U15s secure 11th Richardson Cup in a row

Sullivan Upper U15s 0

THE last game of the week would surely be the tightest against a fancied Sullivan Upper side in the 11th consecutive final the Academy has played in the Richardson Cup.

The side, coached by Mr Mark Miskelly, himself a senior hockey player in the blue of Portadown, arrived full of confidence in their own ability.

The Academy side began in determined fashion with Captain Sturgeon instilling passion by making a number of fine tackles on the Sullivan forwards. The distribution from Phillip Wilson, Johnny Gregson and Connor Allistar was supreme and Peter Brown bamboozled the Sullivan midfield to allow Rory woods a great darting run.

This was abruptly ended by a sloppy tackle and the Academy’s first set play was excellently worked to Ben Cosgrove who flicked home into the Sullivan side netting to put his side 1-0 up.

The passage of play went end to end in the following 10 minutes before Camin McCluskey kicked in a stunning performance in left midfield, himself and Connor Allister dealing magnificently with the Sullivan attack.

A piece of indiscipline from Sullivan resulted in an overturned free and a quick end to end pass found Ross Dutton who beat the last man at pace before yet again being abruptly stopped. The resulting set piece corner was a masterpiece from Peter Brown who drag flicked his accurate effort high into the Sullivan net to give the keeper no chance.

The great play from Brown, mccluskey and cosgrove was at times outstanding beyond their years and Craig Campbell’s skill and speed in taking the game to the Sullivan defence meant a neat platform involving himself, Cosgrove, Brown, Woods and finally McKee who found space and time from top circle to fire home an impressive 3-0 on half time.

The words from Miskelly at half time reinforced the high level of performance on display and the depth of the bench in coming on and making a really positive impact. The emphasis would be on more attractive attacking hockey.

The second period saw Academy keeper Montgomery in great form, saving well from two set piece plays from Connor, the second of which needed some heroics from Gregson to end their attack.

The speed of attack and quality of the passing displayed by Miskelly’s squad then began to take its toll on a flagging Sullivan side and more neat hockey allowed Rory Woods to smash his pass to the back post for Cosgrove to deflect in for his second and the Academy’s fourth.

The style of hockey had turned to champagne by now and with their tails firmly in the air Peter Brown won back possession before slipping the ball to Camin McCluskey who made a superb 50m run beating everyone in his wake before smashing home from top circle to give the Academy an unassailable lead.

The hard running of John McCague and Campbell set up further chances for Cosgrove and Woods but the Sullivan keeper was up to the challenge and Woods couldn’t believe his luck when his fine shot rebounded off the post.

The introduction of Neville, McCoy and Wheeler with a quarter remaining showed the quality within the ranks of this side and the game ended in huge celebration by supporters and parents of the Banbridge faithful.

Captain Thomas Sturgeon in his acceptance speech made reference to his pride in being the 11th captain in a row to lift the title and that indeed he was honoured to lead such a great side to victory in such fashion. He thanked his coach Miskelly for endless dedication to hockey and echoed comments earlier made by the Ulster President regarding the seven trophy haul by the school.

Thomas ended by saying he was proud to be a pupil of Banbridge Academy and was speaking on behalf of everyone associated with hockey in the school at his excitement of winning all the available silverware of Burney and McCullough, Prior Shield and Dowdall Cup, The Richardson and Ferris Cups and the Bannister Bowl as well as Kelly and Magee’s honours of Man of the Match in both senior finals.

A truly remarkable season which and the last five finals the Academy conceed not a single goal in over 290 minutes of hockey against the school.

He finished by thanking the supporters and the staff for their patience in allowing time from class to attend the games. Finally he ended by thanking loyal sponsors, The Belmont Hotel, for their assistance with all things associated with the sides this year.

Team: David Montgomery, Johnny Gregson, Thomas sturgeon , Philip Wilson, Connor Allister, Peter Brown, Camin McCluskey, Ben Cosgrove, Craig Campbell, Rory Woods, Ross Dutton, John McCague, Mark McCoy, Adam Wheeler, Clarke Neville, Johnny McKee, Andrew Ferguson. Coach: Mr Mark Miskelly.

Master in Charge of Hockey at Banbridge Academy, Mr Mark Cordner, had this to say on the branches trophy cabinet sweep.

“I would like to say how proud as a school we are of the boys achievements. No doubt there will be many sore and aching boys over the next few days but they have been completely dedicated to hockey and deserve their recognition on the biggest stages.

“We have a great bunch of parents who support hockey fanatically at the academy, it has over a century of deep tradition and excellence and with the current depth of talent amongst our ranks it points towards a healthy sporting situation in the school.

“My thanks as always go the team of teachers and coaches who remain highly motivated towards success and indeed to our Principal and Governors who have always been fantastic in supporting our pupils in every aspect of the schools life.”