“Not easy to talk about it” - Tiarnan McBride after MacRory final defeat

It’s not easy to talk about it. There is no other way to  put it. It would be nicer to be up there,” said Tiarnan McBride as he watched the presentation of the MacRory Cup to St Pat’s, Maghera in Celtic Park on Sunday evening.

The big midfielder was one of the Abbey Vocational School players who was able to match the physicality of the strong Maghera side, who recovered after being hit by a majestic Abbey VS opening quarter which yielded 2-1,

St Pat’s, Maghera were still four points adrift at the break - 2-2 to 0-4 - but they dominated the second half to go three clear. 

But Abbey VS finished strongly to cut the lead to the minimum and they almost got a goal late in the contest when McBride was inches away from connecting with an Oisin Doherty cross.

“It was our last chance and it was close to my hand. We got a few good scores at the end but they don’t matter now.”

The defeat will be the last game at the school for a number of the team including McBride, who will be heading to Third Level next September.

“It has been two straight years of just playing football but it is hard to lose like that in the end.”

Speaking of the victors, Maghera, McBride agreed that they were very strong around midfield.

“They are a big side. They had big boys around the middle. They were hard to get up with at times, hard to catch over.  A good few of the kick-outs were just pure contests and they won more of the breaks and that helped them to victory along the way.”

The achievement of getting to the MacRory final in their first year in the competition was not lost on McBride.

“For a school from Donegal to be at this level; it hasn’t happened in 64 years and it hasn’t happened in that time for a reason. There’s no other way to put it. We definitely can go home with our heads held high.

“We lost up here two years ago in a similar way to Carrickmore; we lost by a goal and they were playing in the MacLarnon, so that just shows the progression we have made. We are just gutted.

“We will have a hard learning from today.We have had a few defeats at the school, but hopefully we will have another bite at them somewhere down the line.”

The camaraderie and friendships garnered over the time at Abbey VS will remain.

“We know a lot about each other and in fairness to come up and lose by a point in the MacRory final, it doesn’t happen every day. To play together as a team, there will be good memories,” said a very despondent McBride.