St Eunan’s College host Omagh CBS in MacRory Cup action

St Eunan’s College, Letterkenny, are back in MacRory Cup action tomorrow morning (Tuesday) when they host Omagh CBS. 

It will be an extra special occasion for boss Gary McDaid and a large chunk of his squad with the fixture being hosted at Glenswilly’s Pairc Naomh Columba.

The Letterkenny students were defeated 2-14 to 1-8 in their opening game of the competition when they lost away at St Patrick’s College, Cavan. This time out, McDaid says his young charges are up against one of the competition’s real favourites. 

“It’s a young MacCrory side this season but it’s fantastic experience for them,” he said. “Only five sixth years started first day out against St Patrick’s. Ten fourth and fifth years, as well as the five subs we used, made up the rest. 

“MacRory Cup is the cream of the crop in Ulster at this level. And Omagh are probably second favourites for the competition behind Magherafelt. They have seven starters from Tyrone’s minor side which defeated Donegal back in summer. 

“Ruairi McCullagh and Eoin McElholm are the two standout performers - they are real class acts. And Pat McNabb, their manager, has good Donegal connections as well. He’d have coached both MacCumhaills and St Eunan’s at different stages in recent times.”

On home comforts and the choice of venue, McDaid said: “It’s a rare enough thing, a home MacRory Cup game. Much of that has to do with our location. A 40-mile radius is taken into account in terms of being awarded a home group game.  

“We’ve had home knockout games in the past with the likes of the Burn Road and O’Donnell Park being used. It’s nice to be going out to the Glen now as well. Glenswilly got to the last two minor finals so our side is kinda backboned by that group. 

“Like I said, it’s a huge task but we are really looking forward to the challenge. These lads will all benefit from this kind of competition and standard.” 

St Eunan’s College squad: Mark Markey (Letterkenny Gaels), Luca Barrett (St Eunan’s), Noah Barrett (St Eunan’s), Aaron Bonner (Letterkeny Gaels), Mark Bonner (Glenswilly), Oran Canning (Glenswilly), Ciaran Cassidy (Termon), Sean Daly (St Eunan’s), Conor Doherty (St Eunan’s), Eoghan Doherty (St Eunan’s), Bryan Drum (St Eunan’s), Adam Duffy (Letterkenny Gaels), Shane Ellison (St Eunan’s), Darragh Enright (Glenswilly), Eoin Flanagan (Naomh Colmcille), Aidan Friel (Glenswilly), Daithi Gallagher (Glenswilly), Gareth Gallagher (Termon), Jack Gallagher (St Eunan’s), Danny Harkin (Letterkenny Gaels), Lorcan Harvey (St Eunan’s), David Horgan (St Eunan’s), Padraig Hughes (St Eunan’s), John Kealy (St Eunan’s), Johnny Lambe (St Eunan’s), Finnian Lynch (Letterkenny Gaels), Shay Maloney (St Eunan’s), Jamie McCauley (Glenswilly), Donal McDermott (Naomh Muire, Convoy), Emmett McGettigan (Termon), Oisin McGarvey (Glenswilly), Rian Nibbs (Termon), Brendan O’Hagan (Clan na Gael, Lurgan), Darragh Patton (Naomh Muire, Convoy), Killian Sampson (Letterkenny Gaels), Rowan Smith (Letterkenny Gaels), Michael Sweeney (Letterkenny Gaels), Shane Tinney (Glenswilly), Mikey Toner (Glenswilly), Patrick Ward (Glenswilly).