The EMTEK sponsored, Banbridge Academy Boys Hockey 1^st XI, travelled to Cork last week to take part in the All Ireland Schools Championship. This prestigious tournament takes part over 3 days, the gruelling competition schedule demands extreme levels of fitness, with the potential for 5 games in just 72 hours. The top 16 teams from Ireland and Northern Ireland are split into 4 groups, with just the top team from each group qualifying for the semi-finals.

Banbridge Academy’s group included Middleton College (Munster), Sullivan Upper (Ulster) and Wesley College (Leinster). The first group game saw them face Middleton College at Middleton’s home pitch. Despite vocal home support for Middleton, Banbridge started the game on the front foot, with an energetic press forcing their opposition to make mistakes and give opportunities for the pacy forwards to capitalise. A high defensive line ensured any Middleton threats were dealt with swiftly, often leading to instant counter attacks. In a dominant performance Banbridge won 9-0 (Adam Mckee x3, Jake Rainer x2, Joshua Brownlee, Lukas Moles, Matthew McKee, Matthew Stevenson), giving the squad great confidence for the rest of the group games.

On day 2 the Academy played Ulster rivals Sullivan Upper. Sullivan were very disciplined in their defence, working hard to limit opportunities for the Academy forward line. Patient passing work combined with strong forward movement ensured the Academy side still put pressure on the Sullivan keeper. Sullivan pushed hard on counter attacks to gain their own chances, with some excellent solo runs, however the Academy defence were always on hand to thwart Sullivan advances. As the game wore on, the Academies relentless pressure took its tole on a tiring Sullivan defence, the final score ending 7-0 (James Evans, Matthew Stevenson x2, Josh Brownlee, Adam McKee, Tommy Dobson, Jake Rainer).

The group decider saw Banbridge Academy face old rivals Wesley College. Wesley had also beaten Middleton (5-0) and Sullivan (6-1), leaving all to play for in the final match, with little to tell between the two sides group results. From the first whistle it was evident that the Academy had only one thing on their mind, dominating possession, with high tempo play and excellent off the ball work making it extremely difficult for Wesley. This paid off, with the academy taking an early lead. Wesley showed their quality by rallying to shut off shooting opportunities and advancing up the pitch to create chances of their own. They were rewarded with 3 short corners in quick succession, but the Academy defence dealt with them well, quickly turning possession into counter attacks and ending the half 3-0. The Academies relentless pressure soon told and in the second half they dominated a tiring Wesley College. The goal tally quickly rose to 6, stunning a shell-shocked Wesley. With a rallied effort, Wesley gained a consolation goal towards the end of the match making the score 6-1. However, the Academy would deal the last blow, when on the final whistle they ensured a decisive short corner made it 7-1 (Ben Pollock, Adam McKee, Matthew Stevenson x2, Matthew McKee x2, Jake Rainer).

After topping the group Banbridge Academy were drawn against another Ulster team in their semi final, Wallace High School. With two Leinster teams making up the other Semi, Kings Hospital and Dublin High School. Wallace were highly organised in their defence which caused the usual free flowing attacks of Banbridge academy to stumble. Despite lots of possession Banbridge were rushing their opportunities and getting frustrated by the excellent discipline of the Wallace defensive line. Wallace were also quick to counter, with pace and skill upfront. On a quick attack Wallace caught the Academy defence off guard and finished well to take the lead. The Academy side started to find their game, but struggled to make any meaningful chances, with the ball firing loosely across goal and causing little threat to the Wallace keeper. The final quarter started with Wallace still 1-0 up, however, the Academy had worked hard to get their normal style of play going and chances soon started to build pressure on the Wallace defence. Two quick fire goals saw them swing the advantage in their favour, taking a narrow one goal lead. Wallace rallied hard to try and find the equaliser, but when a late short corner was well saved it was the Academy who secured their place in the final, winning 2-1 (James Evans x2)

Dublin High School won their semi final vs Kings Hospital in another close game, winning 1-0.

The final started with a period of dominance for Banbridge Academy, who were using the channels well and quickly turning possession into advances on goal. A foul in front of the keeper saw a stroke converted to give the Academy a 1-0 lead in the 1^st quarter. Dublin high found their feet in the second quarter and began to put pressure on the Academy defence, forcing good tackles to keep them at bay. Following strong team play the Banbridge side doubled their lead to make it 2-0. However, Dublin high were not going to step aside and rallied their efforts to dominate the final minutes of the half. This saw them convert a good short corner, opening the game up for an exciting second half. The game flowed from end to end throughout the rest of the game, the Academy failing to make the most of possession, with balls passing the back post without a forward able to capitalise. Whilst the Academy defence were able to prevent open play chances, they fell to another short corner in the final quarter, which brought the game level at 2-2 (James Evans, Matthew Spence) . The game continued with chances for both teams, but neither could prevent the deadlock, so shuttle runs were needed to split the teams after full time. It was the Academy who would show the most composure, with goalkeeper Denver Golby forcing two misses from Dublin High School, whilst Tommy Dobson, Adam McKee and James Evans netted their chances. This left it to vice captain, Matthew Stevenson, to win the title for Banbridge Academy. He showed nerves of steel to force the Dublin High Keeper to ground before calmly walking the ball around him and into an open net. Jubilant scenes followed with Academy players, staff and supporters rushing the pitch to celebrate being the 2022 All Ireland Champions.

When asked about their title campaign the team captain, Matthew McKee, said; “We had to fight hard to come through 5 matches in 3 days but our squad is very strong and everyone played their part. I and a few others struggled with injuries but the coaching and medical staff kept us going to the end. Winning the Irish Schools’ is the dream of any schoolboy hockey player in Ireland and we feel so privileged to have brought the Tasmanian Shield back to the Academy for the sixth time in the competition’s 40 year history. I want to thank my teammates, our head coach Mr Jess and manager Mr Walker for making this possible.”

The Principal, Mr Robin McLoughlin OBE, praised the boys for their resilience after losing the All-Ireland Final last year on run-ins to come back and win on run-ins demonstrates the fantastic character of the whole squad.  A tremendous achievement and I congratulate Matthew the entire squad, as well as their Coach (Mr Simon Jess) Manager (Mr Colin Walker) and assistant Coach Mr John Clarke.

The Coaching staff and players of Banbridge Academy would especially like to thank all parents and supporters who made the long trip to Cork to cheer on the team. To celebrate occasions like this with them makes it even more special.