Abbey Vocational School's dream of winning a first-ever Ulster Colleges MacRory Cup tile was dashed on Sunday as opponents St Pat's Maghera (Derry) secured a 0-12 to 2-5 win at Celtic Park.
Despite a blistering start by AVS, which saw corner forward Conor McCahill score 2-1 in the opening 10 minutes, the facts were that St Pat's held the upper hand for long periods of this final.
AVS led by four points at half-time (2-2 to 0-4) - but that lead disappeared shortly after the restart as Maghera scored six unanswered points to take a firm foothold on the scoreboard.
Tomás Carr scored a couple of fine points in the closing stages to keep AVS in the hunt - but the desperate search for an equaliser deep in added time was ultimately unsuccessful.
St Pat's Maghera secure their 17th MacRory Cup title.
Donegal remains the sole Ulster county not to have produced a MacRory Cup winner in the competition's 101-year history.
Ulster Colleges MacRory Cup final
St Pat's Maghera (Derry) 0-12 Abbey VS (Donegal) 2-5
MacLarnon Cup final
Patrician High School (Carrickmacross) 0-13 Dean Maguire College (Carrickmore) 1-10
