'I think we put in our best 60 minutes of football all season' - Stuart McFadden

The occasion wasn’t lost on the Abbey Vocational School team manager Stuart McFadden following his side’s historic MacRory Cup semi-final win over Donegal Southwest in Ballyshannon on Saturday afternoon. 

For the first time since St Eunan’s College did it back in 1961, a Donegal team will be present in the prestigious Ulster A football final following the Abbey’s 0-12 to 0-10 point win in Fr Tierney Park. 

McFadden encapsulated the occasion perfectly following his side’s gritty win when he spoke to the press immediately after the match: “To say that we’re in a MacRory Cup final, it sounds good, doesn’t it?” he said. 

The victory, shaped by a magnificent first-half display against the wind, saw Abbey lead 0-7 to 0-3 at the break. They dominated early proceedings with Turlough Carr, Tiarnan McBride, and Conor McCahill at the forefront of their charge.  

McCahill opened the scoring five minutes in, setting the tone for a half where Abbey’s movement and precision were unerring, while Kevin Muldoon, instrumental in both defence and attack, won crucial frees that McCahill and Oisin Doherty converted with composure. 

“We’re so proud of the boys and what they did today,” McFadden said. “People will always say we’re a good team, we’re fast, we’re pacey, all this, but we can dig in too.” 

Dig in they did, especially in the second half when Donegal Southwest, buoyed by the introduction of Patrick O’Donnell and the relentless efforts of Shane Callaghan, reduced the deficit to two points.   

“We had games in the past where we dropped off for 15 minutes or so we knew Southwest would come at us strong, and at some point, they would get on top,” he said. “But our boys defended brilliantly and we countered very well.” 

It was during this critical period that Abbey’s leaders stood tallest. Turlough Carr, whose playmaking had been instrumental all game, fired over a critical long-range point, while Doherty added another moments later.  

Muldoon’s tireless work saw Abbey regain a five-point cushion by the 49th minute, and though Southwest surged late, Abbey’s defence held firm in the frenetic closing stages. 

“Donegal Southwest wouldn’t go away easily, we said it at half-time when we were four points up, we were happy but we knew that we needed to bring another half hour of football, and the boys did that,” he said. 

“Our game sounds simple and effective and may be easy to stop, but in fairness, our boys are not easy to stop. Once they get ahead of steam, we know we have good running power down the middle and Conor McCahill and Eoghan Gallagher up front who are super at scoring, and if we can get scores on the board then we know we can beat anyone.” 

Regarding where the Abbey Vocational School sits now, they know they now stand on the brink of history as they reflect on how far they’ve come since their All-Ireland B title win last March. 

It’s something McFadden struggles to reflect on considering they entered the top competition in Ulster schools' football with such modest ambitions. 

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“I said during the week when I was asked what the ambition was at the start of the season. When I met the boys in September, the first thing I said was that we knew it was going to be hard coming up from McLarnon Cup level but we wanted to give it a go,” he said. 

“The objective was to win our first game, we did that, then it was to get out of the group, and we did that too. After that, to be honest, if we were playing football after Christmas then I was happy with the team. 

“We knew anything could happen in the knockout stages, we dug in and did well in the quarter-final, and then today in the semi-final, I think we put in our best 60 minutes of football all season. 

“The next two weeks in the school will be fantastic, the buildup will be nice. Hopefully, we can keep the boys away from a small bit of it but we’ll enjoy it.”