Leinster secured their tenth title in twelve years when they landed the FAI Schools Interprovincial title after a fantastic three day tournament in Athlone on Sunday last (17 October, 2010)
John McShane’s charges went into the final game against Ulster needing just a point to retain the title for a fourth consecutive time: A resolute Leinster ensured that the crown would be retained as they played out a scoreless draw in a pulsating conclusion to the weekend’s activities:
It was no more than Leinster deserved as they battled hard to overcome Connacht and Munster in the opening rounds while sharing points with Ulster: The northerners should be very proud of their three day display as they took the tournament to the wire for a fantastic finale:
The Leinster lads had to do it the hard way with 10 men, following the dismissal of Giovani Boccarossa in the second half for a lunge on Ulster’s dangerman Gary Merritt, and without sharpshooter Paul Mannion, was testament for their quality:
Mannion had grabbed three of their four goals in victories over Connacht and Munster but missed Sunday’s finale due to commitments with his local Gaelic club Kilmacud Crokes:
Their star man did land in at the Stadium for the final few minutes as the Leinster defence marshalled superbly by Ryan Matthews and Gavin Colton repelled the waves of attacks from their opponents:
Only victory for Ulster would deny Leinster the trophy and they had enough possession in the first half to have worked goalkeeper Lee Brandon more than they did: The last ten minutes saw the Ulster attack increased but unfortunately Carr’s men couldn’t get on the score sheet to deny the Leinster dominance:
McShane’s troops held out for the win and their boss was thrilled with their displays over the three matches, “the lads only conceded one goal in the entire tournament and deservedly won it, I felt”, he said:
The tournament opened on Friday evening with Leinster meeting ole rivals Connacht in an entertaining encounter which Connacht dominated:
Leinster took the lead against the run of play in the first half but Brian Lacey’s team came back into contention when they equalised several minutes later: St: Benildus star Paul Mannion grabbed his second of the afternoon to ensure a valuable two points for the current holders:
A trio of goals in the second of Friday’s fixtures ensured the points for Paddy Carr’s side as Ulster ran out 3/0 winners against a spirited Munster: The score line didn’t reflect the game as Munster weren’t too far behind their northern counterparts: Milford student Tony McNamee scored twice while Liam Martin of Donegal Town scored the third to cement victory:
Saturday morning saw leaders Leinster out against Munster in an epic encounter: Mannion opened the scoring in the first half and this was followed up by colleague Chris Lyons midway through the second half as he pounced first to a ball in the box to slot past Mount Mercy star Barry Galvin: Munster made some fine manoeuvres in front of goal but lacked the scoring ability to threaten Palmerstown Greg Murray:
Having Leinster lead the league table on 4 points, Ulster’s next game against Connacht on Saturday afternoon was a must win to keep the dream alive:
Liam Martin scored for the Ulster outfit after 20 minutes but Connacht made a fight of it when mid way through the second period, Niall Murphy equalised proceedings: Billy Lane had a gilt edged opportunity to ensure Connacht’s first win however his effort dragged agonising wide of the left post after good work from John Mountney:
The 1/1 result ensured equal points for both sides but Ulster’s chances of silverware were diminishing quickly with a difficult task of overcoming defending Champions Leinster in the final game of the series:
Sunday morning’s fixtures were played in Lissywollen with Connacht and Munster kicking off proceedings: The Westerns secured a narrow 1/0 win with a solid attacking performance from the strike partnership of Lane and McConville: Munster was unfortunate not to register any points during the weekend but their display may warrant a call up to the International trials for some of the panel:
Connacht’s three point tally was not enough this season to trouble either Ulster or Leinster as the two teams were preparing to do battle in the final game of the series:
Only victory for Ulster in their final game against Leinster would deny the champions the trophy and the northerners were desperately unlucky not to have unhinged their rivals in an entertaining scoreless draw:
It was only a first half low of clear cut chances that the openings began to emerge but Leinster goalkeeper Lee Brandon was equal to everything thrown at him by the Ulster attack:
Liam Martin's angled drive forced a superb save and Brandon was in even more spectacular form to dive low to his left and make a one/handed stop from a Shane McGinty effort:
McShane’s defensive tactics paid dividends as the Leinster squad held out a lively Ulster unit to claim a record fourth consecutive title:
International Head Coach Dave Archbold and his colleagues will have a difficult task to whittle down a provisional squad to attend trials at the end of the month: Archbold is also conscious of the fact that a number of key players were unavailable at the weekend due to injury, club commitments and trials abroad:
A provisional panel of twenty will be selected to play Poland in mid February before a final squad of sixteen is selected for the Centenary Shield campaign which commences on 4 March against Wales in Killarney:
LINK TO IMAGES ON WEBSITE: http://www:faischools:ie/galleries/and/downloads/photo/gallery/111/boys/interprovincial/tournament/15/17/october/2010/
This year, Student Travelcard has teamed up with the Football Association of Irish Schools to proudly sponsor the Boys’ Interprovincial Tournament: This mutually beneficial relationship saw the players awarded student travel cards which offer exclusive travel discounts of up to 40% as well as over 200 discounts available for retail outlets, gyms, food and entertainment: Check out www:studenttravelcard:ie for further information
Four provincial “Player of the Tournament” accolades were also awarded following the tournament as part of this new sponsorship agreement: Niall Murphy, Summerhill College, Sligo (Connacht), Ryan Matthews, Clonkeen College, Blackrock (Leinster), Ryan McLaughlin, Carndonagh Community School (Ulster), Conor Coad, De La Salle, Waterford (Munster) all received two complimentary tickets to Ireland’s forthcoming Senior International Friendly on 17 November courtesy of Student Travelcard and the Football Association of Ireland: Congratulations to the four provincial players and all who participated in the tournament:
PROVINCIAL PANELS:
Leinster: Lee Brandon (Presentation College, Bray), Dean Mason (De La Salle, Raheny), David Brick (St: Gerard’s College, Bray), Gavin Colton (Confey College, Leixlip), Ryan Matthews (Clonkeen College, Blackrock), James Kavanagh (Oatlands College), Mark Leavy (Athboy Community School), Sean Plunkett (St: Brendan’s College, Bray), Daniel Murphy (Confey College, Leixlip), Chris Lyons (Presentation College, Bray), Paul Mannion (St: Benildus College), Mark Hughes (Scoil na Trionoide, Athy), Eric Molloy (Tullow Community School), Rob Murray (Athlone Community School), Giovani Boccarossa (Oatlands College), Greg Murray (Phobailscoil Iosolde, Palmerstown)
Management: John McShane (Dublin Oak Academy, Bray), Paddy O’Reilly (Trinity Comprehensive School, Ballymun), Conor Foley (Athlone Community College), Ger Prendergast (Physio, Trinity Comprehensive School, Ballymun)
Munster: Barry Galvin (Mercy Mount Hawk, Tralee), Alan Rissoko (Limerick CBS), Kevin Barry (St: Paul’s Community College, Waterford), James O’Brien (Colaiste Spioraid Naoimh), Ian Fahy (Colaiste Chluain Meala) Craig Keane (St: Paul’s Community College), Cian Collins (Limerick CBS), Michael Menton (Limerick CBS), Alan O’Flynn (Colaiste Mhuire, Cobh), Barry Sheedy (St: Joseph’s College, Kilmallock), Andrew Bhandarkar (PBC, Cork), Kealan O’Gorman (Cashel Community College), Conor Coad (De La Salle, Waterford), Aaron Cooney (Limerick CBS), Colin Daley (Limerick CBS), Stephen McNamara (Limerick CBS)
Management: Dave Dineen (CBS High School, Clonmel), Darius Delahunty (CBS High School, Clonmel), Peter O’Sullivan and Tom Morrissey:
Ulster: Finian Farrelly (Inver College, Carrickmacross), Conor Keddy (Carndonagh Community School), Colm McLaughlin (Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana), Emmett Patterson (St: Columbas College, Stranorlar), Ryan McLaughlin (Carndonagh Community School), Anthony Blair (Pobalscoil Gweedore), Gary Merritt (Loreto Community School Milford), Shane McGinty (Deele College, Raphoe), Jordan Duffy (St Columbas College, Stranorlar), Liam Martin (Abbey Vocational School), Mark Timlin (Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana), Stephen Rodden (Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola, Falcarraigh), Calvin Bradley (St Columbas College), Michael Barr (Moville Community College), Tony McNamee (Loreto Community School, Milford), Christopher McGlynn (Rosses Community School)
Management: Paddy Carr (Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana), Sean McFadden (Crana College), William O’Connor (Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana), Conal McBride (Inver College, Carrickmacross):
Connacht: Evan Duffy (St: Joseph’s College, Galway), Martin Owens (St: Joseph’s Secondary School, Charlestown), Shane Keogh (St: Mary’s College, Galway), James Casserly (St: Mary’s College, Galway), Declan Keaney (St: Claire’s Comprehensive, Manorhamilton, Leitrim), Niall Murphy (Summerhill College, Sligo), Shane Gallagher (St: Mary’s College), Ian Batley (Clifden Community School), Tony Ward (St: Mary’s College), Billy Lane (Presentation College, Athenry), Dylan McConville (Colaiste Einde, Galway), Killian Sweeney (Summerhill College, Sligo), Barry McEntee (St: Mary’s College), John Mountney (St: Muredach’s College, Ballina), Damien Connaughton (Colaiste Einde, Galway), Connor Glesson (St: Mary’s College)
Management: Brian Lacey & Emmet Peyton (St: Mureduch’s College, Ballina), Michael Feeney (FAI/FAS), Seamus McWalter (Physio)
INTERPROVINCIAL FIXTURES:
Friday 15th October (Leah Victoria Park, Tullamore)
5:00pm Leinster 2/1 Connacht
6:30pm Munster 0/3 Ulster
Saturday 16th October (Leah Victoria Park, Tullamore)
2:00pm Leinster 2/0 Munster
4:00pm Ulster 1/1 Connacht
Sunday 17th October (Athlone Town FC)
10:00am Munster 0/1 Connacht
11:30am Leinster 0/0 Ulster
POINTS
Leinster 5
Ulster 4
Connacht 3
Munster 0
BOYS’ INTERNATIONAL FIXTURES:
Friendly
17 February Republic of Ireland v Poland (Oscar Traynor Centre, Coolock)
Centenary Shield
4 March Republic of Ireland v Wales (Killarney, Kerry)
17 March Northern Ireland v Republic of Ireland (Newry)
1 April Scotland v Republic of Ireland (Dumfries)
29 April Republic of Ireland v England (TBC) Live on Sky Sports
END