Church of Ireland II and Our Lady's Terenure meet in tomorrow's Irish Junior Cup final at Belfield, both clubs seeking their first ever win in the competition.
Having ousted favourites and cup holders Pegasus II in the semi-finals, Church of Ireland look slight favourites to add the cup to the Munster Junior League title they have already won this season - that success clinching them promotion to next season's senior grade. Terenure, though, won't be short of confidence after an impressive run to the final which included a 2-0 win over a strong Kilkenny side, finalists two years ago, at the quarter-final stage. The Dublin side's greatest threat should come from the prolific Aoife O'Donnell, who scored a hat-trick against Diocesan in the semi-finals, and the team's youngest player, the talented 18-year-old winger Aoife Mitchell. Meanwhile at Serpentine Avenue, Maids and Railway Union II will be fighting for Leinster Senior B survival in the relegation play-off which will determine who Old Alexandra II, Intermediate A winners, will replace in the division next season.
Church of Ireland: S Cleary, G Young (capt), L Ryan, A Mills, L Geary, R Delaney, C Lawson, L McSorley, C Mannix, P McKechnie, S Baker, C Fennelly, D O'Leary, N Sheehan, N Quinn, O Coakley. Coach: Frank Dorgan. Manager: Helen Lynch.
Our Lady's Terenure: G McDonnell, M Weakliam (capt), E Doyle, A M O'Neill, F Power, A O'Donnell, C Elliott, E Kilbride, H Brooks, Y Yendole, A Connelly, O Hartley, A Mitchell, O Kelly, E Brady, E Collery. Coach: Tom Goode. Manager: Ann Thornton.
Paths to the final - First round: Greenfields II 0, Our Ladys Terenure 5; Church of Ireland II 2, North Down 1. Quarter-finals: Our Ladys Terenure 2, Kilkenny 0; Wexford 0, Church of Ireland II 2. Semi-finals: Church of Ireland II 2, Pegasus II 1; Diocesan 1, Our Lady's Terenure 4.
IRISH JUNIOR CUP FINAL - Church of Ireland II v Our Lady's Terenure, Belfield, 2.0. Leinster League - Senior B play-off: Maids v Railway Union II, Serpentine Avenue, 1.15.
The Irish under-18 boys squad, in finishing fifth in the European Youth tournament in Belfast - in which they lost only to the eventual champions England - have assured Ireland, like the girls who took sixth spot in their competition, of retaining a place in the A division. But both the boys and girls divisions may be reduced to six teams, playing on a round-robin format, and future separate events are likely to be staged at the end of August to avoid a clash with other Easter competitions.
