Sean Óglooking to fulfil MacLarnon dream

By Niall Gartland

DEAN Maguirc skipper Sean Óg Teague says it would be a “dream come true’ to lead his school to MacLarnon Cup honours in Sunday’s showdown against Carrickmacross-based Patrician High at Celtic Park.

Teague, who was part of the Dean team that claimed Markey Cup honours – the Ulster Schools title at ‘C’ level – two years ago, now hopes to cap off his school days with what would be a historic first ever MacLarnon title.

He said: “It’s very special time to be in the school. Our hard work is paying off but you have to give it up to the management, they’re the reason we’re in this position – the training has been excellent and they’d deserve it more than us in a way.

“It’d be a dream come true if we won it and it’d be another massive step for the school – St Joseph’s, Donaghmore won it a couple of years ago, it was a big moment for them, they really deserved it and hopefully we can follow in their footsteps.”

The Dean have plotted an impressive path to this point and Teague says they have defied the underdog tag on a number of occasions, particularly in their dramatic win over a strong St Pius, Magherafelt team in the last four.

“I’d say nearly every game people outside the camp have seen us as underdogs but we haven’t seen it that way, we’ve confidence in our abilities.

“St Pius are a serious team so we were so focused on that match. They knocked us out last year in the group stages and beat us in this year’s group stages as well, so it was brilliant to come through the semi-final, but now it’s all about Carrickmacross, they’ve obviously done very well to get to this point.”

Son of former Tyrone footballer Sean Teague, the Dean Maguirc captain is also proud to represent his club Greencastle on the big stage.

He’s one of five lads from Greencastle on the panel, including Eoghan Conway, who was in top form against St Pius.

“Eoghan’s been serious for us this season. He’s a great club player and he’s making his name at centre-half back. Caolan [Tracey] is in nets, he’s normally been an outfield player for us at club level but he’s also a very good goalkeeper. There’s Shane and Dara Morris as well, they’re two very solid players.”