Tue 14 Dec, 2004

International

Women's Sport

Features

Coaching

Health & Fitness

Umpiring

International : Europe : Ireland

Ireland: Ulster's big two meet in decider ... again

x17

Irish Hockey

December 7, 2004

Belfast Telegraph, UK
> Page Views 703

By Graham Hamilton

07 December 2004
Ulster's two strongest hockey schools - RBAI and Banbridge Academy - meet yet again in a cup final tomorrow.

The two contested both the McCullough Cup and the Burney Cup finals last season and it's the same again for the McCullough decider tomorrow on Mossley's new synthetic pitch (2.30pm).

The Inst lads ended up winning both last season and that's something Bann coach Mark Cordner wants to change this time round ... even though he knows it will be hard.

Both teams have a handful already experiencing senior hockey.

Inst are captained by Paul Gleghorne, now a regular in the Instonians defence, and also have Michael Watt in their side - he was part of the Instonians team which reached the Powerade Kirk Cup final at Banbridge on Sunday.

Another few names which catch the eye are Chrisopher Gregg, son of Ulster coach Terry Gregg, and Neil Hamilton, younger brother of Annadale striker Ian.

Bann are captained by Ian Livingstone and also in their side is Christopher Boyce who has broken through to the Banbridge senior team which tops the Vi-Sport Senior League, as well as Diarmid Reay and Colin McKnight.

BANBRIDGE ACADEMY: Joe Baird, Danny Matson, Ivor Watt, Stephen Forbes, Drew Carlisle, Mark Dowds, Colin McKnight, Dane Ware, Chris Boyce, Neil Clydesdale, Ian Livingstone, Diarmid Reay, Nelson Shanks, Matthew Smyth, Ryan Bell, John McCracken.

RBAI: Graeme Brown, Mark Moreland, Conor Dempsey, Paul Gleghorne, Andrew Downey, Neil Hamilton, Andrew Coulter, Steven Karayiannis, Michael Watt, Michael Dorman, Chris Gregg, Jason Black, John Colville, Charles Marks, Jonathan Madill, David McMaster.

Meanwhile another member of the Stewart clan has stepped onto the representative hockey stage with the selection of Irish senior international Emma's sister Amy for the Ulster 16 squad.

She's one of two Royal School Armagh pupils to be picked the other being goalkeeper Jenny Jackson.

There's also a set of twins Michelle and Kerry Harvey in the line-up and they'll also be carrying on a family tradition as their mother Maggie is a former Ulster player.

Kate McConnell also comes from a hockey family as her father Billy played more than a hundred times for Ireland and was a member of GB's bronze medal winning squad at the 184 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The Under 16 interprovincial tournament takes place in Limerick from January 21-23.

Ulster U16 squad: Jenny Jackson (Royal School Armagh), Helen Stevenson (Methodist College), Lauren Barr (Coleraine High), Sophie Bloor (Strathearn), Rebecca Dallas (Cookstown High), Emma Ferguson (Sullivan Upper), Kerry Harvey (Strathearn), Michelle Harvey (Strathearn), Kate McConnell (Strathearn), Louise Mellor (BRA), Rachel Mulligan (Portadown College), Linzi Pollock (Ballyclare HS), Stephanie Quinn (Banbridge Academy), Rebecca Smith (Ballyclare HS), Amy Stewart (Royal School Armagh), Emma Thornbury (Lurgan Junior High).

Rate This Article

Your opinion counts.
Rate this article or enter your comments below.

Opinions expressed here do not represent the official views of PlanetFieldHockey.com or its staff. Comments will be removed if they are considered offensive or of a personal nature.

Comments on this article

James 12-07-2004 3:32 pm	Report this post
`Who do people think the best school boy hockey player is?? Keith Black?? Paul Gleghorne?? Andy Coulter??`

Jose 12-08-2004 6:12 am	Report this post
`definately paul gleghorne. The people at instonians rate him alot higher than mark. But i hear that he has a seriously bad back and might not be able to play for much longer!!!!`

Only one answer 12-08-2004 10:34 am	Report this post
`KEITH BLACK - BY A LONG WAY`

hockey fan 12-08-2004 12:38 pm	Report this post
`Blacky, yer my vote is keith black, superb player`

keinster fan 12-08-2004 2:25 pm	Report this post
`alan sothern, without doubt.`

same old bann 12-08-2004 3:27 pm	Report this post
`so much 4 bann bein the best team this year, great win 4 inst 2day in the cup. bann the nearly men can't win the big games and always bottle it in finals against inst. haha keep tryin`

Ulster Branch 12-09-2004 4:38 am	Report this post
`Banbridge will come good eventually,their learning the trade.They can have no excuses but they will come good and get theat bit of luck that RBAI have been having the past couple of years.`

MR MAN 12-09-2004 9:04 am	Report this post
`WELL DONE INST, JUST GO AND WIN THE BURNEY CUP LADS. WHO ARE BANBRIDGE ANYWAY!!`

John Jackson
12-09-2004 3:46 pm Report this post

gangly mofo!! paul gleghorne is the best schoolboy player hands down in ulster and in ireland. paul has everything bar a change of pace and i hope he doesnt mind me saying that, he has everything else and above all has got a hockey head- hockey comes as easy to him as anything else. plus he has the balls which very few players have. i know people will argue but they will all be wrong!!! i welcome any opinions but no personal abuse or any of that nonesense!!

Speedy Gonzalez 12-10-2004 4:28 am	Report this post
`PACE John you have played in and watched enough top hockey to realise that unfortunately turn of PACE is an absolute requirement for playing at the very top.You can have it all with regards touch, skill and reading of the game but against the dutch/spanish or Germans you better be able to keep up with them! Unfortunately it is an area where only limited gains can ever be achieved`

giraffe
12-10-2004 8:21 am Report this post

Paul is the best schoolboy in the country by a long way. His performances for instonians are superb to say the least. I believe change of pace is something he has worked on and improved greatly, and in fact hes just as quick in a straight sprint with most people. Reading the game is far more important than speed, just look at davy smith and paddy brown! Forwards have always been quicker than defenders and always will be. The best thing about paul is that he makes his team great!

Speedy Gonzalez 12-10-2004 9:06 am	Report this post
`PACE Am not questioning or slagging Paul. Agree with you about reading the game being important but with regards Paddy and Dave Smyth having trained regularly with both they are no slouches over 15 yds in training`

hockey fan 12-10-2004 12:18 pm	Report this post
`dont care what people say bout anyone else,i still think southern is the best schoolboy player,he's strong,got good change of pace and scores buckets of goals! he's a good leader also, not many players his age scoring as many goals in senior mens league.`

Irish 18 12-10-2004 2:41 pm	Report this post
`Southern Im involved in Irish u18 development squad with him and he is one of the fittest players in it,only darryl Walker is fitter in the squad.Alan's a good lad and whatever people may think about him as a player the one thing he is not is pudgey or unfit!!`

tim
12-10-2004 2:50 pm Report this post

clearly jack you've never trained with sothern if you think he's a bit pudgey.the guy is the second fittest player on the irish u.18 squad and also one of the strongest.he is banging them in for pembroke in the first division, and is taking on a huge amount of responsibility on that team for a schoolboy.paul is another great player, hes an intelligent player and has two or three yards on any attacker just from the way he reads the game.

Smackhead 12-10-2004 2:51 pm	Report this post
`I can assure you he's not overratted and not pudgey either. He's extremely fit and works on his fitness alot. What's best about him is he scores goals at important times, in interpros etc. Je's a big match player but is as consistent as they come.`

respect
12-12-2004 6:12 am Report this post

southern v gleghorne both are extremely good and cannot be compared. they are both superb at what they do. southern has improved his fitness and speed as well as gleghorne. im sure they both respect each other at what they do. im sure they will play a big part in the irish u18s this year. they will have a very good team.other players like crowly, lynch, todd,watt,hartes and walker not to mention lewis and pritchard. they will have a good team

Enter your own Comments
Your Name:
Subject (Optional):
Your Comments: These comments will not be posted live until they are reviewed

Search Articles

PFH Clubhouse Comment of the Week

Bend it like FIH!
By: worried