Football

From soccer school to a first MacLarnon Cup final - OLSPCK's long road to success

The Our Lady and St Patrick's College, Knock side who defeated St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook in the MacLarnon Cup semi-final
The Our Lady and St Patrick's College, Knock side who defeated St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook in the MacLarnon Cup semi-final The Our Lady and St Patrick's College, Knock side who defeated St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook in the MacLarnon Cup semi-final

OUR Lady and St Patrick’s College, Knock was a very different place in the early Nineties. The monochrome main building, perched high on the hill looking down over Belfast, was never going to be big enough to accommodate the swell in numbers the school was enjoying year upon year.

Clusters of grey mobiles gradually started to pop up around the back. Then around the side. And eventually down to the area between the tennis courts and the football pitches – one all-weather, two grass.

During my time there we would play basketball sometimes, occasionally Unihoc (perfect for frustrated hurlers from the Ards to scalp your shins), gymnastics, and I definitely remember some kind of weird Morris-type folk dancing taking place in the sports hall too. I’m sure there were others.

But Gaelic football? Hurling? Friends would argue otherwise, but I remember only a handful of occasions when an O’Neills ball or a sliothar were brought out at PE. If they were, it only ever felt like lip service was being paid.

At Knock back then, it was fairly straightforward – soccer was king. In 1993, the school didn’t even compete in Ulster Colleges’ GAA at any level, or in any code.

Bredagh clubman Liam McKenna joined OLSPCK around then and, along with fellow teachers Peter Kane, Tony Murray and Darren O’Neill, set about changing that.

“We entered a couple of teams in hurling and football at the lowest grade possible, and we’ve gradually built it up and built it up over the years,” says McKenna.

Drawing from the greater Belfast area and hurling strongholds down the Ards peninsula, success in the caman code would eventually follow. Becoming any kind of football force has taken a little longer, however.

The involvement of former Tyrone and Antrim footballer Paddy Hannigan over the last six years has helped accelerate their progress, with Carryduff man Joe Tunney also proving a significant coaching asset alongside McKenna and Shields.

The old school, designed for 800 pupils, is gone now, the new building that opened in 2011 signalling a new era. Those forward strides have been matched on the field as well as off it.

Next Tuesday – coronavirus-permitting - Our Lady and St Patrick’s College, Knock contestS its first MacLarnon Cup final, running out at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh to take on St Pius X College, Magherafelt.

Considering where they have come from, to where they are now, it is a special feeling for the man who was there right at the very start of the curve.

“This is huge for the school,” said McKenna, who is joint manager of the MacLarnon team with PE teacher Joe Shields.

“We’ve only ever won one Ulster Colleges’ B competition and while we’ve been very competitive over the years, this year was only the third time we’d even got to a MacLarnon semi-final.

“But now, based on our performance this year, we can say we’re the best Gaelic football school in the greater Belfast area.

“That’s a great testament to the work done by all the coaches who have been involved in the promotion of Gaelic Games in any way through the years, in particular our principal Deborah McLaughlin for her unwavering support.”

His own grá for the game came from Bredagh legends Eamonn Gilmore and Patsy Owens, and McKenna has passed that on to generation after generation of young footballers coming through the ranks at Knock.

The Belfast man is currently minor manager of Bredagh, with the Ormeau Road club one of five represented in the starting 15 from the MacLarnon semi-final victory over St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook a fortnight ago.

Five come from the St Paul’s club in Holywood, five from Malone Road club St Brigid’s, two from Bredagh, two from Carryduff and one from Darragh Cross.

Having trained like demons from the start of September, this group has come together as one and, as the clock ticks down to St Patrick’s Day, McKenna is looking forward to savouring a historic occasion for the school.

“The boys have put in so much work to get to where they are – I couldn’t speak highly enough of them.

“When this group were in first year they won the Ulster Colleges’ B competition. They also played A football in second and third year – to be totally honest, they probably they haven’t done themselves justice over the seven years.

“They should’ve had a wee bit more success than they’ve had, and they know that. But this is a massive opportunity for them, and they’re ready for it.

“The school is also playing in the Northern Ireland Schools’ Cup in soccer two days after the MacLarnon Cup final, so everybody is absolutely buzzing; the whole place is on a real high.

“Hopefully we can carry that excitement onto the pitch and do the business.”