Marian College, Ballsbridge 0/3 St: Joseph’s College, Galway
Shane Hulgraine (22), (52), (60)
St: Joseph’s College, Galway also known as ‘The Bish’, have taken home the newly named Tom Ticher Cup after defeating Marian College of Dublin in Athlone IT this afternoon (March 26)
The Galway side defeated last year’s Champions De La Salle College, Waterford in their semi final outing two weeks previously by a solidity goal and this was without two key players as Ben Brennan and Conor Melody were absent due to injury: An impressive record for the Connacht starlets
Marian’s had an equally impressive result against last season’s minor kingpins St: Eunan’s College as they overcome a resilient side 1/0 to ensure their advancement in the Cup competition, a wonderful year for the Ballsbridge students
However it was to be Galway day as young Shane Hulgraine ensured the Connacht side secured the silverware as he stole the show with three splendid goals following a real team effort in a sun soaked midlands arena:
It was unfortunate for Marian College that they struggled to find their rhythm in this crunch encounter as they lacked the edge of their semi final performance: Needless to say the game developed into a cracking Cup decider with plenty of skill on display:
The first real chance of the game came 15 minutes in courtesy of The Bish when Josh Marvesley almost replicated his heroics of the semi/final with a glancing header towards goal but Dublin keeper Jason Murphy saved well:
Five minutes later Shane Hulgraine showed some silky skills by flicking the ball not once but twice over a Marian defender and then set up Gary Kinneen whose shot went wide
Marian College looked a little slow off the pace starting off and St: Joseph’s took full advantage when Shane Hulgraine towered above the Dublin defence to nod home after Josh Marvesley swung the ball in from the left on 22 minutes
Conceding the opening goal in a final is usually demoralising but it gave the Dublin side the wakeup call they needed as they then pressed high and Clayton Maher got a shot off after skipping by two Galway defenders but the shot went narrowly wide
34 minutes in and Marian College were threatening again when a good move down the right saw Dean Gannon whip a ball into the box only for Eric Reynolds Doyle to time his jump too early and just miss out on a headed chance in front of goal
A lot of high pressure kept The Bish at bay who couldn’t get out of their own half with James Bailey next in line for Dublin to have a go with a right footed volley just outside the box which went straight at James Grealis
Galway’s lively winger Gary Kinneen sent an excellent ball across the face of goal only for Chris Croke to intervene and clear the ball to safety
The interval saw St: Joseph’s College with a narrow 1/0 lead
St: Joseph’s came out the second half in similar fashion to the first with quick attacking play in search of that all/important second goal:
Josh Marvesley and Jack Coyne both had long range efforts which just went wide of the Dublin goal much to the delight of Jason Murphy
On 52 minutes the games second goal finally came thanks to a superb individual effort from Shane Hulgraine who collected the ball on the half way line and brushed past two defenders before making his way to the box and calmly slot the ball into the bottom corner
Marian again retaliated to conceding and went up the other end immediately after the restart and Dean Gannon had a shot just inside the box well saved by James Grealis who palmed the ball back into action and Sean Rimmer’s follow up attempt was well blocked by Captain Bobby Keane:
Shane Hulgraine scored his third to claim the match ball on the hour mark when Tommy McClean made a darting run down the right and put a ball into the box for Hulgraine to connect with a volley only for it to hit the defender and fall at his feet with an easy tap in:
Marian did try spark a comeback and had much more of the possession for the remaining 20 minutes but just couldn’t find the goal to start it all up:
Galway almost had a fourth in the final minute of normal time when substitute Diarmuid McGee had a shot from 25 yards out, only for a wonderful stop from net minder Jason Murphy
A moment of controversy saw a player from each team receive a red card in the final minute as Jack Coyne and Shane O’Connell received their marching orders but that wasn’t enough to ruin what was a remarkable Cup decider
Both teams were a credit to their schools and played some wonderful football much to the delight of the huge travelling supporters who made the trek to Athlone
The Junior Cup once again returns to the Bish following their last victory back in 1986: The only other Galway School to replicate their success at Junior level were the impressive St: Mary’s College: They captured the U17 title in 2001, 1995 and 1994:
St: Joseph’s College are no strangers to All Ireland success as they’ve captured the elusive All Ireland crown at two other distinct levels, namely the Dr: Tony O’Neill Senior title in 2009 and the First Year title in 2011:
No doubt the squad will be looking to replicate their good fortunes next season as all eyes will be on the talented Galway side:
MARIAN COLLEGE, BALLSBRIDGE: Jason Murphy, Jonathan Farrelly, Clayton, Dean Tilly, Chris Croke, Aaron Montgomery, (Shane O’Connell, 52) James Bailey, Dean Gannon, Sean Rimmer, Eric Reynolds Doyle, Andrew Doolin, (Daniel Lane, 46)
SUBS NOT USED: Joseph McGlue, Adam Kavanagh, Niall Foley, Mikael Rawat, Ben Leka, Vittori Ferrai
TEACHERS: Carl Brien, Robbie Cronin
ST: JOSEPH’S COLLEGE, GALWAY: James Grealis, Tommy McClean, Eoin Higgins, Bobby Keane, Brian Lally, Michael Costello, (Diarmuid McGee, 73) Joe Hynes, (Evin Hynes, 80) Jack Coyne, Josh Marvesley, Shane Hulgraine, (Ross Murphy, 76) Gary Kinneen,
SUBS NOT USED: Chris Scally, Mark Walsh, John Kennedy, Evan Deacy, David Scully, David Carter, Tim Crotty, Conor Melody, Ben Brennan
TEACHERS: Robert Grealish, Barry McDermott
REFEREE: Tom Cunningham (Athlone)