Fulcher urges Belvo to raise the bar as Mary’s lie in wait
Belvedere College and St Mary’s College meet in the decider, and while the former will be bidding to rekindle the glory of 2005 on a day when a Cian Healy-inspired side bridged a 33-year gap in lifting the Cup, St Mary’s will be hoping to replicate a 2002 result when they earned a 10-6 victory over Belvo in monsoon conditions at Lansdowne Road.
Belvo have eked out impressive wins over Terenure College (14-10), Cistercian, Roscrea (13-3) and Clongowes (12-7).
Former Leinster player Gabriel Fulcher is their coach and is particularly pleased with their defensive prowess, particularly in the closing moments against Clongowes, They also possess one of the best attacking players in the cup in fullback Michael Keating, however, while John Conroy is also a smart finisher.
CJ Barry, Niall Myron and Ben Woods have lined out for Leinster under-18s, while Sexton, Keating and Luke Mangan hold under-19 honours for their province.
“I think we’ve come through a very tricky draw,” says Fulcher. “Beating Terenure who are a very competitive school gave us a good start. We had a real battle with them and scored in injury time. We had another battle with Clongowes that went right to the death.
“I don’t think we’ve come through showing any great form — that’s not to say that we can’t find a bit of form on Sunday. I think we’re going to have to raise the bar. We managed to dig our heels but we will need to produce more on Sunday to defeat Mary’s.”
Fulcher believes Mary’s are favourites after a famous 22-10 win over a fancied CBC Monkstown side.
Mary’s have worked diligently and are a close-knit group that has racked up big scores on their way to the final. Castleknock were put the sword on a 34-7 scoreline, Gonzaga suffered a 27-10 defeat before Mary’s exuded both class and hunger to defeat a CBC side that contained an all-Leinster back row.
Much of their success this season can be attributed to veterans at senior level, Jack McGrath, Darren Hudson and Jack McGrath, all in their third year at senior level.
Behind the scenes a lot of work is being carried out to bring Mary’s their sixth title. Rodney O’Donnell, David Breslin and David Dunne have cultivated excellent team spirit; to prepare for the CBC Monkstown game, Mary’s spent two days in Cork training with CBC Cork, who play in the Munster Schools final tomorrow.
“CBC Monkstown were the most talked about team in the cup especially in the way that they defeated St Michael’s in the semi-final. We have had to gear up to deal with them appropriately,” says O’Donnell.
“Our biggest strength this season is that everyone is performing to their optimum level. The big players have come to the fore even more because they had people alongside them who could rise to the occasion. It’s being very much that: No superstars, nobody shines more than anybody else.”
The build up has been low key.
“We tried to fly below the radar,” says O’Donnell.
“That was very important and we emphasised that all along. Nobody rated us and they had no reason to rate us. And if I’m honest, nobody still rates us. That’s how we see it. As the old adage says, we’re taking it one game at a time. That’s very much the way we’re going about it.
“We’re facing a formidable side, but we’re well aware of that fact. But we have our own ideas of what we want to do on the day and how we can take them on. Obviously they have their plan too.”
BELVEDERE COLLEGE (probable): M Keating; J Conroy, N Myron, C O’Shea, B Woods; R Considine, D Traynor; C O’Brien, T Sexton (capt), CJ Barry; L Mangan, E Browne; C Doyle, P Synnott, D Memery.
ST MARY’S COLLEGE: D Hudson; I O’Neill, M Walsh, P Finnegan, R Crotty; D Fitzgerald, S O’Donnell; J McGrath, W Andreucetti, R Ferris; O McGill, R Field, R Lennon, B O’Connell, R Bent. Replacements: G Blackburn, D Callanan, S Murray, K O’Sullivan, R Sweeney, E Moriarty, E McAleese.
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