St Patrick’s College, Maghera 2-8
St Colman’s College, Claremorris 0-4

Paul Keane reports from Croke Park

IT TOLD A tale of the strength of St Pat’s, Maghera in this Hogan Cup final that the 10-point winning margin probably flattered their opponents.

These are boom times for Derry, the back-to-back All-Ireland minor winners in 2023 and 2024, who continue to unearth terrific young football teams, this Maghera side the latest of them.

Padraig Haran, who struck 1-1 for St Pat’s and was named Man of the Match at Croke Park, is one of a number of players who have now won All-Ireland titles for college and county.

Darragh O’Neill was the Maghera college’s other goalscorer, netting in the third minute of second-half stoppage time to leave that double-digit gap between the teams.

That was the least St Pat’s deserved because they were on top for the majority of the game and cruised to a sixth title at the grade, their first since 2013 when a certain Conor Glass, on hand at Croke Park today, was a key figure.

Truth be told, St Pat’s should have scored significantly more than they did with four other good goal chances falling to them over the course of the hour or so, as well as 11 wides.

Darragh Beirne accounted for all of the St Colman’s scores and as they poured forward late on in search of a goal, the big full-forward had a shot at goal expertly saved by Jack McCloy.

The goalkeeper also did well to deny Dara Flanagan with another late goal chance.

St Pat’s are jointly managed by former Derry star Sean Marty Lockhart while Slaughtneil hero Chrissy McKaigue was a notable presence on the sideline too, constantly encouraging.

Maghera, who defeated Abbey Vocational in the MacRory Cup final before overcoming Mercy Mounthawk to reach the national decider, had a near patent on possession in the first-half as they played with the wind.

Cormac Og McCloskey came around on the loop down in the left corner in front of the Davin End stand in the second minute and swung over a point, punching the air in both delight and anticipation of further gains.

But it was a slow burner for St Pat’s initially as they simply couldn’t turn all their possession into points.

They hit the interval with a relatively healthy 0-5 to 0-1 advantage but they fired seven wides in that period and failed to take two goal chances.

And it wasn’t until close to half-time that Darach McGonigle and McCloskey again pinched points to stretch the lead out to four points at the break.

Odhran Doherty, who came into the lineup for Kevin Barry Mullan in the only change to the Pat’s team from the semi-final, struck their best point of the first-half.

That came in the fifth minute when he booted from a distance that would have secured his team two points if the game was played under football’s new rules. As the competition was started in late 2024, last year’s rules applied.

Beirne landed a cracking Claremorris point six minutes after the restart and turned immediately to encourage his team-mates. They were only four points behind at that stage.

But the goal they required never materialised as Maghera defended superbly throughout. One moment in particular stood out as Ciaran Treacy latched onto a long kicked pass and bore down on the Maghera goal, only for corner-back Rian Collins to pick his pockets with a terrific near-hand tackle that stole back the possession.

St Colman’s poured forward late on and carved those couple of goal chances but St Pat’s were well in the clear at that stage, Haran’s 40th minute goal after a great run by Darach McGonigle the clear turning point.

St Pat’s scorers: Padraig Haran 1-1, Darragh O’Neill 1-0, Cormac Og McCloskey 0-3, Odhran Doherty 0-1, Padraig O’Kane 0-1, Darach McGonigle 0-1, Finbarr McShane 0-1.

St Colman’s scorers: Darragh Beirne 0-4 (0-1f).

ST PATRICK’S COLLEGE, MAGHERA

1. Jack McCloy

2. Rian Collins
3. Padraig O’Kane
4. Niall McNicholl

7. Darragh O’Neill
6. Padraig Haran
5. Dara Doherty

8. Cahal McKaigue
11. Turlough McHugh

12. Marc McGurk
10. Finbarr McShane
9. Odhran Doherty

15. Cormac Og McCloskey
14. Darach McGonigle
13. Gabhan McIvor

Substitutes:

17. Kevin Barry Mullan for McKaigue (26)
25. Dara O’Kane for McGurk (42)
24. Daithi McCloskey for Dara O’Kane (60)
19. Fionn O’Sullivan for McGonigle (63)

ST COLMAN’S COLLEGE, CLAREMORRIS

1. Evan Campbell

4. Nathan Gill
20. Tom Hession
7. Dara Flanagan

18. David Hurley
6. Mark Noonan
3. Rio Mortimer

8. Craig Cassidy
10. Cathal Tierney

9. Ronan Kelly
11. Jake Mullin
12. Dylan Burke

15. Ciaran Treacy
14. Darragh Beirne
13. Sean O’Connell

Substitutes:

19. Jack Comer for O’Connell (40)
5. Ben Sheridan for Mullin (42)
27. Jack Noone for Treacy (54)
2. Stefan Petkovic for Gill (59)
27. Fionan Sweeney for Burke (62)

Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone).