Sean Marty Lockhart hails St Patrick’s Maghera ”resilience” as Hogan Cup semi-final line-up is confirmed
In 1995, Sean Marty Lockhart captained St Patrick’s to MacRory Cup glory with a resounding 1-14 to 0-5 win over St Colman’s Newry.
30 years on, he has managed the Maghera school to title number 17, but this one wasn’t as one-sided as a brace of goals from Conor McCahill gifted Abbey Vocational School the perfect start in Sunday’s final in Celtic Park.
However, an unanswered 0-7 burst at the start of the second half turned the game on its head, much to the delight of the Derry football legend.
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“What a day! We gave them a seven-point headstart. We knew we were still in the game because we created chances,” stated Lockhart.
“It is not nice standing over there - your heart is beating and we’re missing chance after chance.
“Our lads this year are built on reliance and never giving up. They’ve trained very hard and I think they got their due rewards in the end in fairness.”
When quizzed by the BBC’s Mark Sidebottom on how often they trained, Lockhart replied: “I’d say probably over 100 sessions together since last September.
“We knew we didn’t have as good a team as last year. We had to work hard. Our foundations this year was just work hard, no egos and just work as a team.
“When you look at our team, there’s no superstars - just a good collective unit. That's the pleasing thing about it.”
Although Lockhart insists they’ll not worry about the forthcoming Hogan Cup campaign just yet, they’ll face Mercy Mounthawk of Tralee in the last four of the All-Ireland series.
Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar will take on St Colman’s, Claremorris in the other semi-final later this month.
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