By BBC's Jerome Quinn

St Patrick's Day will belong to St Patrick's Maghera at Casement Park.

I've seen almost all of the MacRory knock-out games and I have to go with Maghera to take the cup back to their school for the first time in seven years.

Jerome feels St Mary's John O'Boyle (left) will be on the losing side

Dermot McNicholl's team have a few weaknesses and they rely an awful lot on their big names, but sheer determination and persistence have carried them through some tricky moments.

In the quarter-finals, they conceded a first-minute goal and were two points down to Omagh CBS going into injury-time.

Yet they survived that day and came from behind to win the replay.

In the semi-finals, Maghera were again rocked by a first-minute goal from Carrickmacross starlet Stephen Jinxy Gallogly, but once more they recovered and eventually saw off a brave challenge.

Gerard O'Kane, Liam Hinphey and Mark Lynch (at both midfield and full-forward) have shown leadership qualities at vital times while young Charlie Kielt is a bit special.

Then there is the Adrian McGuckin factor.

The man who led St Patricks through their glory days from the mid-seventies to the mid-1990s is still an important influence on the team.

McGuckin appears to take a back seat while Dermot McNicholl and Paul Hughes patrol the sideline.

Recent failures have hurt the proud tradition at Maghera

However on several occasions he was seen to whisper in McNicholl's ear and the instructions were immediately acted upon.

McGuckin's record is quite incredible, with 11 MacRory wins from 17 finals, and three Hogan Cups.

Recent failures have therefore hurt the proud tradition at Maghera.

One theory for this and for the emergence of St Mary's as a power is that talented young footballers have had a wider choice of school to go to in the last 10 years or so.

In the past, the likes of Johnny McBride and Paul McFlynn might have automatically chosen Maghera, but now St Mary's and the Loreto in Coleraine have come into the equation.