Cross & Passion stun quadruple-chasing St Patrick's in Corn Uan Uladh decider

Cross & Passion Ballycastle 6-6 ... St Patrick’s Maghera 2-17

Cross and Passion Ballycastle hit St Patrick’s Maghera for six in Portstewart on Saturday to end the Derry school’s bid for a fourth successive Corn Uan Uladh title.

This has to be one of the biggest shocks in schools' camogie for quite a while and it certainly didn't look on the cards at all at half time when the Derry school led by 2-10 to 2-2 and could have been further ahead.

That said however, CPC captain Éobha McAllister had pulled four frees wide in the opening half - a couple of thiose not easy frees at all.

At the other end Emma Quinn was the dominant presence over the first half hour with seven points and an excellent all round display at centre-forward pulling her team back into a strong position at the break after Ballycastle got off to a dream start.

At 2-10 to 2-2 at the break, it seemed that all the Derry side had to do was stay in control and they would have the four in a row.

Instead Éobha McAllister turned the game completely with four goals and four points and those scores sent her team through to a first All-Ireland series since winning their seventh provincial title in 2022. By the end no-one else was in contention for the QUB GAA Player of the Match award, and the wayward shooting of the first half was well in the rear-view mirror.

The Dunloy midfielder was very much off colour from the dead ball in the opening half, responsible for four of her team’s five wides - but Ballycastle still got a dream start.

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Teagan Cassidy, who plays her club camogie with her father Joe's native club Bellaghy, opened the scoring for Ballycastle. However Aoibheann O’Loughlin equalised and then Emma Quinn from play and a free edged Maghera ahead.

The McAllister sisters conjured up the opening goal; Éobha looked to have over-hit a pass to Adria in the 8th minute, but the younger sibling chased the sliotar down, won possession and found the net.

Although Quinn responded with a levelling point within 60 seconds, Adria McAllister chased another lost cause in the 13th minute to scoop a pass across the parallelogram for Louise McBride to find the net.

Éobha McAllister then pointed a free in the next attack and Cross & Passion were four up. That though was the Antrim team’s last score of the half. Maghera simply upped the ante with an unanswered two goals and six points to lead by eight points at the break.

Quinn pointed frees in the 16th, 18th and 19th minutes and there was only one thing on Aoibh Mulholland’s mind when she gained possession in the 20th.

The goal had her team in front again and Quinn and Branagh Brolly each quickly added a point.

Mulholland bagged a second goal a minute from the break when Ballycastle failed to clear their lines and then Róisín McAtamney tagged on a late point.

From eight down at the break, Ballycastle were back in contention after just five minutes of the second half with an unanswered 1-3 from four McAllister frees. There was no doubt that she deliberately went for the goal from the last of those!

But Maghera reacted well to that goal; McAtamney, Quinn (two frees) and Brolly all pointed to seemingly bring them out of trouble and into a 2-14 to 3-5 lead by the three-quarter stage.

McAllister came back with a free, Ballycastle’s first score in ten minutes. But Quinn with her best score of the day and Orla McCartney stretched the lead to seven points with 11 minutes remaining.

Game over? Not quite. There was an unbelievable hat-trick from McAllister still to come.

Her free from distance in the 49th minute was deflected to the Maghera net. Five minutes later the Dunloy ace made no mistake by despatching a penalty.

A single point now separated the teams but a couple of minutes later Emma Quinn pointed for the 11th time. Again a good response, but Maghera were not out of trouble.

Ballycastle kept pressing without much reward. McAllister had a free come off a post and they had legitimate claims for a second penalty waved away.

But those issues were soon forgotten with what happened in the first minute of added time.

McAllister set off on a solo run from inside her own half. She off-loaded to Louise McBride and immediately called for the return pass. After taking possession she raced to the 20m line and fired low to the right corner of the net.

Maghera had a chance or two to rescue the game, but Ballycastle defenders threw themselves into tackles to see them over the line for an unlikely victory.

The Maghera reign had come to an end and it is Cross & Passion who will host Ursuline Thurles in the All-Ireland semi-final on February 7.

CPC: M McToal, S Flavin, S-L Kearns, M Cunning, C Delaney, A Gillan, F Sands, É McAllister capt, 4-5 (2-5 fs, 1-0 pen), R McMullan, L McBride 1-0, T Cassidy 0-1, M Laverty, A McAllister 1-0, M McArthur, E McCaughan.

St Patrick’s: O Johnston, E Conway, Ellie Griffin capt, Isobelle Martin, Lucy McKaigue, Aoife McWilliams, Orla McKenna, O McCartney 0-1, B Brolly 0-2, R Quinn, E Quinn 0-11 (9fs), MT McCullagh, A O’Loughlin 0-1, A Mulholland 2-0, R McAtamney 0-2. Subs: B Donaghy for R Quinn (38), G McCartney for A O’Loughlin (42), GM Bradley for I Martin (49), C McIlvar for A McWilliams (53)

Referee: J O’Neill (Armagh)