Abbey CBS hoping to embrace the big occasion says Dan Gordon
Danske Bank Ulster Schools MacRory Cup Final. Sunday, February 8 (3pm) at The Box-It Athletic Grounds: Abbey CBS, Newry v St Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon
There is a great buzz of excitement around the Abbey CBS in Newry, as they approach their first MacRory Cup Final in 20 years.
However, speaking ahead of the game, team manager and school Head of PE Dan Gordon says that the team won’t be getting caught in the excitement, and will instead be focusing on the match at hand.
“The squad have been in a couple of times since the semi-final, to do a recovery session and a training session, and they're excited,” he said.
“But now we want the buzz to quieten down, so we can focus on the match at hand. We haven't been in a MacRory Cup Final in 20 years, so it's hard to hide away from the fact that it is a big occasion for the players, the school, past pupils and everyone involved with the school.
“But at the end of the day, it's a football match. It's a big match, but we have players there with big-game experience. The Dromintee lads have won an Ulster club title, we've lads who have played for the Down and Armagh county Minors squads, and we've lads who have had big matches with their clubs or in junior school.
“We'll embrace it. We'll focus on our tactics and our game-plan this week, and leave the other stuff for the other students at the school.”
The Abbey have had a tough run to the final, notably coming through away trips to 2025 Hogan Cup champions St Patrick’s College, Maghera in the quarter-final and 2023 and 2024 Hogan Cup winners Omagh CBS in the last four.
“We had a tough group. I'd say the toughest group,” said Gordon.
“It was ourselves, St Pat's Armagh, Omagh, [St Ronan's] Lurgan and St Paul's Bessbrook. We had a couple of local derbies in there, so matches close at hand, and we had a playoff match against [St Patrick’s] Cavan, which was a very tough game in Mayobridge.
“Our quarter-final match against St Pat's Maghera in Celtic Park was a real test for us, and some of the fellas probably weren't used to that journey and playing in a stadium like that. But they came through it and showed a lot of character.
“Then we had the semi-final away to Omagh, so we have experienced a lot of different scenarios this year, between playing close to home and playing far away, but the fellas have knuckled down and addressed all those issues.
“Any challenges that came, they faced them down. As I said before, some of our lads have big game experience and when you're playing in a match like that, with a big crowd like that there is not very much that I can do on the side-lines; it's down to the leaders on the team.
“We prepare the team in training to make decisions and control the game themselves, and we have a lot of good players in set positions on the pitch and a lot of leaders. To be honest, that second half turnaround was down to the players, it wasn't anything to do with me, or the rest of the management.”
The Abbey’s defining moment
The Abbey got the glory two weeks ago when they toppled Omagh CBS in Fintona, but it wasn’t quite the same result when the two teams met in the group stage of the competition.
Reflecting back on their journey to the final, Gordon picked out the Abbey’s 2-12 to 1-4 defeat against the Tyrone school as the defining moment.
“I have to give a lot of credit to Omagh, because I don't think that we would be in the position that we're in today, if it wasn't for the hiding that we had against them in Healy Park in the group stages.
“There were a lot of learnings for us as a management team and a lot of learnings for the players, from that day. It was a wake-up call that we weren't probably doing things the way that we should be doing them and it was something that we addressed since that game. Thankfully it has worked out.”
St Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon are all that stands between the Abbey and MacRory Cup glory, but Gordon cautioned that it will be a tough game.
The Academy won honours at every level their whole way through secondary school, and it will be up to the Abbey to deny them their dreams of completing a full set.
“I have watched all their matches and I would know St Pat's Dungannon well,” said Gordon.
“At this age group, they've won every competition from second year right through. They've won the Dalton, they beat us in the Corn na nOg final by a point, they won the Oisin McGrath in fourth year, the Rannafast in fifth year and they're looking to do a clean sweep.
“They're littered with quality players and they have a quality management team with Ciaran Gourley, Ciaran Sharkey and Ryan Pickering, so they know what they're at.
“At the start of the year, I'd say they were favourites to win the competition. I'd say probably two weeks ago, most people's favourites were Abbey Vocational School, so the fact that Dungannon went into the heart of Donegal and came out with a win after extra-time, they'll take great confidence from that.
“They won't fear us, but anytime we have played them it has been tight enough. So, we're hoping for a tight game on Sunday.”