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Fri 18th Jun 2010
Rathmore are once again Ulster Hurling Champions as they claimed the Leopold Cup (Year 11) after defeating their Belfast neighbours St.Malachys by 9 points in the final at Corrigan Park yesterday. This is the first Hurling title the school has won since their successful Casement Cup campaign in 2008.
It promised to be a great game as Rathmore knew that they were up against a strong team in St.Malachys having witness them claim both the McGreevy and McFarland cups already this year. St.Malachys, managed by former Rathmore pupil and coach Mark Devlin, are a strong and skilful bunch of players with the majority coming from the St.Endas club in Glengormley.
Rathmore’s Fin Mulvenna opened the scoring with a great point from out on the right wing but this was soon cancelled out by a Conor McEvoy free for St.Malachys a few minutes later. Donal Carson, who was on unbelievable form for Rathmore finishing with a superb personal tally of 0-10, slotted over 3 great frees to put the pressure back on the opposition. However, Cormac Ross replied with a stunning goal for Mark Devlin’s side pinging the ball into the top right hand corner past a helpless Aodhan Burke in the Rathmore goal.
The Rathmore boys didn’t drop their head and responded brilliantly to the challenge in front of them and worked tirelessly throughout the first half. At the break they were 0-10 to 1-2 to the good thanks to further scores from Ciaran Donnelly, Fearghal Leyden and Donal Carson.
Neil Cunningham regrouped his Rathmore side at the interval and stressed the point that the game was far from over. He encouraged his team to do even better in the next half and do themselves and their school proud, and that is exactly what they did. Conor Pelan, who ran himself into the ground for the cause, summed up his sides desire to win. Outstanding performances from every single one of their players left the stunned St.Malachys side resorting to frees from Cormac Ross to keep them within touching distance of Rathmore. The well drilled Rathmore defence only conceded one point from play in the second half! Great performances from Conor Compston, Ryan McNulty and Captain Matthew Carlin as well as some fantastic catches from Eoin Fleming seemed to inspire their forwards. Further pointed frees from Donal Carson and a wonderfully taken goal from battling full forward Shane Jordan sealed the victory.
Manager Neil Cunningham gives all the credit for this victory to his players due to the effort and hard work they have put in during the year and would like to take this opportunity to thank them for giving everything they could.
Rathmore Team- Aodhan Burke, Conor Flynn, Ryan McNulty, Daniel McWilliams, Conor Compston, Matthew Carlin (C), Eoin Fleming, Fearghal Leyden (0-2), Conor Pelan, Donal Carson (0-10, 0-9 frees), Ciaran Hyland, Gerard Henvey, Ciaran Donnelly (0-1), Shane Jordan (1-1), Fin Mulvenna (0-1)
Subs used: Colin Mallon (0-1), Jack Bohill
Other subs: Donal Rooney, Francis Corr, Conor Leonard, Michael McNulty, Robert Graham, David Boyd
St.Malachys Team- Killian Jennings, Ryan Straney, Matt McKillen, Michael Morgan, Jack Arthurs, Ruari Diamond, Aaron Goulding, Eoin Conlon, Cormac Ross (1-5, 0-5 frees), Rian Gillen, Ben Toner (0-1),Matt McCann, Sean McCallum, Conor Burrows, Conor McEvoy (0-1 free)
Subs used: Ruairi Donaghy, Patrick Sloan, Ben Rice
The Rathmore boys celebrate their victory!
Captain Matthew Carlin with the Leopold Cup
Semi final report Rathmore vs Dungannon year 11 b knockout.
Rathmore Grammar will contest the Year 11 B knockout title in an all-Belfast final against St.Malachys after a suberb semi-final performance against St.Patricks Academy Dungannon. Rathmore blew the Tyrone team out of the water with a scoreline of 7-18 to 1-2. Rathmore started on fire with 3 quick scores from midfielder Fearghal Leyden, and 2 from half backs Conor Compston and Eoin Fleming.
Plenty of ball was dropping into the full forward line but was being swept up well by the Dungannon full back early on. Rathmore finally got the goals the deserved through corner forwards Ciaran Donnelly and Fin Mulvenna and a free from captain Matthew Carlin. The Belfast side went in at half time 3-12 to 0-1 to the good. Another sparkling performace from Rathmore was on display in the second half as Gerard Henvey, Ciaran Hyland and Donal Carson continue to rack up the scores.
Terrfic tackling was shown by the Rathmore defence, especially the half backs who dominated the game. An energetic performance from Conor Pelan in the middle of the park summed up his sides work ethic and team spirit as further goals from Ciaran Hyland and Donal Carson meant the team from Antrim finished strongly.
The prospect of an all Belfast final this Thursday is a mouth watering prospect as St. Malachys have already claimed this years McGreevy Cup and are competing in the McFarland Cup Final on Tuesday. It promises to be a great game featuring two hard working, committed sides who have put a lot of work into improving the standard of hurling in their respective schools over the past year. Good luck to both sides.
Submitted by: Mark Grogan
