MacRory Cup final 2022: St Mary's and Holy Trinity clash in school's decider

The Athletic Grounds in Armagh was packed to capacity last weekend and another bumper crowd is expected for Sunday’s MacRory Cup final between St Mary’s Magherafelt and Holy Trinity Cookstown.

The pinnacle of the Ulster Schools’ GAA calendar, the MacRory Cup final last took place in March of 2019 when St Michael’s Enniskillen beat Omagh CBS.

The 2020 title was shared by St Colman’s Newry and St Pat’s Maghera with the decider cancelled just days before it was scheduled to take place due to the pandemic.

Covid-19 then forced the cancellation of all competitions through the 2020/21 school year.

Mercifully, last September the Ulster Schools’ GAA schedule returned and Holy Trinity manager John McKeever says the anticipation has been building at the school ahead of their first MacRory Cup final.

“With schools’ football missing last year, it was just great to get the teams out again when they came back last September,” said McKeever.

“You feel for all the pupils who missed out last year.

“It was great to get the girls and boys teams back up and running again. We are a GAA mad school and there is a lot of excitement building up.

“There is a great buzz around the school in the run up to the final and it is a great place for us to be.”

Those sentiments were echoed by St Mary’s boss Kevin Brady, who said he felt sorry for those players who missed out on playing in finals over the last two years.

“It is good that we’ve maybe struck it lucky, but I feel sorry for the teams that had to share it and didn’t get the chance to play in the final,” said Brady.

“Our colleagues at St Pius X College Magherafelt were due to be in the 2020 MacLarnon Cup final and they had to share it - I felt sorry that they didn’t get their big day out.

“I knew