Clinical St Aidan’s race to second Ulster title

St Aidan’s 4-10 Largy College 2-11

A rampant second half performance in front of goal led St Aidan’s to another Ulster title as they saw off Largy College in the McEvoy Cup at Brewster Park on Thursday.

The sides went in level at halftime with captain Tomás Cathcart netting an early goal for the Derrylin school.

A brace from Ronan Fitzpatrick and another goal from Shay McManus guided St Aidan’s to a five-point win in the end.

Largy looked dangerous throughout the first half and opened the scoring after two minutes with joint Paddy McDonald converting a free.

Richie O’Callaghan’s side responded well as just two minutes later captain Tomás Cathcart brushed off a couple of challenges and drove through on goal like a steam train before elegantly flicking the ball past goalkeeper Ryan Quigley at the near post for the opening goal.

Largy grabbed the next two scores with McDonald and Odhran Carolyn pointing.

Cathcart landed a free with a quick response from Dane McAviney. St Aidan’s goalkeeper Thomas Fitzpatrick made a great save from close range as he pushed Ultain Martin’s effort onto the bar before smothering Aidan McFarland’s attempt from the rebound.

Ronan Fitzpatrick pointed after a good run from Alex McCaffrey and that was followed by another big goal chance for Largy as midfielder Mantas Paulauskas pushed his way past Fitzpatrick in goal but his shot along the floor went across goal and off the post for another let-off.

Ronan Fitzpatrick scored twice either side of a Largy goal with just a few minutes left in the half as McDonald curled in a left-footed effort off the post and into the net to leave the halftime score at 1-4 each.

Fitzpatrick and Carolyn exchanged frees at the beginning of the half and the St Aidan’s forward then grabbed his side’s second goal as he picked up a loose ball and drilled into the roof of the net.

Carolyn was on target with a free, but another goal came straight after as Shay McManus ran through and finished low to make it 3-5 to 1-7, seven minutes into the second half.

The Monaghan side then found a goal after the teams shared points, Stephen Cusack’s shot came off the bar and out to McDonald who despatched the ball into the top right corner.

St Aidan’s hit three unanswered points through McManus, Daire Donegan and Eoin McTernan.

Largy grabbed the next three points themselves but a strong run from Cathcart led to him fisting across goal for Fitzpatrick to palm in for a fourth goal and put the result beyond doubt even with a final score from Cusack late on.

St Aidan’s: Thomas Fitzpatrick, Lawrence Doone, Cathair Reilly, Conan McManus, Cian Martin, Alex McCaffrey, Ryan McBrien, Daire Donegan (0-1), Shay Prior, Matthew Ferguson, Tomás Cathcart © (1-3, 2F), Ben Melanaphy, Eoin McTernan (0-1), Ronan Fitzpatrick (2-4, 1F), Aidan Leonard. Subs: Shay McManus (1-1) for McBrien 33’.

Largy College: Ryan Quigley, Sean Clerkin, Ryan Murphy, Donnacha Quigley, Stephen Cusack (0-2), Phelim Brady, James Rooney, Dane McAviney (0-1), Mantas Paulauskas (0-1, 1F), Jude McGinty, Matthew McCaughey (0-1, 1F), Paddy McDonald (2-2, 1F), Ultain Martin, Odhran Carolyn (0-3, 1F), Aidan McFarland. Subs: Eoin McElvaney for Rooney 52’, Eoin McCarville (0-1) for McCaffrey HT.