Sutton Park break Cup duck

Sutton Park's U-13s produced an outstanding performance at Grange Road to break the St Andrew's/Wesley duopoly and make history with their first ever hockey cup victory at any level after 50 years in existence.

It proved fifth time lucky after four previous final appearances had ended in defeat. Fortune, though, was certainly not a necessity as Sutton showed their ability right from the outset.

The pace of Aodan Fee created the first decent chance inside three minutes before Max Miller's reverse flashed across goal soon after. Four corners were repelled in the opening quarter by the excellent Andrew Porter between the Andrew's posts as Sutton played an efficient game - showing all the hallmarks of head coach Colin Stewart.

Andrew's, though, remained resolute and started to gain a foothold in the game. Ben Campbell - who starred in last week's Minor Cup win - became more of an influence while a decent chance fell Andrew Meates way, though the ball did not drop in time for him to make a clean contact.

But Sutton were not to be denied. Porter pulled off a neat double-save from Gavin O'Brien's initial corner strike. But from the next wave of attack, Richie Duignan found space on the right egde of the circle to delightfully flip the ball into the goal for the game's decisive moment.

In the second period, the Saints came back strong, bossing territory and possession. Top tackling from Cillian McGreer kept play outside the Sutton circle, though, while in Jack Ryan and Mark Bergin, they had two stylish players, capable of playing tidy ball and keeping their passing simple but efficient.

Indeed, Sutton had a couple of breakaway chances through Duignan and Fee but were denied by outstanding last-ditch defending from Owen Buttenshaw and Daniel Hide to keep the game in the balance until the final whistle.

*For more pictures from Sutton Park vs St Andrew's, click here