Last Saturday Kilkeel High School made the long journey to Lisnagarvey Hockey Club to contest four competitive matches. On a bitterly cold day it was perhaps fitting that honours were even. The Wallace 1st X1 were without six key players but produced a spirited display before losing 1 – 2. Although Mark Hutchinson was busy in goals for the Lisburn lads it would be fair to say that the Kilkeel High keeper had to be man of the match for a series of spectacular saves.
Matthew Murphy scored the Wallace goal with a wonderfully struck reverse stick effort, whilst the coaching staff were satisfied with the displays of fringe players Chris Cousins and Chris Rowland who both played well.
Also on Saturday the Wallace under 15 X1 were unlucky to lose 2 – 3 and felt aggrieved with some key umpiring decisions. Ben Coulter scored the first Wallace goal with a delicate finish to a well worked move, whilst Jonathan Coalter added a rare second before the late Kilkeel winner. Timmy Crean also deserves praise for driving the team forward in difficult conditions.
It was left to the under 14 and 13 teams to overturn the above results and keep the overall series score level. Jonathan Sykes scored a superb opener for the under 14s and this was followed up by a Dennis Wong goal to win that game 2 – 0. Goal keeper Adam Kavanagh and his defensive unit also deserve mention for keeping an excellent clean sheet. The under 13s continued their fine run of form with a resounding 4 – 0 victory. Daniel Nelson and Aaron Dumican scored two apiece and were ably assisted by two Year 8 pupils, Sean Murray and Mark McNellis who both played superbly well on debut.
All at Wallace would also like to congratulate the four boys who represented Ulster at the recent interpros in Belfast. Stephen Hunter, Richard Arneill and Peter MacDonnell (all Year 13) were key players as the under 18s won their series with a perfect four wins out of four, whilst Michael Keery (Year 12) made his interpro debut for the under 16 squad who unfortunately did not win.
This coming week sees the 2nd X1 play Newry High School in the quarter final of the Prior Shield. This game will take place at Lisnagarvey and the result and match report will be included in next week’s report. On Saturday all teams will travel to Shaw’s Bridge and Queens to face Belfast rivals RBAI. Matches will start at 9.15 am and all support is welcome.
Last modified: December 2, 2008
