Kilkenny triumph while Andrew's do double

Senior Trophy: Kilkenny College 2 (Eamon Walshe, Matthew Moore) High School 2 (Shane O’Donoghue), Kilkenny won 5-4 on penalty strokes
Eamon Walshe struck the vital blow for Kilkenny as they claimed their first senior hockey title since 2002, settling an epic Senior Trophy final at Grange Road on the seventh round of penalty strokes.

High School had forced extra-time just 25 seconds before the end of normal time when Shane O’Donoghue ripped home his second penalty corner drag-flick of the game.

Extra-time produced no winner, leading to an enthralling penalty competition in which both sides took turns to hold momentum. It eventually went to sudden death strokes after the initial five efforts ended at 3-3.

But Kilkenny skipper George Smyth dived low to save in the seventh series and Walshe coolly stepped up to net the winner.

Earlier, the cats held sway for much of the fixture with Jeremy Duncan leading the charge though the Rathgar School proved a tough nut to crack.

Walshe’s calm reverse-stick effort had given Kilkenny the lead before O’Donoghue levelled. Mattie Moore volleyed brilliantly following Evan Matthews’ excellent through ball to restore the lead with nine minutes to go before O’Donoghue, an Irish U-18 international, fired his second equaliser of the day.

Kilkenny, as a result, became the first ever winners of the Trophy; inaugurated this season to aid second tier hockey school’s development while both sides qualify for Friday’s Senior Cup semi-finals.

Kilkenny College: G Smyth (capt), D Akinwunmni, J Atkinson, E Healy, P Smeele, C Harper, E Finnegan, B Dowling, J Duncan, E Matthews, E Walshe, H McDonnell, G Dowling, M Moore, C Dick, B Jacob
High School: G Carragher (capt), S Williamson, R McGuinness, N O’Leary, M Evans, S Reid, G Prendergast, S O’Donoghue, I Irvine, S Gray, R O’Malley, M Rogan, J McNulty, M Holder, D Howard
Umpires: Ronan Walsh, Colin Stewart

Junior Cup final: St Andrew’s 4 (Jamie Bourne 2, Lee Cole, David Cole) Wesley College 2 (Andrew Malcolm, Jonathan Lewis) after extra-time
Extra-time goals from brother Lee and David Cole saw St Andrew’s take home the Leinster Schoolboy’s Junior Cup title from Grange Road, ending Wesley’s two year reign as champions.

They did it the hard way, recovering from a goal deficit, after Andrew Malcolm’s drag-flick broke the deadlock midway through the second half. Jamie Bourne, though, struck twice from close range to swap the lead and put Andrew’s on the cusp of victory with four minutes remaining.

But Wesley earned a stroke within a minute, converted by skipper Jonathan Lewis to force extra-time. The Booterstown school, however, played the additional periods with greater force; first taking the lead when David Cole’s crash ball was touched home by younger brother Lee.

And David confirmed the win in the second period of extra-time, battering home a corner rebound.

St Andrew’s: J Bernsden, J Codd, M Loughrey, R Nair, C Hynes, I Moloney, L Cole, O O’Halloran, F Maher, A Rooney, E Foy, M Bradley, T Duffy, A Service, J Bourne, D Cole (capt)
Wesley College: AJ Browne, N Pelow, B Chadwick, R Clarke, D Winn, J Sutton, K Shimmins, L Madeley, J Lewis (capt), A Malcolm, J Roberts, J Drury, I Stewart, J Perdue, A Tobin, A Blennerhassett
Umpires: Brian Scully, Stephen Doran

U-13 Cup final: St Andrew’s 3 (Andrew Fogarty, David Nolan, Aaron Bailey) Sutton Park 1 (Gavin O’Brien)
First half goals from Andrew Fogarty, David Nolan and Aaron Bailey proved enough to return the U-13 Cup to St Andrew’s as they kept a brave Sutton Park at bay. Fogarty got a sublime deflection to Geoff Cole’s pin-point cross to break the deadlock in the ninth minute before Nolan banged in a straight shot from a penalty corner.

Gavin O’Brien’s drag-flick brought Sutton back into the tie but Aaron Bailey’s powerful strike scrambled over the line, via a pair of deflections, in the 24th minute to settle the tie.

Sutton’s Keith O’Hare and Aodan fee pressed hard in the second half but were unable to close the gap against a technically superb Andrew’s outfit.

St Andrew’s: J Guy, J Bailey, I de Boe-Agnew (capt), B Arrowsmith, G Fearon, J Henry, D Nolan, A Bailey, A Fogarty, J Ryan, G Cole, H Temperley, S Hohn, J Carr, R Nicholls
Sutton Park: B Prey, G O’Brien, D Holmes, W Eickholdt, H McCone, C McHale, J Burns, K O’Hare, B Pheifer, A Fee (capt), E Christian, R Hastings, L O’Driscoll-Downes, C Walsh, S Byrne
Umpires: Gareth Borland, David Bane

* Photos from the day's action can be found here