ulster titles in Camogie. Success came in victories over Bailieborough Community School, Co. Cavan in both the U–14 and U–16 Ulster Finals and in the Senior Girls’ Ulster Final, the ‘Dean’ defeated St. Joseph’s High School, Crossmaglen, Co. Armagh.
We look forward to recognising these achievements at our Celebration if Sporting Achievement on June 2oth in The Patrician, Carrickmore.
Dean Maguirc College booked its place in the final of The Corn Colmcille competition (U13.5) by beating Abbey Vocational School on Friday past at Irvinestown’s Bawnacre centre. Having topped the qualifying group with victories over St. Louis’ Ballymena, St. Ciaran’s Ballygawley and St Joseph’s Donaghmore, The Dean entered the semi final on Friday as slight favourites over its Donegal counterparts.
Weather conditions were not ideal as the players took to the pitch but both teams adapted well to the wet ball and produced high quality football from the outset. It was Abbey who impressed most in the early exchanges and got the first two scores on the board. The Dean duly upped the tenacity in their tackling and this paid great dividends with them scoring a goal on the counter attack through ace marksman Brayden McNally. This team prides itself on gaining turnovers and they did this regularly during an excellent first half. Great pressure was applied to the Abbey kickout and The Dean were rewarded with scores from Marcus Conway and Mark Harte. From then on goals were on the mind of the attackers and they went on to score three from Pauric Broderick, Finbar Donaghy and Brayden McNally again. Abbey kept themselves in the game by scoring a goal after some great work from their half back line. At the half time break Dean Maguirc College were seven points in the ascendancy with a score line of 4.3 to 1.5.
The second half was a more cautious affair with The Dean seemingly more determined to hold on to the lead rather than extend it. They suffered for this in conceding two goals to Abbey, one of which was a penalty. Some substitutions brought fresh impetus to The Dean’s attack and one in particular, Matthew Meenagh, can count himself very unlucky to have had his goal disallowed. A goal each for Marcus Conway and Brayden McNally, alongside to a point from midfielder Lochlann Gillen paved the way for a nine point victory for Dean Maguirc winning by 6.6 to 3.6. They go on to play another Donegal school, St. Eunan’s Letterkenny, in the final which is due to take place on April the 20th, after the Easter holidays.
Also in attendance were two guest speakers, who needed no introduction, Martin Penrose and Stephen O’Neill. Both shared some of the experiences with the boys and provided grounded advise about playing in high pressure games. They emphasised the importance of a strong panel and the need to have prepared mentally for what lies ahead.
Dean Maguirc College would like to thank all of the club representatives, most of whom have Dean connections, for taking time out to attend the event. We would also like to thank both guest speakers for being so generous with their time and advise.
Club representatives..
Beragh : Niall and Paul Owens.(past pupils)
Loughmacrory: Ciaran Meenagh past pupil and current parent)
Greencastle: Sean Teague(current parent)
Killyclogher: Sean O’Kane .
Pomeroy: Enda Kilpatrick.
Carrickmore: Jonathan Monroe(Past pupil)
Dean Maguirc Carrickmore 3-8 Coláiste Cholmcille Ballyshannon 1-10
History was made at Roslea on Wednesday evening when Dean Maguirc Carrickmore won the Ulster Schools Markey Cup for the first time in their history with a deserved four point win over Coláiste Cholmcille Ballyshannon.
It was a superb game of football played on a perfect surface between two well drilled sides. The winners grabbed goals either side of halftime and while their opponents battled back the Dean were able to keep their noses in front. Dean keeper Kilian Kerr was called into action in the opening seconds to save well from Anton Govorov while he also blocked two follow ups as well. Kevin Cuddy opened the scoring before Sean Og Teague doubled Dean’s advantage but by the 11th minute the sides were level thanks to efforts from Aongas Sweeney and Ryan Barrett.
The Dean though were enjoyed a purple patch with Michael Rafferty, Pierce Byrne, James McCallan, Ronan Fox, Teague, Davagh Loughran and Aidan Woods all to the fore and efforts from Teague and Woods (2) moved them 0-5 to 0-2 in front. They missed a number of chances though and that allowed their opponents to reduce the deficit to the minimum with points from Jack Gallagher and Barrett. In the final attack of the first half though midfielder McCallan surged through and gave keeper Aaron Cullen no chance with a thumping shot to the top left hand corner of the net to leave it 1-5 to 0-4 at the break.
Things got even better for Dean Maguirc in the first attack of the second half when Woods finished in style to the bottom right hand corner of the net to give them a firm grip on proceedings. Loughran tagged on a point and at this stage it looked as though the Dean would assume complete control. The Donegal lads though had other ideas and a brace of points from Kyle McNulty was followed by a brilliant goal from Govorov in the 38th minute to leave just a single score between the sides.
Gallagher then reduced the gap to two and the momentum appeared to have turned until the Dean reasserted themselves. Mickey Joe McGlinchey got a vital point for he winners and that was quickly followed by a quality score from distance from Cuddy. With eight minutes to go substitute Callum Stewart gave the Dean some breathing space with their third goal. That proved to be their last score but they had done enough. Gallagher kicked a brace of points before being sent off while McNulty registered again but the night belonged to Dean Maguirc as they secured a fabulous and well deserved win.
Dean girls win Ulster U20 title
The under 20C colleges game between Dean Maguirc College and Largy College took place on Thursday at the Bawnacre centre, Irvinestown.
The Dean girls had come through two very tough games to qualify for the final. They beat Virginia College Cavan in the quarter final by 1pt after extra time and then St. Louis, Ballymena in the semi-final by 1pt in a replay after extra-time. The girls had shown real character to come through these battles. However, the team had lost Claire McGarrity through injury.
Winning such games stood to them going into the final. In the first half the girls played against a strong wind. The Dean started off well and went 2 points up, however, Largy College took control of the game and took full advantage of the wind and went 2-2 to 4 points up after 15 minutes. Once again the Dean girls dug deep and started to crawl their way back into the game. Maeve McCrystal was very influential during this period and scored 1-3 to bring the girls back into the game.
The game flowed from end to end and at half time only a single point separated them. Dean 1-06 to Largy 2-04.
The wind had a bearing on the second half and Largy college found it increasingly difficult to work the ball out of their defence. The dean team became more confident and started to dominate the play. The addition of Meaghan Clarke coming on further boosted the dean with her ability to run at the Largy defence. This helped settle the team and through Caitlin Gormley and player of the match Mairead McGarrity began to take control of the game. A few excellent frees from Sorcha Gormley helped the Dean pull away from their opponents and a late goal from Clodagh Munroe sealed the title.
Overall it was an excellent team performance and the girls now go onto to represent the school in the All-Ireland series. The game finished Dean Maguirc College 2-19 to Largy College 2-06.
Dean Team: Aoibh Kerr, Aoibhinn Daly, Sarah Devlin, Aimee McGuigan, Cloda McNamee, Eimear McGarrity, Mairead McGarrity, Leah McGuigan, Caoimhe Warnock (0-1), Alanagh McCallan (0-1), Caitlin Gormley (0-3), Sorcha Gormley (0-3), Mollie Clarke (0-1), Meave McCrystal (1-7), Clodagh Munroe (1-2): Subs used: Blaithnait Kerr, Meaghan Clarke (0-1), Aine Grimes, Laura Corcoran and Siofra Loughran. Caitlin Conway, Aine McPhillips, Seanna Clarke, Ebony-Leigh Johnston, Mary Gormley, Anna Sweeney, Maebh McGarrity, Aoibhean Kerr.
Yesterday our U14 Camogie team played Belfast West Gaels in the Ulster Final at Pearse Og park in Armagh. Not deterred by the fact that the Belfast team was a combination of pupils from St Genevieve’s high school and St Louise’s, Belfast, our girls played their hearts out in a very tough battle. A battle with both sides reluctant to give up even in the poor weather conditions.
Our captain and midfielder Aoibhinn Daly had an excellent game continuously feeding the ball in to the forward line, providing crucial set ups for scores. In the back line Mollie O’Hanlon provided a strong and comfortable position clearing the ball many times to hold the Gaels back. At half time both sides were even on a score of 1:2 each.
The girls knew that it was all to play for and any mistakes made could be a turning point in the game. Megan O’Hanlon sister of Mollie gained a penalty and scored a superb goal. The 3rd O’Hanlon sibling, Lucy O’Hanlon, stood strong in goals, providing many crucial saves. Both keepers on each side had tremendous games keeping the scores well down.
Although the conditions were far from perfect both teams fought hard to the final whistle. However it was the Dean girls who ensured a 2 point lead with 2 minutes to go resulting that on the final whistle DMC would bring another Ulster title back to Carrickmore, Final score DMC 2:3 West Belfast Gaels 1:4. A huge congratulations to the whole team on a very successful year of camogie.
The girls will now reflect on their successful year and begin preparation for the next round of competitions. A special mention and thanks to the girls coaches and mentors Miss McCann and Miss McArdle. Thanks also to the Eire Og club for allowing the girls to use their facilities during the year. Thanks also to Pearse Og club in Armagh and referee Shane Hughes.
The Dean U15.5 tewam won the McAvoy Cup, overcoming St Aidan’s Cootehill on a scoreline of Dean 3-7 Cootehill 2-7.
The game was played in the Pearse Og grounds in Armagh. Today was the 25th time this squad has met over the last 3 months and the result was a fitting reward for the effort forthcoming from all 28 players on the panel. Today we had a group of players collecting their fourth Ulster Title with the Dean, whilst others were collecting their first. However, the delight at the final whistle was the same for the ‘veterans’ of the team as it was for the ‘novices’. The first half was a cagey affair and was a story of missed chances for the Dean. At half time the score line was 1-3 each and it seemed the Dean had a mountain to climb in the second half playing against a strong breeze. However, climb that mountain the boys did and after a pulsating first 15 minutes of the second half the boys had built up a 9 point lead at one stage. Cootehill never gave up and rattled off 3 points in succession to leave 6 points in it in injury time. As Carrickmore supporters were calling for the final whistle Cootehill scored an excellently worked goal to leave only 3 points in it. The Dean won the following kick out of defence and were able to weather the storm and bring Ulster glory back to Carrickmore for the second time this year.