International success as Academy Hockey Squads reach final stages of the season

The boys at Banbridge Academy have always had a reputation for producing talent.  This year though, a record breaking 13 pupils have been selected for Ireland at U16 and U18 levels and Master IC Boys’ Hockey, Mr Mark Cordner, is justifiably proud of each one.

 

“This is tremendous news and shows the depth of talent here in school and in UIster.  Those involved in any elite squad will know the sacrifices made to get to this stage as a young person and it will lead to friendships and opportunities that will last a lifetime for all the players.”  Mr McLoughlin, Principal, also commended the boys – “The pupils have worked extremely hard for many years to reach this elite level and I congratulate each one of them on being selected to represent Ireland – an outstanding achievement!”.

 

The Academy sides have been busy too with their preparations for the Ulster Cups and the Senior 1st XI learnt a valuable lesson away to QUB, when they bounced back from 2-0 down to level the game at 2-2 in the second quarter. Queen’s though had some excellent attacking platforms and a quality set piece and won the game 4-2 with two well taken counters. The Seniors will look at defensive sets and aim to tighten their grasp on a potential Burney Cup SF when they make the trip to Campbell College Belfast in the Schools’ Cup QF – the game will be played at 1200 on 2 March at Campbell College Belfast – a game they subsequently won 8-2.

 

The Academy 2nd XI continued their excellent season with a fine 5-1 win over Wallace HS in Lisburn in the Ulster Schools’ Prior Shield SF and will now await the winners of Portadown College 1st XI v Armagh Royal 1st XI in this year’s final.  The opportunity for the 2nd XI to go toe to toe with Portadown College 1st XI, will be enough motivation for Mr Miskelly’s squad and the opportunity to gain another Senior Ulster title, the icing on the cake if they seize it.  The Academy has won this title once before, sharing it with Newry High School in 1999, but that was as the school was in the process of rebuilding the coaching structure of the game and it was the 1st XI who had entered into this tier of competition. The final will be held at Stormont, a date has yet to be set by Ulster Hockey.

 

The U15 Richardson Cup squad will be making their way to Campbell College on Thursday 3 March in this year’s QF with Captain Ben Thompson hoping his side can make another jump forward. The emerging senior players in this team will aim to limit a talented CCB side and hope that the likes of Adam McKee, Josh Osbourne and Mark Hanna will capitalise on opportunities. Their progress and development this year has been exceptional with two wins over Wallace High School, Sullivan Upper and Bangor GS their main notable performances.

 

The U14 Ferris Cup squad, coached by stalwart Mr Colin Walker, has also played some high end hockey with Osbourne, Tumilty, Bingham and Ewart all standing out as threats to any defensive line. The draw here has been slow to start and they will face Royal & Prior on 9 March 2022 at Havelock in their second round game. Their opponents are an unknown quantity, so the Academy will not be underestimating them. The U14s saw a gritty performance at Campbell College Belfast on Saturday with a 2-0 win with goals from Scanlon and Ewart, edging a contest that needed Michael McHugh to be defensively superb. This squad will give their all as they know by making a final they will have a chance at an All-Ireland U14 title.

 

The Bannister Bowl sees two Academy sides traditionally enter and, with both squads still in the hat, it will be the U12s first up this week when they travel to a talented Wallace HS side at U13 level. The Year 8 squad has plenty of skill of its own, but lacks the experience at 11-a-side level as mini games dominate presently, but they will rise to the challenge and hope for a Cup upset after having already enjoyed knocking MCB out with a last minute winner. The U13A team, coached by Mr Jonny Clarke, will hope for another decent performance after grabbing three second half goals against Killicomaine JHS, that saw them progress to face Cookstown HS in the next round. The U13 have already beaten Cookstown HS in an earlier season friendly, but know they will be a different proposition when it comes to Cup time. Mr Clarke saw more lessons being learnt at Campbell College Belfast on Saturday when the Academy lost 2-1 and they will need to be more clinical in front of goal if they are to progress to the latter stages of the Bannister Bowl.

 

The Academy Hockey squads where given even more good news when former pupil, Mr Mike Young, and his team at The Vault have agreed to support the Recognition and Rewards Dinner for the next two seasons. This alongside the partnership with EMTEK means Excellence Awards this term are presented to:

 

Under 12                             Owen Dobson

Under 13                             Shaun Ward

Under 14                             Josh Osbourne

Under 15                             Ben Thompson

2nd XI                                  Lucas Moles

1st XI                                    Matthew Stevenson