Heartbreak for Abbey VS as St Pat’s Maghera take MacRory Cup victory by a point

It was severe heartbreak for the Abbey Vocational School who lost out to a strong St Pat's Maghera side in the 2025 MacRory final by one point in an exciting game in Celtic Park on Sunday afternoon.

The pitch was flooded with the blue and white of the Derry College by the time the final whistle blew in the Bogside to secure St Pat's their 17th MaCrory Cup with a one-point win over the Donegal side appearing in their first Ulster A decider, as well as being the first Donegal to appear in the prestigious final since 1961.

Pádraig Haran led the way from midfield, while Cormac Óg McCloskey and Gabhan McIvor came up trumps in the second half, took the game by the scruff of the neck, and edged their side into the lead.

While the Donegal school led for the majority of the game, McCloskey kicked his side into the lead for the first time with 15 minutes to go, and while there was only one point between the sides in the end, St Pat's looked far the better side in the second half and dominated the proceeding despite certain moments of fightback from the AVS.

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It was a dream start for the Abbey Vocational School who raised a green flag as their first score on the second minute.  

It started following a super turnover from corner-back Eoghan O’Neill which saw the ever-present Kevin Muldoon dart and twist between three St Pat’s before playing it off to Conor McCahill who busted the net to give the Donegal Town an early three-point lead. 

St Pat’s eventually settled and showed that they could move the ball through the hands at speed when Finbarr McShane linked up with corner-back Niall McNicholl and finished with the unmarked Gabhan McIvor striking over the bar with ease. 

Muldoon and McCahill were proving unstoppable in the opening 10 minutes – their link-up was simply superb. Turlough McHugh was caught in possession in his own half leaving space for Muldoon to turn over the St Pat’s player, and race into space, before having the vision to play it again to McCahill who found his second goal when he was left one-on-one with goalkeeper Jack McCloy, giving the Derry All-Ireland winner no chance. 

While key players like the Carr brothers, Turlough and Tomás, were being well marshaled, it left space for McCahill to punish his opposition team and fire over. 

Darragh O’Neill was able to settle his side with a fisted point, but their first key attack came on the 21st minute when the St Pat’s men broke through with Rian Collins driving the ball at the net only for O’Neill to come to the rescue with a diving bloke from distance with his foot, however, Marc McGurk was on hand with the rebound but his goal shot just skimmed the wide of the post. 

St Pat’s were starting to dominate the kickouts and that winning of possession gave them another goal chance when Odhrán Doherty struck the ball straight at Lewis McCaughan who kept his side in the lead. 

Padraig Haran was the man leading the way in this final in winning primary possession for the Derry College and setting up Darach McGonigle and Cormac Óg McCloskey to raise a white flag between them, as Abbey looked to be chasing shadows by this point. 

And even though Abbey had gone 20 minutes to this point without a score, Turlough Carr led the way with a captain’s shot firing over a super score from a distance of 40 metres on what proved to be the final act of the half as the Donegal side maintained their lead at the break with a 2-2 to 0-4 advantage. 

Abbey was caught sleeping in the opening minutes of the second half with McCluskey nailing over two and Darragh Doherty firing over with ease to make it a one-point game as the Derry side started to look the much sharper side and were completely controlling midfield. 

McIvor landed his second of the day from distance to bring the sides level for the first time as Abbey struggled to find options, while St Pat’s turned the Donegal men over with ease. 

McCloskey edged St Pat’s into the lead for the first time in the match when he kicked over the first free of the day while McShane made it a two-point game when his shot slided over the crossbar as it started to look like the Derry College’s day at this point. 

Darragh Doherty was showing how easy it was coming for the St Pat’s men at this point when he kicked over from a tricky angle to make it a three-point game but the leaders were dealt a significant blow when full-back Pádraig O’Kane was black carded on the 53rd minute for a pull down on McCahill who slotted over in what was his side’s first score of the second half. 

The numerical disadvantage didn’t seem to trouble the Pat’s side as substitute Kevin Barry Mullan put it back to a three-point game before Tomás Carr fired over from distance as the match entered injury time with Pat’s leading by two. 

Turlough Carr drove the ball over from distance to make it a one-point game, and while the Abbey had one final chance to bring the match to a replay, the Donegal Town men couldn't get their shot away as St Pat's captured their 17th MacRory Cup title.

Abbey Vocational School scorers: Conor McCahill 2-2, 1f; Turlough Carr 0-2; Tomás Carr 0-1. 
St Pat’s Maghera scorers: Cormac Óg McCloskey 0-4, 1f; Gabhan McIvor and Darragh Doherty 0-2 each, Darragh O’Neill, Darach McGonigle, Finbarr McShane and Kevin Barry Mullan 0-1 each. 

Abbey Vocational School: Lewis McCaughan; Eoghan O’Neill, Aidan Quinn, Daniel McGinty; Cian Gavigan, Patrick McGonagle, Oisin Brogan; Tiarnán McBride, Theo Colhoun; Tomás Carr, Turlough Carr, Oisín Doherty; Conor McCahill, Eoghan Gallagher, Kevin Muldoon. Subs: Ethan McCrea for Quinn (40); Thomas Lenehen for Gallagher (45); Darragh Griffin for Colhoun (48).

St Patrick’s College, Maghera: Jack McCloy; Rian Collins, Pádraig O’Kane, Niall McNichol; Darragh Doherty, Pádraig Haran, Darragh O’Neill; Cahal McKaigue, Odhrán Doherty; Finbarr McShane, Turlough McHugh, Marc McGurk; Gabhan McIvor, Darach McGonigle, Cormac Óg McCloskey. Subs: Kevin Barry Mullan for Odhrán Doherty (36); Dara O’Kane for McGurk (56); Daithí McCloskey for McHugh (60); Sean O'Kane for McNicholl (63). 

Referee: Mark Loughran (Tyrone)