Holders Begin With A Win

Tyrone U16 Vocational Schools champions St.Joseph’s Coalisland made a winning start to the defence of their title with a hard fought 3-12 to 3-9 victory over Dean Maguirc College Carrickmore on Tuesday morning.  In a game played in ideal conditions and expertly refereed by Stephen McNamee (Newtownstewart) two points separated the sides at half time. Goals from Gerard Woods and points shared by Aaron Cunningham, Arian Devlin and Sean Day saw the Richard Thornton managed St Joseph’s rack up a score of 2-5 by the short whistle. However Enda Kilpatrick’s Dean Maguirc side replied in kind with a well punched goal from Ciarán Gillen in addition to a major score from Ronan Grogan. Grogan also shared points in the first half with Shane Dobbs and Mel McCullagh to leave the Dean with a total of 2-3 at half time.

The second half was equally as competitive however St Joseph’s emerged slightly the stronger to win by a margin of three points at the conclusion of the game. An excellent goal by Sean Day was complemented by further points from Gerard Woods, Conor McLaughlin, Caoimhlin Donnelly and Ryan Morrow. The Dean were well served by a second goal from Ronan Grogan and points shared by Grogan, Shane Dobbs, Mel McCullagh (2) and Nathan Kelly.