Mid Term Break: Feb 13th - 17th T Y Work Experience: Mon Feb 20th-Fri 24th

.

.

Ulster Colleges All Star for Our Lady’s

Gaelic games at Our Lady’s Secondary School received a welcome boost last Thursday December 15^th when it was announced that Jason Murphy received a prestigious Ulster Colleges All Star award.  Jason is an integral member and vice captain of the schools Mac Larnon team that have recently qualified for the Ulster quarter finals

Jason along with three of his teammates, Fergal Rafter, Mark Mc Guirk and Shaun Buckley were selected to attend the first trial in Cookstown December 6^th.  With over 70 players in attendance both Jason and Fergal impressed the four selectors to make a selection of 18 players to play against another 18 players selected from a different trial. At the final trial in Cookstown on December 14^th Jason once again impressed the selectors with his pace, positional awareness, ball winning skills and use of possession. Consequently he was selected at left corner back on the Ulster Colleges All Star team of 2011 / 2012.

This marks quite a successful year to date for Jason who was a key member of the Toome team that recently were promoted from Junior to Intermediate ranks in Monaghan.

First Year Boys Football Blitz

Under 16 Girls

The Under 16 girls team played their first match of the season on Monday Oct 17th ,against St Louis Carrickmacross, they  came away with a draw.  They defeated Virginia 4.09:0.2 in the 2nd round of the League. Best for Our Lady's were ALanagh O Donoghue, Elaine McKernan and Ellen Tibby.  They play Moville Donegal in Omagh on Fri Feb 10th

Senior Girls

The girls began their season by winning their game against Inver Carrick 8.09:4.04, this qualified them for the Ulster quarter final against Bailieboro Community School where they won well.  They play against Thornhill Derry in the Ulster Semi-Final on Monday Feb 13th.

Under 16 Boys

The boys narrowly failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Herald Cup following a 1 point loss to St Colm's Derry.  Best for Our Lady's were Barry McGinn, Mark Kelly and Kevin McVicar.

Senior Boys

The Boys in action against Knock

Senior Ulster Colleges Boys quarter Final

The Senior Boys are in the quarter final on Friday 10th Feb

Our Lady's top their group in Mac Larnon Cup

Our Lady's Castleblayney 3:06

St Malachy's Belfast 0:07

After topping their group with 4 consecutive wins the Senior Boys qualified for the Quarterfinal of the Mac Larnon Cup with this great win over St Malachy's.  In a very good team effort Our Lady's had excellent individual performances from Michael Geehan, Mark Magee and Ciaran Courtney.

Our Lady’s Castleblayney still unbeaten in Mac Larnon Cup

Our Lady’s Castleblayney 1:07

Our Lady’s Knock 0:09

Our Lady’s Castleblayney made it three wins from three in the Mac Larnon Cup with a hard fought victory over a committed Our Lady’s Knock in a hugely entertaining game played in an excellent spirit at Newry on Friday November 18^th.

In the early stages of the game Our Lady’s Castleblayney struggled to deal with a very strong and physical Knock side and found themselves two points down after five minutes with the Knock scores coming from and their impressive half forward. After some wayward shooting the Castleblayney school eventually found their range and opened their account with a free which was won and converted by Mark Mc Guirk. Mc Guirk added another fine score from play after good approach play by Fergal Rafter and Shaun Buckley. With primary possession hard won in the middle third of the field it was Knock who took the lead with a score from midfielder S Grimley. Knock nearly increased their advantage further except for some good defending by Jason Murphy and a superb goal line clearance from Fergal Mc Geough after was put through. The decisive score of the game came 20 minutes into the game when a defence splitting pass from Barry Mc Ginn put Mark Mc Guirk through on goal and the Rockcorry man made no mistake with a clinical finish past a helpless Knock keeper.  This was a lead that Our Lady’s went on to maintain for the rest of the game despite the Knock school enjoying their fair share of possession. Knock responded to this setback with another fine score from distance from before a Mc Guirk free after some excellent work from Shane Conlon and Mark Magee left Our Lady’s Castleblayney with a two point lead at half time on a scoreline of 1:03 to 0:04.

On the restart the Buckley and Magee midfield partnership for Our Lady’s Castleblayney started to impose themselves on the game against the towering Grimley brothers from Knock- a superb shoulder from Our Lady’s captain Shaun Buckley on his direct opponent at the start to the second half setting the tone for a very determined and workmanlike performance from his team.  Despite enjoying most of the possession the first score of the second half came from a Mark Mc Guirk free after eight minutes.  However at this stage Knock again took control of the game hitting two consecutive scores from midfielder Grimley and inside forward M Toner . With Fergal Rafter and Shane Conlon now coming more into the game in the half back line for Our Lady’s they replied with two score of their own from Mark Mc Guirk- one from play and the second from a free. A good Knock score from Toner made sure the game was still all to play for with ten minutes remaining as a fine point from play from B Malone left one point between the teams. At this stage the Our Lady’s rearguard was under severe pressure and it took some resolute defending from Fergal Rafter and Barry Hanratty with two fantastic blocks to keep the Knock attack at bay. A swift counter attack from Our Lady’s saw Mc Guirk add another score after Michael Geehan made a great interception and strong run out of defence. A point from Knock’s midfielder Grimley with one minute remaining ensured a nervy finish for Our Lady’s who held out for a one point victory which still leaves them at the top of their group.

In a great team performance Our Lady’s had excellent performances from Jason Murphy and Fergal Mc Geough in defence. In the middle third Shaun Buckley and Mark Magee competed well against two very formidable opponents. In attack Mark Mc Guirk gave a superb display of ball winning and finishing accounting for all of his teams’ scores. Mc Guirk received good support from the hardworking Ciaran Courtney who covered every blade of grass on the pitch while Barry Mc Ginn showed some clever touches when in possession.

For Knock in midfield the Grimley brothers pulled off some great catches while B Malone and K Toner  were very impressive in a well balanced attack.

Our Lady’s Castleblayney: Simon Atkinson, Barry Hanratty, Jason Murphy, Fergal Mc Geough, Kevin Mc Vicar, Fergal Rafter, Shane Conlon, Mark Magee, Shaun Buckley capt, Ciaran Courtney, Michael Geehan, Niall Garland, Barry Mc Ginn, Joe Finnegan, Mark Mc Guirk 1:07.

Our Lady’s record second victory in Mac Larnon Cup

Our Lady’s Castleblayney 3:09

St Pius Magherfelt             2:09

Our Lady’s Castleblayney made it two wins from two games in the Mac Larnon Cup with a hard earned victory over St Pius Magherfelt on Thursday last. (November 3^rd ). After a low scoring first half with scores hard come by, both sides served up an entertaining second half with Our Lady’s coming from behind twice from a three point deficits to finish the game strongly and record their victory.

Playing with the wind in the first half Our Lady’s made the better start to the game. With Shaun Buckley and Mark Magee dominating the middle sector of the field they opened their account with a well worked score from Barry Mc Ginn. Ciaran Courtney added a second point after good approach play from Michael Geehan.  Both sides were guilty of a series of missed chances before St. Pius enjoyed a period of ascendancy and drew the game level with scores from Lee Martin and the impressive midfielder Shane Heavron . At this stage Mark Mc Guirk started to impose himself on the game and doubled Our Lady’s advantage with two fine scores. St Pius responded with another two scores from Heavron and Mark Bell before a Barry Mc Ginn point left Our Lady’s with a narrow advantage at half time on a score line of 0:05 to 0:04.

St. Pius started the second half brightly but some resolute defending from Fergal Rafter and Jason Murphy kept them to one point in the opening ten minutes from midfielder Shane Heavron. However St. Pius started to put daylight between the teams with an Eoghan Wilkinson goal after good approach play from Gary Doyle. Our Lady’s found themselves back in the game when the impressive Joe Finnegan now operating at full forward won a great ball in from the hard working Niall Garland and was fouled for a penalty which Mark Mc Guirk converted. St. Pius proceeded to dominate the next ten minutes with two point s from Heavron (free) and his midfield partner Ciaran Moore before Our Lady’s responded with a point from Barry Mc Ginn and a well taken goal from Ciaran Courtney after excellent approach play involving David Mc Mahon, Michael Geehan and Mark Mc Guirk. This should have been the cue Our Lady’s needed to push on and close out the game but another goal from St Pius corner forward Lee Martin left Our Lady’s trailing by two points with ten minutes to play. Our Lady’s captain Shaun Buckley now began to impose himself more on the game and drove his teammates forward in search of victory.  A second goal from Ciaran Courtney after a strong run by Buckley left Our Lady’s with a two point lead- further points from Joe Finnegan and Fergal Rafter helped consolidate this lead as Our Lady’s held out for victory despite a late St Pius score from Anthony O’ Neill.

For Our Lady’s Jason Murphy and Fergal Rafter controlled the central positions receiving good support in the wings from Kevin Mc Vicar and Barry Hanratty. In the centre field Mark Magee and Shaun Buckley had a great battle with Ciaran Moore and Shane Heavron with the Cremartin duo imposing themselves strongly on the game in the closing stages. In attack the towering Joe Finnegan proved an excellent target man and was heavily involved in most scores in the second half, while the strong running of David Mc Mahon and Michael Geehan created opening s for Mark Mc Guirk, Ciaran Courtney and Barry Mc Cinn.

Our Lady’s: Simon Atkinson, Fergal Flanagan, Jason Murphy, Barry Hanratty, Kevin Mc Vicar, Fergal Rafter 0:01, David Mc Mahon, Mark Magee, Shaun Buckley, Ciaran Courtney 2:01, Michael Geeehan, Niall Garland, Joe Finnegan 0:01, Mark Mc Guirk 1:03, Barry Mc Ginn 0:03.

Sub Used: Mark Kelly

St. Pius: Caolan Mc Ginley, Ryan Donnelly, Matthew Higgins, Odhran Glass, Sean Rocks, Gary Doyle, Michael Kerr, Shane Heavron 0:04, Ciaran Moore 0:01, Eoghan Wilkinson 1:01, Paul Mc Quillan, Peter O’ Neill, Anthony O’ Neill 0:01, Mark Bell 0:01, Lee Martin 1:01.

Our Lady’s get Mac Larnon Cup campaign off to a perfect start

Our Lady’s Castleblayney 1:10

St Paul’s Bessbrook 0:05

Our Lady’s Castleblayney got their Mac Larnon Cup campaign off to the perfect start with a hard-fought victory over St Paul’s Bessbrook in Crossmaglen on Monday last (October 17^th).  Despite the gale force wind and torrential rain both teams served up an entertaining game off football with Our Lady’s eventually pulling away in the last 15 minutes of the game to record victory.

After winning the toss, Our Lady’s captain Shaun Buckley opted to play with the wind, however it was St Pauls who made the better start with two well worked scores from their dangerman Jermar Hall inside the opening ten minutes. Our Lady’s eventually settled and found their stride with an opening point from Ciaran Courtney. This was soon followed with a second score from David Mc Mahon after good interplay from Aaron Mc Namara and Barry Mc Ginn. With Shane Conlon now driving forward from wing back, Our Lady’s added further scores from Mark Mc Guirk and Conlon himself after an another impressive run along the stand side. Our Lady’s momentum was temporarily halted with another fine score from the St Paul’s inside forward line. However further scores from Michael Geehan and Mark Mc Guirk left Our Lady’s in the ascendancy at half time on a score line of 0:06 to 0:03.

It was St Paul’s who made the better start to the second half but some resolute defending from Jason Murphy, Barry Hanratty and the shrewd positional sense of David Mc Mahon  now operating as a sweeper kept St Paul’s at bay restricting them to one score in the opening ten minutes of the half.  Our Lady’s midfield of Mark Magee and Shaun Buckley now began to impose themselves on the game and with Mark Mc Guirk now in a more withdrawn role against the breeze Our Lady’s now began to play more controlled football. The decisive score of the game came fifteen minutes into the second half when Shaun Buckley powered forward from the 45 metre line, after drawing 2 men he fed the ball to Mark Magee who departed to substitute Joe Finnegan who made no mistake with a well placed shot to the bootom left hand corner of the net with virtually his first touch of the game. Finnegan continued to make his presence felt with a fine point after some excellent approach play by Barry Mc Ginn and Fergal Rafter. Substitute Niall Garland also got in on the act with a good score from play and as Our Lady’s were in control in all areas of the field. The final scores off the game came from 2 Mark Mc Guirk frees after fouls on Joe Finnegan and Barry Mc Ginn.

Simon Atkinson in goals was impressive pulling off several fine saves when called upon, in defence Jason Murphy was excellent and nullified St. Paul’s main threat after the opening 10 minutes, receiving good support from Shane Conlon, Fergal Rafter and Barry Hanratty. The midfield sector of Shaun Buckley and Mark Magee grew in stature as the game progressed winning a steady supply of possession throughout the game. In attack the movement of Michael Geehan caused St Paul’s endless problems while David Mc Mahon’s clever use of possession was the launching pad for many Our Lady’s attacks. Inside Barry Mc Ginn showed well for possession and combined well with Mark Mc Guirk and the hardworking Ciaran Courtney and Aaron Mc Namara. Our Lady’s strength in depth was shown with significant contributions from Joe Finnegan, Niall Garland and Niall Mc Cann.

Team & Scorers: Simon Atkinson, Barry Hanratty, Jason Murphy, Tony Forde, Shane Conlon 0:01, Fergal Rafter, Kevin Mc Vicar, Shaun Buckley, Mark Magee, David Mc Mahon 0:01, Michael Geehan 0:01, Ciaran Courtney 0:01, Barry Mc Ginn, Mark Mc Guirk 0:04, Aaron Mc Namara. Subs used: Joe Finnegan 1:01, Niall Garland 0:01, Niall Mc Cann

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Senior Boys win Ulster Final and bring home the O 'Doherty Cup

The Senior Boys Football team travelled to Lisnaskea to play against Ballyshannon in the Ulster Final of the O'Doherty Cup on Friday May 6th 2011.  The boys were delighted to beat Ballyshannon and bring home the cup after a number of consecutive years being disappointed at the finals stage.

Our Lady’s Castleblayney               3-3

Colaiste Cholmcille  Ballyshannon  0-5

Our Lady’s Castleblayney senior football team had a very impressive victory in the final of the Ulster Colleges O’Doherty Cup in wet and windy Lisnaskea . Two goals in the first half left their opponents Colaiste Cholmcille Ballyshannon chasing the game and they never managed to come within touching distance of the Castleblayney school. Our Lady’s took full advantage of the strong breeze in the first half which  on a number of occasions play spoil-sport causing problems for both sides. With a strong performances from Fergal Mulligan partnered by Sean Buckley in the centre of the field, Our Lady’s  carried the fight to the Donegal college who were struggling to contain the well-on-top Blayney school’s attack in which Michael Geehan, Pauric Greene, Mark McGuirk and David McMahon caught the eye with Niall McCann and Ciaran Courtney also playing a positive role in this forward combination.  Though Our Lady’s were creating a lot of scoring chances in the first, their propensity to go for goals was causing some concern. On the turnaround Colaiste Cholmcile had the advantage of the strong wind and the pressure mounted on the Castleblayney school’s defence. But they held firm,  anchored by centre back Patrick Finnegan and well marshalled by wing backs  Fergal Rafter and Liam McCooey,  while in the rear guard Barry Hanratty, Fergal Flanagan and Jason Murphy worked hard and effectively.  Our Lady’s keeper Darren McElroy also played his part and when called on,  he delivered a couple of very important saves.

 For the Ballyshannon College keeper Martin Gallagher was busy and took off a number of excellent saves especially in the first half. Conor Patton at full-back was a real bundle of energy with his long and penetrating runs from the back to take some fine scores. Up front James Kelly and Callum Gallagher made every effort to try and crack the Blayney school’s defence and came close on a number of occasions. Our Lady’s got off to a very strong start, completely dominating the first quarter  and they hit the Donegal school with a goal and two points before they got off the blocks. The points came from Paraic Greene and Michael Geehan while between those  scores Geehan also accounted for  the Castleblayney  goal. From here on in Colaiste Cholmcille were playing catch up. When their eye catching forward James Kelly sent over in the 16^th minute it looked as if this might be the score to kick-start them on a recovery curve. But it was a false dawn. Our Lady’s  battened down the hatches and when  a minute later the Castleblayney school hit for a second gaol from Mark McGuirk the game was clearly moving away from Ballyshannon as the half time score stood Our Lady’s 2-2 Colaiste Cholmcille 0-1.

 Ballyshannon full-back Conor Patton made his long run to open the second half scoring with a great point. But when Our Lady’s responded  in the 14^th minute with a great one two move between Paraic Greene and Mark McGuirk for McGuirk to  score his second gaol, the odds swung very strongly in favour of the Castleblayney side. This was followed six minutes later by a good point from Paraic Greene. But full credit to Colaiste Cholmcille, they  didn’t throw in the towel. They fought back tenaciously and in the last six minutes of the game sent over three points in a row through  Sean Kelly, Conor Patton and James Kelly. But that was as good as it got for  the Donegal school and it was Our Lady’s who took  this Ulster football title.    

 Our Lady’s: Darren McElroy, Barry Hanratty, Jason Murphy, Fergal Flanagan, Liam McCooey, Patrick Finnegan, Fergal Rafter, Sean Buckley, Fergal Mulligan, Michael Geehan (1-0), Paraic Greene (0-2), Niall McCann, David McMahon, Mark McGuirk (2-1), Ciaran Courtney,.

Subs: James Leonard for N McCann, Cathal Mooney for D McMahon, Eoghan McCluskey for  F Flanagan, Niall Garland for M Geehan

 Colaiste Cholmcille : Martin Gallagher, Eamon McGrath, Conor Patton (0-2),  Christopher Price, Kieran McKeown, Jonathon Connolly, Sean Kelly (0-1), Ross Gallagher, James Barron, Niall Murray, Liam Duffy, Alan Finan, James Kelly (0-2), Ruairi Drummond, Callum Gallagher.

Subs: Liam Kennedy for A Finan, Martin Larkin for C Price,

Under 13 1/2 Boys Team win the Ulster Final 2010

The Under 13 1/2 boys team had a very successful season culminating in them winning the Ulster Final on Wednesday May 26th 2010. They were playing against Lumen Christi from Derry and won by a 14 point margin, the final score was 5:16 to 2:10. Their coaches Mr Daly and Mr McGuirk were very proud of the team, as the captain Damien Ward lifted the Ulster Under 13 1/2 Cup for the first time in Our Lady's history. They had excellent support as all the first year students were allowed to travel to the match in Omagh. This was a great experience for both the team and the spectators as Our Lady's brought home the Cup, what a great way to finish off their first year at Our Lady's!

The Armagh team who beat Tyrone in the final of the Boys Lunch Time League 2010

             Eoin McKearney with his winning team who won by 9 points.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gaelic is a valued sport right across Ireland and we hold one of the big names in football as a school. Now with the asset of a fully equipped all weather field astro-turf pitch, with lights for training in to the night. Our teachers are expertly skilled at coaching, this is clear from the fact we were crowned All-Ireland Champions. This is a brief synopsis of the road to the All-Ireland Final and the games in which we faced to get there:

Mac Larnon Cup Final

"Goals win games", and that old cliché accurately reflected the manner in which the boys from Our Lady's Secondary School Castleblayney, won the Mac Larnon Cup on St. Patrick's Day in Paul Casement. On no less than four occasions they rattled the Keady High School net and that was what marked out this extraordinary final at the Belfast grounds.
All-Ireland Semi-Final

A thrilling second half comeback by Our Lady's Castleblayney saw them wipe out a ten point half time deficit and grandstand their way into the All Ireland final when they defeated Scoil Dara by two points at Parnell Park on Saturday afternoon.

All-Ireland Final

It was a long awaited breakthrough for the Castleblayney school. Decades of effort ended in triumph. In a nail biting finish Our Lady's Castleblayney carrying the flag for Ulster clinched The All-Ireland Colleges B Football title and with it a little bit of history that will live long in the memory of all who were there and none more so than the 15 boys who graced the field.

-

-

T