Ashton seek to end six-year city famine

ASHTON SCHOOL go into today’s Munster Senior Schoolboys Cup final at Garryduff (2.30pm) against Bandon Grammar School hell-bent on returning the balance of power to Cork city after a six-year famine.

The West Cork nursery ended a nine-year period of Ashton dominance in 2004 and have since gone on to claim five consecutive titles, but the city school’s coach David Hobbs is hopeful of a return to the glory days.

To do so, he will be looking to younger brother Dan, who skippers the side and is already a top-notch drag-flicker — as evidenced most recently by his hat-trick for Cork Harlequins in their Munster Senior Cup final win over Bandon.

Other key players include Stuart O’Grady, Ireland U18 squad member Andrew Daunt and vice-captain Peter Catchpole, all team-mates of their coach at Cork Church of Ireland.

“It should be a good game as both teams have been playing a high level of hockey recently in the John Waring Cup, and both made the semi-finals of the Irish Schools earlier on in the year,” said Hobbs.

Ashton had to overcome tougher opposition in the last four, eventually seeing off Midleton College 4-1, while Bandon Grammar had a facile 8-0 win at Villiers. But it is the West Cork side who arguably possess a psychological advantage, having defeated their rivals 2-1 to avoid the wooden spoon at the John Waring a fortnight ago.

There is further motivation for the Bandon boys, coached by Denis Pritchard and Darren Platts, to make it six cup wins on the trot. Their senior girls have already won out in Munster, and if the boys can reciprocate that achievement it will give the school an unprecedented cup double.

Irish U16 international Darren Sweetnam is the lynchpin of the Bandon side while Karl Lynch, younger brother of Irish senior international Jason and an Ireland U18 squad member himself, provides the calming influence at the back for Bandon Grammar.

ASHTON: C Shemeld (GK), D Doherty, S O’Grady, D Hobbs (capt), W Brownlow, P Catchpole (vice-capt), A Daunt, N Gokul, M Welch, S Swanton, P Sweetnam, M Buttimer, M Holland, R Sweetnam, R Lynch, D Wolfe.

BANDON GRAMMAR: B Corcoran (GK), K Lynch, S McIloy, T Gray, N Leeming, D Sweetnam, S Sullivan, J Robinson, A Walsh, F O’Leary, S Miller, T Bateman, B Scott, C Duggan, M Coombes, A Scannell (capt).