Friday, October 24, 2008

St Andrews claim All-Ireland Schools' title

St Andrews claimed their second All-Ireland schoolboy’s title in dramatic style as Stephen Cole reacted quickest to a loose ball, to calmly slide home a winner against Wesley with just six minutes remaining.

Cole pounced as both sides dazed, expecting a penalty corner to be awarded. The advantage was well-played and the midfielder duly obliged.

That broke a 60-minute deadlock after an opening flurry saw both sides on the board inside five minutes. Jamie Haughton touched in Davy Carson’s reverse shot to give Andrews’ the lead but Carl Eggert leveled within two minutes from a penalty corner – incredibly his 12th goal in five games.

Wesley enjoyed the majority of the possession thereafter, with Kyle Good on the right and Rob Whelan and Rob Anderson down the left producing some stylish play.

Chances were few and far between, though, as both sides had four games in three days already in their legs. Eggert provided a constant threat. The best move of the game was all his own creation – a scintillating burst from the halfway saw three defenders left in his wake but his reverse just missed Stephen West’s goal.

But Andrews stood firm, prompted by Richard Sykes at the back and the midfield style merchants, Stu Loughrey and Stephen Cole. When the one gilt-edged chance presented itself, Cole pounced and sealed the title.

It completed a memorable week for the Booterstown-school. Pitted in the ‘group of death’ with the reigning champions, Cookstown, they were given little hope of progressing. Their 3-2 win over the Tyrone side was followed by an impressive comeback against Ashton this morning.

Dan Hobbs gave the Corkonians the lead with his ninth goal of the tournament but Cian Speers, Sam O’Leary and a sliding Rob McKenna set up a final spot.

Wesley had a simpler route through the group stages before knocking out Bandon in the last four.
Eggert was the hero, scoring twice in their 2-1 win. In the end, he racked up 12 goals in five games to complete an incredible personal performance.

Wesley College: Kristian Fitzgerald (Capt, GK), Neal Megarity, Peter English, Scott Wilkie, Conor Motyer, Kyle Good, Carl Eggert, Jamie Tobin, Robert Whelan, David McCrea, Tom Samuel; Subs: Laurenz von Eickstedt, Robert Anderson, Luke Chadwick, Stuart Malcolm, Daniel Gribben

St Andrews: Stephen West (GK), Keith Kenning, Ben Murphy, Richard Sykes, Stuart Loughrey, Stephen Cole, David Cole, Sam O’Leary, Cian Speers, David Carson, Jamie Haughton
Subs: Shane O’Halloran, Jake Beirne, Robert McKenna, Alex Fox, Theo Kirwan

Semi-final results:
Ashton 1 (Dan Hobbs) St Andrews (Sam O’Leary, Cian Speers, Rob McKenna);
Bandon 1 (Sam McElroy) Wesley 2 (Carl Eggert 2)

Final
St Andrews 2 (Jamie Haughton, Stephen Cole) Wesley 1 (Carl Eggert)
* More pictures here

76 comments:

Anonymous said...

Get in!!truly deserved.Ovo is a legend!!

Anonymous said...

JAMES BARBER top goal socrer of the tournament.

Anonymous said...

FANTASTIC! well done to Andrews.. truely deserved!

Anonymous said...

gota love it sounded like a great game, regret i didint travel to watch it. unlucky wesley we r proud.

Anonymous said...

Is Karl Eggert too old for Leinster

Anonymous said...

Monkstown, best youth development around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Well done to the Andrew boys. They stuck to it even when all wrecked and showed they really wanted it and well done to David Cole who at the young age of 14 showed great maturity and remained calm under pressure.

Anonymous said...

i was der !! andrews did deserve it like but emm wesley were good cuz of da dutch guy eggert !!
and barber wasnt the top scorer it was eggert!!

Anonymous said...

i was der!!!! andrews deserved it like but wesley were good like!!
and barber wasnt top scorer eggert was!!!
bandon 4 da cup 2009

Anonymous said...

come on andrews !!! best team in ireland and proved all the people calling them soft wrong!!!

Anonymous said...

i thought carson got the first goal?

Anonymous said...

wesley played the better hockey and deserved the win!

Anonymous said...

eggerts german...get your facts straight.. and hes class and so are rest of wesley

Anonymous said...

I watched from the sideline and from a neutral point of view I thought it could have gone either way, however I thought Wesleys front three Good, Tobin and especially eggert would have given wesley the edge. But well done to Andrews, taught David Cole was Andrews best player in the tournament!

Anonymous said...

Well done to Andrews about time they won a major trophy!!!Just to start a bit of a discussion who has been the best school boy hockey player in the last 5 years???

Anonymous said...

Id have to say either Stuart Loughery or Kyle Good... Carl Eggert would have been if he had been here for those 5 years!

Anonymous said...

Darling,Harte,Lynch,Ames are far better and were on better teams too!!!

Anonymous said...

Thats nonsense i have been playing schools hockey for the last 5 years and tho the others are good players the worst person to play against is Stevey Cole..He can rip teams apart when on form and i hear he wasn't on form yesterday against Wesley but still scores the winner..

Anonymous said...

darren sweetnam

Anonymous said...

has to be ames what other school boy is a full international even if he is 19

Anonymous said...

is that including players who have left school in thre last 5 uears coz if it does then it opens up a whole host of possibilities!!

Anonymous said...

got to be david robinson or iain walker

Anonymous said...

I dont think many expected either of these teams to make the final...Especially with andrews being in cookstown's group... I taught that Peter English had a great final and semi...And was very unlucky to be sent off in the final.

Anonymous said...

David Ames hands down!

Anonymous said...

emglish deserved 2 b sent off! o leary clea through and he body checks him.

Anonymous said...

bandon have been the most consistent team over last 6 years and no one can dispute that so has to be someone from them , my vote colin crowley!

Anonymous said...

Jason Lynch must be the best player of the last 5 years, gone from an irish Schools medal in '05 with Badnon to a full international 2 years later! Hoever i think the best player for their age over the last 5 years is also from Bandon, Darren Sweetnam, played in 3 Irish Schools ans he's only in 3rd year, internatioanl U16last yearand he's stil under 16 this year, class act!

Anonymous said...

David Ames looked very ordinary during the week

Anonymous said...

best school player either jason lynch(bandon)cian spears(andrews)david and conor harte(bandon) but most of all DARREN SWEETNAM(bandon) amazin kid best in ireland!!!

Anonymous said...

aw i dunno now darren id say clintons still better!

Anonymous said...

id say tim lewis or alan sothern,lewis was a rock for andrews when he was in their senior team and sothern scored over a hundred goals in his time on the seniors i would say,at the present time the best schools player has to be Ames

Anonymous said...

go on the andrews....awesome result,too often the nearly men when it came to the all irelands,bout time!!

Anonymous said...

well clinton is class defender and he did play 4 ireland but darren 4 his age is the best in ireland and he is still under 16 !!

Unknown said...

eugene magee. dane ward. chris gregg.

three from the north maybe worth a shout?

if you look at their impact when they were playing school hockey

Anonymous said...

Stupid debate, all good players in their own right, can't compare five years ago with now...game constantly changing....give it up

Anonymous said...

Who does everyone think was player of the tournament?

Anonymous said...

I'd have to say Carl eggert for his 12 goals!

Anonymous said...

At the Irish schools this year whether he played well or not David Ames was the best player by a long way !!!The standard of school teams has gone down this year,Bandon were a very poor school team and only lost to Wesley 2-1,The Andrews team that won wouldnt of beaten previous winners e.g: Wesley 2004,Bandon,2005,Bann 2006 no chance at all.As for as players go Darling,Walker,Watt,Ames,Lynch,Harte x2,Magee,Sorthern,Lewis are in a different league than people like Eggert,Cole and Speers.Looking at those players at u18 and the ones I have named there is a big difference in standard and it has showed as all are in the full senior Irish setup at present.

Anonymous said...

cian speers

Anonymous said...

just want 2 say how well high school did in their first ever all irelands.

Anonymous said...

On the comment saying the school's standard has gone down, 15 of the players involved in the final are 1st team players with clubs at the moment.

For most of those guys you mention were at exactly the same stage in their development at All-Ireland schools, taking a year or two to step up to a higher level. Having watched a few of the games, it seemed a fairly similar standard.

Anonymous said...

Have to agree the standard has gone down in the school teams.John

Anonymous said...

I don't think the standard has gone down at all... When was the last time that 16 of the 22 players playing in the final play 1st division hockey... And there was something like 10 or 11 internationals on show... And about 18 of the 22 starters are involved with Leinster!

Anonymous said...

Cookstown were a normal team during the week but we're plagued by umpiring and a lack of fire power. Best schoolboys over the last five years have been Dane Ward, Jason Lynch and David Ames.

Anonymous said...

david scully

Anonymous said...

Ames, Smyth and Sloan from Cookstown are better than any other players in the tounament. David cole wasn't anything special either especially in the group stages.

Anonymous said...

standard has not gone down!
ames - full international
smyth, best, loughrey, carson have all played in the ireland A team.
dont know of this many players in ireland development or full in previous years!

Anonymous said...

Carson ,Loughrey and Best should never ave been picked for Ireland A. Not ready for it.Must have been cos others away in summer. Too much talk of Loughrey. Good player but gets more exposure than others equally as good i his age group cos he plays in Pembroke and is in the face of Fulton...

Anonymous said...

Monkstown are palying Ym under 21's in the next two weeks, what do people predict??

Anonymous said...

that all depends on how many people monkstwon put on the pitch, it would be very hard for ym to beat 12 or 13 players

Anonymous said...

I think we should all remember that David Cole is only 14 yers old!! For his age he stepped into a big team and showed great maturity!

Anonymous said...

there all this talk about these cookstown boys such as ames best and smith, dominating schools hockey at the moment when in reality in the andrews cookstown match speers played far better then smith carson had the uuper hand over best and loughrey dominated in midfield over ames. thats still not to say there good players but just making a point!

Anonymous said...

how the hell can you say that the standerd has gone down and that this years andrews team would lose to past winners . how many teams have won the cup with 8 irish playes at u16 u18 ireland A

Anonymous said...

Im guessing YM knock monkstown out again!

Anonymous said...

rob mckenna anyone??

Anonymous said...

outstanding performance from the lad! the champions top scorer!

Anonymous said...

rob mckenaa was top notch in de all irelands for andrews!!

Anonymous said...

Am a student in villiers, and saw the wesley semi final, and the final. Was very impressed with the semi final. Taught Karl lynch was excellent for Bandon, and that Eggert and Tobin were brilliant for Wesley. Taught Andrews deserved to win the final tho, brilliant goal stephen cole to seal it!

Anonymous said...

im from villers and i saw the semi between bandon and wesley !!
eggert was class and karl lynch 4 bandon but the best were darren sweetnem and there young left mid scott sullivan good young talent!!
anybody no him??

Anonymous said...

yes st.andrews won but cooktown ahd all the play against them. southern umpiring, a lack of luck and several glaring misses put them out. it was a one off game. no-one can argue that cookstown are the best side on paper. a senior international like. David Ames is the best player in schoolboy hockey...no question...the next three are smyth, sloan and best...after that the andrews boys come in...just cos they lost one game doesn't make them suddenly not the best...they won every single trophy and game they played in last year....the irish schools was just a blip...players like crooks, j ames and thom just didn't perform....and cookstown hc will b the dominant club of the next 10 to 15 years

Anonymous said...

what about a goalie for best player. think about what the likes of walker and harte have acchieved at schoolboy level and now at international level

Anonymous said...

Yes cookstown are a good side but this andrews side wanted it more. u can say it is a once off game but this side has never lost a competitive game but cant say it until the end of the year. Cookstown showed nothing of why they how they got the title? They played well in patches but over ran the ball and did not pass the ball or play as a team. Sloan was the best on the day for cookstown because he got stuck in. Smyth just resorted 2 getting hitting off the ball, not wat u want from a player with talent?

Anonymous said...

At the end of the day you can say what you like but the simple facts are in the game against Cookstown Andrews scored 3 goals and Cookstown only scored 2.... Andrews win. In the final Andrews scored 2 goals wesley only scored 1....andrews win and take title!!!! The big question now is can the Andrews boys win the league and the cup in Leinster?... How much do they want to prove that they really are the best

Anonymous said...

I was very impressed with wesley in the tournament and the final could just have easily gone their way... Im tipping them to win the treble, league, cup and the new all irelands!

Anonymous said...

i didnt think that loughrey did much in the final.he seemed to be a bit taken out of the game...

Anonymous said...

i think that wesley really stepped it up in the tournament.and a lot of players stepped up to the mark.i think with a front six with players like Good, Motyer, Eggert and Whealan they could be very dangerous this season

Anonymous said...

the new all irelands is nothing compared to the proper tournament!
i doubt wesley will win anything this year

Anonymous said...

yep...sloan very good but ames could hav done more....cookstown deserved it...best team by far

Anonymous said...

lets face the facts over last 6 years bandon have been the best

Anonymous said...

lads how abt u's jus wait till tha super 6's wen we actually start playin, not miss sitters and let in soft goals, and we win it... an u'l see why wer tha best team.. overall irish schools we wer brutal not a good performance at all.. so look froward till then and to winning it and hopefully this time il not lose tha head haha...

Anonymous said...

Bring on the Super Sixes.

Anonymous said...

high school 2 go 1 better this year and win the cup. they're improvin all the time and will definitely be at least a match 4 wesley by march

Anonymous said...

o whos going 2 qualify 4 new all irelands?

Anonymous said...

loughery was well taken out of the game by a superb conor moyter!

Anonymous said...

DARREN SWEETNAM!!! is a legend

Anonymous said...

Whos better clinton or darren sweetnam? will the fresh face surpass the old guard in schools hockey folklore?? darren for president i say