Analysis: who are St Colman's College's Hogan Cup final opponents?

Ulster champions St Pat’s Maghera are no strangers to Hogan Cup success and rank third in the roll of honour for the competition.

On Monday, they will come up against the might of Mayo and Connacht when the young men of St Colman's stride out onto Croke Park.

WATCH: Footage from St Colman’s College 1977 Hogan Cup win

Footballers from the Maghera school have been crowned as Ireland’s kingpins six times in their history, with their most recent victory coming in 2013. They also made the final three times in four years, contesting the 2014 and 2016 deciders.

Current Derry inter-county stars Conor Glass and Shane McGuigan are among the long list of alumni who have passed through the halls of the Ulster school. Both Glass and McGuigan lined out for Pat’s in their 2016 Hogan Cup final bow.

In previous years, All-Ireland winning midfielder Anthony Tohill was another who donned the blue and white, and guided the school to the summit in 1989 and 1990.

St Colman’s final opponents played out a tight and tense semi-final clash with Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee, before Lavey’s Dara O’Kane came off the bench to score a decisive goal in the game’s closing moments.

This year St Pat’s have ended what is a bit of a MacRory Cup drought by their lofty standards, returning to the throne in Ulster with a win over Donegal side Abbey Vocational School.

The Ulster decider couldn’t have got off to a worse start for the Derry boys, conceding a pair of three-pointers, however, they showed resilience and eventually eked out victory in a tense affair in Celtic Park.

When running the rule over the dangermen for St Pat’s, one name crops up time and again. 

Cormac Óg McCloskey was to the fore in the Ulster Final, where he notched four of his side’s twelve points. The Drum clubman also played a starring role against Mercy Mounthawk, bisecting the posts on three occasions.

He’s far from the only weapon in a well-stacked Maghera arsenal. Gabhan McIvor has an eye for the posts also, while Cathal McKaigue is a midfielder who has shown his class from the middle of the park.

Many of these young lads have Celtic Crosses in the back pocket already. Jack McCloy, Padraig O’Kane, Pádraig Haran, Turlough McHugh, and Rian Collins all played their part as Derry secured the 2024 All-Ireland minor title.

Should St Colman’s wish to be the ones climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand on St Patrick’s Day, there’s no doubt they’ll have to produce a stellar attacking display against a side who don’t normally concede high scores.

That said, if the likes of Darragh Beirne, Sean O’Connell and Ciaran Treacy can pull moments of attacking wizardry out of the hat, there are chances to get at the Pat’s rearguard with direct driving runs. The Colman’s forwards are lethal when opportunities arise. It promises to be a thriller.

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