These competitions are nearly all at the semi-final stages now with perennial contenders Wesley and St Andrew’s through at all four levels to the A final four stage. At senior level, they are followed through by Sutton Park while St Columba’s will play off against Newpark for second place behind Wesley in Pool 2.

In the Juniors, eight wins from eight outings see Andrews through with either Sutton or High School joining them. In Pool 2, St Columba’s topped their group with a perfect record ahead of Wesley, courtesy of their 2-1 win in the group stages.

Again, Andrew’s bossed their Minor pool while King’s Hosptial need two wins to prevent either Sutton from making it into this set of A semi-finals. Wesley will be joined probably by Mount Temple from the other side of the draw with Columba’s and Dundalk outsiders.

In the U-13 competition, St Andrew’s will be joined by either St Killian’s or KH while Wesley and Andrews B or Newpark have eyes still on the prize.

In the cups, Columba’s have continued their good year with victory over Dundalk in round one of the Senior Trophy and await the winner of High School and Sutton Park in the semi-finals. Kilkenny are on top of the draw and will play either King’s Hos or St Killians.

Wesley and St Andrew’s await the finalists of the Trophy in the Senior Cup semi-finals but have been busying themselves in the South of Ireland schoolboy competition, facing off in a round-robin against Cork sides Bandon and Ashton.

Andrew’s won out against their Dublin rivals 4-0 last week and look the main contenders this year while Wesley drew 3-3 with Ashton in one of their other ties.

Columba’s will also spy a spot in the Junior final having made it past the challenge of Dundalk and Mount Temple in the opening rounds of the competition and are now in the semi-final. With Wesley and St Andrew’s both in the top half of the draw with Kilkenny and Sutton Park for company, it makes that section of the draw a potential minefield.

In the minor competition, the quarter-final stage is set to be played in the coming week while at U-13 level, St Andrew’s have powered through three rounds of competition to reach the semi-finals, getting the better of U-13 C sides Whitechurch and Taney before undoing Dundalk in the quarters.

** For all the league tables, click here; if you have any further results, reports of photos from any schools games, please email hookresults@yahoo.com

Senior Hockey Trophy, semi-final draw: Kilkenny vs King’s Hospital/St Killians; High School/Sutton Park vs St Columba’s
Final: March 14

Junior Cup, quarter-final draw: Newpark/St Andrews v Sutton Park; Wesley v Kilkenny; King’s Hospital vs Sandford Park/St Killians
Quarter-final result: Dundalk 1 St Columba’s 7
Final: March 14

Minor Cup, quarter-final draw: King’s Hospital v Drogheda GS; Wesley vs St Columba’s; Mount Temple vs St Andrew’s; Newpark vs Sutton Park
Final: March 21

U-13 Cup, quarter-final draw: Wesley v Newpark; Headford v St Killians; Kilkenny vs John Scottus/King’s Hospital/High School
Quarter-final result: St Andrew’s beat Sutton Park
Final: March 14

League final schedule:
February 29: Junior A (3.40pm), Junior B (2pm) – both at Wesley College, Ballinteer
U-13 A (3.20pm), U-13 B (2pm), U-13 C (12.45pm) – all at St Andrew’s College, Booterstown

March 7: Senior A (4.30pm), Senior B (1.30pm), All-Ireland playoff (3pm) – all at Newpark
Minor A (3.40pm), Minor B (2pm) – both in St Columba’s College

Magee dived full length to touch home a Matthew Bell drag-flick to make it 2-1 and the Co Down side held on to win the Tasmanian trophy for a fourth time and the first to go back-to-back since RBAI completed the feat in the mid-1990s.

Post-match speeches and presentations alluded to this not being a classic final, tiredness from five games in three days cited as a factor, but it had plenty of charms.

Not least were the sterling performances of the goalkeepers, especially Michael Anderson who managed to keep out all seven of Cookstown’s penalty corners, denying senior international Ian Sloan at every turn.

His first went closest of them all, tipped onto the post with the slightest touch to a high, travelling effort.
Academy responded in kind, Michael Duggan driving down the right wing to win an 11th minute corner which Bell slid home low to the glove-side

He had earlier been Bann’s hero in the semi-final, grabbing an equaliser four minutes from time against St Andrew’s, cancelling out Fiachra Maher’s deflected effort and forcing penalty strokes.

Indeed, during the week he showed his ice cool nerve with a last second winner against Midleton and he had no qualms about shooting home his first corner shot of the final.

The riposte was instant, Cookstown winning their third and fourth corner and while neither drew a goal, the fourth was palmed out for a long corner by Anderson.

It was neatly worked out to Matthew Rollins on the 25 – playing with heavy bandaging on his head due to a stray ball striking him in the semi-final with Wesley – and he whipped a power-slap at a perfect angle for Tony Johnston to deflect high into the roof of the net.

The Co Tyrone side were enjoying the edge in these phases, winning another couple of corners but, with Magee and Johnny McKee lurking on the counter, there was always a threat.

None more so than when a steal in midfield saw four quick passes for the excellent Ben Cosgrove to flip into Magee’s path and his first-time crack drew a robust stop from Jamie Kirkpatrick.

Into the second half, Magee’s near post deflection to the industrious Rory Woods’ cross clipped the sideboard before Sloan began to show his threat. First, he fired a dangerous reverse across the face of goal to wreak some havoc.

But his side were caught when the over-lapping Duggan was bundled over just inside the 25. From the corner, Magee stretched out a stick to beat Kirkpatrick and the two linesmen with a deft effort.

Cookstown’s response was mighty, Rollins marauding forward from the back to clip a sweet reverse which Anderson brilliantly pushed away while Sloan’s virtuoso solo run ended in the side-netting.

With time running out, the Irish international almost capitalised as Bann delayed a free-out and saw the decision reversed. Sloan was on it like a light but Anderson was alert to stay tall and boot the shot clear.

Magee and Woods showed maturity to run the clock out, winning a corner on the final hooter. Bann initially raced onto the pitch to celebrate before taking the corner. It came to nothing but mattered little as they welcomed back the Tasmanian shield for another year in Co Down.

Earlier in the day, both northern teams progressed to the final ahead of Leinster opposition as, for a second year running, both semi-finals went to penalty strokes.

St Andrew’s fell 3-0 to Banbridge in their competition after Bell’s late flick tied up a game which the Dubliners led for a long period. Wesley were undone on the eighth round of sudden death penalties, 7-6, by Cookstown. Sloan had put the Ulster side in front with time running out before Kirk Shimmins gave his side a lifeline but they could not see it home in the shoot-out.

Umpires: Andrew Gray, Malcolm Coombes

Banbridge Academy: M Anderson, T Sturgeon, M Bell, P Brown, A Bingham, B Cosgrove, R Woods, O Magee, J McKee, P Bennington, M Duggan
Subs: J McDermott, A Dickson, M Colussi, C Dillon-Burns, A Ferguson

Cookstown HS: J Kirkpatrick, A Ferguson, D Crooks, I Johnston, I Sloan, P Watt, T Johnston, R Donaldson, C Anderson, M Rollins, R Johnston
Subs: R Millar, P Johnston, A Gillis, J Anderson, S Nelson

All-Ireland Schoolboy’s Championships
Semi-finals: St Andrew’s 1 (F Maher) Banbridge 1 (M Bell), Banbridge won 3-0 on penalties; Wesley 1 (K Shimmins) Cookstown HS 1 (I Sloan), Cookstown won 7-6 on penalties.
Final: Banbridge 2 (M Bell, O Magee) Cookstown 1 (T Johnston)

It means the Ballinteer boys will face Ian Sloan and his Cookstown HS team mates in the final four early on Friday morning while the Andrew’s play Banbridge Academy in a repeat of the 2010 final.

Their progression was far from comfortable, though. Ashton lost the cutting edge which marked their 6-1 morning win over Sullivan Upper and let slip seven penalty corner chances. Ian Stewart, meanwhile, snapped up the chances which came his way, netting in the first minute of the tie and got an insurance goal later on to punish the Blackrock Road school’s profligacy.

It leaves Conor Motyer and Kyle Good in a decent position to add a coaching All-Ireland title to the playing crown they earned a couple of years ago when they co-captained the side. They are part of the Wesley set-up along with Brian Delany.

Andrew’s corner prowess helped them through against Friends. Needing just a draw, the first half was tight for the Booterstown side as the Ulster school held more possession and clipped a post and the bar.

After a scoreless first half, though, Andrew’s stepped up as Fiachra Maher twice slid onto disguised David Cole corner flicks, sandwiching a straight Cole drag. Friends did pull one back but Lee Cole’s solo effort capped a solid win, over-turning a 4-3 loss to the same opposition a month ago in a friendly tie.

The Leinster duo join Bann and Cookstown in the final four. The two Ulster sides were virtually assured of progression barring large defeats going into their third group games but both completed wins.

Cookstown almost fell to a huge shock as Keith O’Hare, Jack Spain and Jack Ryan built a 3-1 lead for Sutton Park but a four-star second half saw the Co Tyrone school bounce back in style.

Banbridge played out one of the highest quality ties of the tournament against RBAI. The goal which settled it was of the fortuitous kind as Michael Colussi’s reach shot, rescuing the ball from just before the endline, was going across goal until an unlucky defender could only redirect into the backboard.

This tie was decided by Bann’s late show against Midleton in the morning when Matthew Bell struck with the last touch of the game for a 2-1 win. And the East Cork side were out on their feet but still held out for a 1-1 draw against St Columba’s for whom Ross Canning dragged home his second goal of the competition.

All-Ireland Schoolboys Championships, game three results and final pool standings
Group One: Cookstown 5 Sutton Park 3 (J Spain, J Ryan, K O’Hare); Campbell College 4 (M West 3, J Cox) Newpark 0
Standings: 1. Cookstown 6pts (+12) 2. Campbell College 4pts (-6) 3. Sutton Park 1pt (-3) 4. Newpark 1pt (-11)

Group Two: St Andrew’s 4 (F Maher 2, D Cole, L Cole) Friends 1 (Getty); Bandon 3 Regent House 3
Standings: 1. St Andrew’s 6pts (+12) 2. Friends 4pts (-1) 3. Bandon GS 1pt (-4) 4. Regent House 1pt (-7)

Group Three: Wesley 2 (I Stewart 2) Ashton 0; Wallace vs Sullivan Upper, result TBC
Standings: 1. Wesley 6pts (+5) 2. Ashton 4pts (+7) 3. Wallace 0pts (-4) 4. Sullivan 0pts (-8)

Group Four: Banbridge Academy 1 (M Colussi) RBAI 0; Midleton 1 (N Hodson) St Columba’s 1 (R Canning)
Standings: 1. Banbridge 6pts (+10) 2. Midleton 3pts (0) 3. RBAI 2pts (-1) 4. St Columba’s 1pt (-9)

Semi-final draw (both at 9.30am): St Andrews vs Banbridge Academy; Wesley vs Cookstown HS

Wes have the most to do after they fought off a gritty Wallace at Garryduff 3-2. Jordan Sutton’s reverse thunder-bolt set them on their way but they could not shake off the Lisburn school despite Ian Stewart’s neat volley as Conor Kelly pegged them back initially.

Luke Madeley’s corner rebound again put the Ballinteer side clear but a late Timmy Crean goal brought it back into a nervy state. With Ashton knocking six past Sullivan, they have the benefit of a much stronger goal difference and so will advance with a draw from the game.

Andrew’s have the opposite equation to Wesley having added a 4-1 win over Bandon to a 6-0 success against Regent House yesterday and so are in good shape.

Cookstown look home and hosed in group one as they beat Campbell College 4-1 with Ian Sloan bringing his tournament tally to ten in two games with a quartet of goals.

Sutton Park and Newpark played out a lively 2-2 draw, Jack Walsh nabbing the equaliser close to the end. Johnny McCormack’s rebound had given the Blackrock side the lead but Aodan Fee and Shane Graham turned the game around only for Walsh to nab the leveller.

Banbridge, meanwhile, need to avoid a five-goal defeat to RBAI – or a massive result for Midleton against Columba’s – as their last gasp win over Midleton put them in the box seat.

The East Cork side were level at 1-1 thanks to Andrew Colton’s third of the tournament until the final hooter when Bann scored from a last-gasp corner.

All-Ireland Schoolboys Championships, second series results
Group One: Newpark 2 (J McCormack, J Walsh) Sutton Park 2 (A Fee, S Graham); Cookstown 4 (I Sloan 4) Campbell College 1
Standings: 1. Cookstown 4pts (+10) 2. Campbell College 2pts (-2) 3. Sutton Park 1pt (-1) 4. Newpark 1pt (-7)

Group Two: Friends 4 (Getty 2, Marshall, Tinsley) Regent House 3 (Black 2, Shepherd); St Andrew’s 4 (B Campbell 2, F Maher, M Loughrey) Bandon GS 1
Standings: 1. St Andrew’s 4pts (+9) 2. Friends 4pts (+2) 3. Bandon GS 0pts (-4) 4. Regent House 0pts (-7)

Group Three: Wesley 3 (I Stewart, J Sutton, L Madeley) Wallace HS 2 (C Kelly, T Crean); Ashton 6 (P Daunt 2, S Wolfe, C Casey, R Sweetnam, R Lynch) Sullivan Upper 1 (P Douglas)
Standings: 1. Ashton 4pts (+8) 2. Wesley 4pts (+4) 3. Wallace 0pts (-4) 4. Sullivan 0pst (-8)

Group Four: RBAI 3 (J Lorimer, A Fallis, McConaghie) St Columba’s 1 (R Canning); Banbridge Academy 2 Midleton 1
Standings: 1. Banbridge 4pts (+9) 2. RBAI 2pts (0) 3. Midleton 2pts (0) 4. St Columba’s 0pst (-9)

David Cole’s hat-trick of penalty corners gave St Andrew’s all the impetus they needed to get their campaign off to a fine start against Regent House. He netted the first two before Jonathan Codd finished off from close range on the half-time hooter from a corner rebound for 3-0.

Cole made it four before a Cillian Hines deflection to Lee Cole’s reverse – perhaps fortuitous as there appeared to be a foot in the build-up – and Aaron Bailey’s goal completed a 6-0 win.

With Friends edging out Bandon 2-1, it gives the Booterstown school the initiative in Group Two. Wesley are the other Leinster outfit to get off the mark with a win as they had too much in the tank for Sullivan Upper, Luke Madeley netting a brace, but they will have their work cut out against an impressive Ashton.

Gary Wilkinson and Richard Lynch were a handful throughout and they hit the front in the first half through Stephen Wolfe against Wallace. It was a nervy lead at times but the host school eased any tension in front of a home crowd when Richard Sweetnam scored a stroke.

Wilkinson cracked home an open-side shot to share top of the table, possibly setting up a winner-takes-all battle at 1.30pm tomorrow.

Elsewhere, St Columba’s put in a decent first half shift against reigning champions Banbridge before running out of gas. Bann are without Josh Moffett but EHL representatives Owen Magee and Matthew Bell both netted in the first half but the Rathfarnham outfit had their moments, hitting the post and winning corners.

But six goals in the closing quarter gave the tie a lop-sided look as Rory Woods and John McKee grabbed quick-fire
doubles. Midleton – semi-finalists a year ago – were the other winners in group four, transforming a 1-0 half-time lead into a three goal margin with Andrew Colton and Greg Chambers on the mark. RBAI battled back but the east Cork side held on to win 3-2.

Cookstown look on course to boss group one as Ian Sloan’s half-dozen powered them to a 9-1 win over Newpark while Sutton Park were edged out by Campbell College 1-0.

All-Ireland Schoolboy’s Championships, day one results
Group One: Cookstown 9 Newpark 1; Sutton Park 0 Campbell College 1 (J Lyner)
Group Two: St Andrew’s 6 (D Cole 3, J Codd, A Bailey, C Hines) Regent House 0; Bandon 1 (B Scott) Friends 2 (A Allen, Marshall)
Group Three: Ashton 3 (S Wolfe, R Sweetnam, G Wilkinson) Wallace 0; Wesley 3 (L Madeley 2, K von Eickholdt) Sullivan Upper 0
Group Four: Midleton 3 (A Colton 2, G Chambers) RBAI 2; Banbridge 8 (O Magee 2, R Woods 2, J McKee 2, M Bell, B Cosgrove) St Columba’s 0

** For full Thursday fixture list, click here

** To keep up to date with all the results as they occur throughout the day, go to twitter.com/hookhockey or use the #irishhockey hashtag

It continued their fine start to the season for Columba’s, picking up their third win to move close to securing a league semi-final berth, backing up high-scoring wins over Newpark (6-5) and St Andrew’s B (7-3).

Against Wesley, it was a wide open tie with chances abounding for both sides. Despite the absence of Luke Madeley to a shoulder injury, Wes did create a couple of chances early on with the pressure they applied up top.

But similarly, they were forced to deal with a number of hairy moments with Freddie Morris looking the most threatening Columba’s forward, his skilful play leading to a lot of circle entries and some strong shots.

Older brother, Harry, was the creator in chief, stepping up from midfield and beating players to create chances for the forwards and, despite a couple of Wesley corners, Columba’s hit the front by half-time.

Freddie Morris was the creator, finding a great passing line for Wolfe Purcell to nip and score a top deflection. The second half saw Wesley turn up the pressure and they tried to speed up the game with quick free hits to make more chances with goalkeeper Alexander Bisgood forced into some good saves.

Columba’s could not keep hold of the ball and were forced to make some fantastic defensive tackles. Johnny Dalrymple was providing the main attacking threat while Ben McCrea produced a series of excellent tackles to set the moves in motion.

In response, Harry Morris was forced to throw a lot of overheads which resulted in some counters while also relieving the pressure. But Wesley got back on terms with ten minutes to go when the accumulation of attacks finally told, a neat ball across laid up a simple finish from a few feet out.

They looked keen to push on for a winner but Harry Morris produced the circle entry which stole the show, a strong run which led to a melee in the circle which eventually fell to Dillenberger. His reverse-stick effort was miscued but looped up awkwardly and spun in as the Wesley defence looked on in horror.

Elsewhere, St Andrew’s have bossed the opening phases of the opposite group, beating their own ‘C’ team 4-1 while also grabbing a 5-0 success over Wesley ‘B’ and they have done similarly well in the Senior Group One with wins over St Killians and Sutton Park.

** To see all the results and league standings from this season’s games, St Columba’s website carries all the details. Check it out here

** If you have stories, photos or match reports from any schoolboy’s game that you would like to see featured on The Hook, email hookresults@yahoo.com and we’ll endeavour to get it on the site.

The Rathfarnham school will face reigning champions Banbridge Academy who have a series of stars available to return with Josh Moffett, Owen Magee, Matthew Bell and Peter Brown among the town’s first team stars on the club side. They are likely to be coming into the three-day competition off the back of Bann’s EHL trip to Antwerp when they begin their defence of the title on October 26 in Ashton.

Seven-time winners RBAI are also involved in Group 4 while Midleton – semi-finalists a year ago – make up the quartet. The Munster side have seen talisman Nick Burns move on but younger brother Alex is still around while there are three members of the province’s recently named U-18 side involved.

Leinster contenders St Andrews’ bid for a third title is powered by David Cole and there are plenty of emerging talents to make them contenders like Eric Foy, Mark Loughrey and Ben Campbell who recently made his YMCA first team debut.

The Booterstown academy faces Friends, Regent House and Bandon who have a quintet of Munster U-18s including skipper Scott Sullivan.

Wesley face the hosting school Ashton, Wallace HS and Sullivan Upper with a much changed side with Tom Samuel, David McCrea, Shane Madeley, Rob Burke, Rob Fitzgerald, Conor Quinn, Alan White, Andrew Malcolm, Matt Lewis and Andrew Roberts all moving on. Kirk Shimmins, Jonathon Roberts, Robbie Clarke, Neil Pelow and Luke Madeley are likely to be the players to step into the breach for a tricky pool.

In Group One, Leinster pair Sutton Park and Newpark have a very tough draw against Ulster giants Cookstown and Campbell College. Sutton have begun the new season in fine style with a big win over St Killian’s on the domestic front but will have their work cut out against Town whose centre-piece is Irish senior international Ian Sloan.

His drag-flicking alone makes him a serious threat but his creative instincts can help bring in other players while Matthew Rollins and Daniel Crooks provide a strong defensive line. Newpark are outsiders in the group with Andrew Ramsey the midfield schemer and Stefan Gallagher a class act between the posts.

The event runs for three days across Cork, played in Ashton, Bandon, Midleton, the Mardyke while Garryduff will host the final at 2.30pm on Friday, October 28.

All-Ireland Schoolboy Championships draw
Group 1: Cookstown, Campbell, Sutton Park, Newpark
Group 2: St Andrews, Friends, Bandon, Regent House
Group 3: Ashton, Wallace, Wesley, Sullivan Upper
Group 4: Banbridge, RBAI, Midleton, St Columbas

** For the full fixture schedule, click here

They emerged through the qualifiers yesterday in a shoot-out after Evan Garland had popped up two minutes from time to earn the Blackrock school a last gasp reprieve. And Irish underage international Gallagher saw it home as he twice guessed correctly, picking off a stick save to his right and then the crucial save with his boot for a 4-3 success.

It looked a long way off for Newpark earlier in the tie as Kilkenny had bossed much of the early phases. The pair had both earlier beaten Dundalk GS 3-0, making this a winner-take-all affair and the cats were in the ascendancy when Sean Lambe slotted home for a half-time.

Jack Walsh snuck in to tip home the deftest of equalisers on the counter but, amid a series of penalty corners, Eamon Walshe struck home his third strike of the day with an emphatic straight hit.

It looked to be enough until Johnny McCormack played a raking ball into the circle which wreaked havoc and Garland finished off from close range and Gallagher stood tall in a high quality stroke competition.

Newpark will be joined by St Columba’s who had a slightly easier route into the marquee event – which takes place in late October – as they emerged from a group with Kings Hospital and Mount Temple. Columba’s got the better of KH in a 2-1 result while Temple set up a straight shoot-out when they ran up a 5-2 win in Whitechurch Park.

But their showdown proved a one-sided affair as the Rathfarnham school ran up a 5-0 win. They complete Leinster’s contingent of five sides with Wesley, St Andrew’s and Sutton Park pre-qualified by virtue of their cup and league successes last season.

All-Ireland Schoolboy’s Championship qualifiers:
Group One: Newpark 3 (M Flanagan, A Ramsey, E Garland) Dundalk GS 0; Kilkenny College 3 (E Walshe 2, C Dick) Dundalk GS 0; Newpark 2 (J Walsh, E Garland) Kilkenny 2 (E Walshe, S Lambe)
Standings: 1. Newpark 4pts (+3) 2. Kilkenny 4pts (+3) 3. Dundalk GS 0pts (-6)
** Newpark beat Kilkenny 4-3 on penalty strokes

Group Two: St Columba’s 2 Kings Hospital 1; Mount Temple 5 Kings Hospital 2; St Columba’s 5 Mount Temple 0
Standings: 1. St Columba’s (+6) 6pts 2. Mount Temple 3pts (-2) 3. Kings Hospital 0pts (-4)

In Newpark, the host school take on Dundalk GS and Kilkenny in a three-team pool with only the winners progressing. In Whitechurch Park, meanwhile, St Columba’s, Kings Hospital and Mount Temple contest the other place in a round-robin phase which sees three games played in a 20-minute each way format.

The competition proper gets underway toward the end of October. These qualifiers therefore acts as the curtain-raiser for a busy schoolboy’s calendar with the league season set to tip off in October, using the same format as last season.

In the Senior, Junior and Minor competitions, schools are divided into two initial groups with the top two from each advancing to semi-finals. At U-3 level, the format is the same but with the addition of a ‘C league’ with North and South divisions again leading into semi-finals.

The cup draws were also released this week with the top half of the Junior draw looking especially tasty with St Andrew’s, Sutton Park and Wesley all in the mix. Those competitions tip off in the New Year.

** The Hook will be providing twitter updates @hookhockey from Newpark this afternoon; please feel free to email hookresults@yahoo.com with your results and match reports during the season or to the twitter account with the hashtag #leinsterhockey

All-Ireland Schoolboys qualifiers
Venue 1 (Newpark): Newpark v Dundalk, 1.30pm; Dundalk v Kilkenny College, 2.45pm; Newpark v Kilkenny College, 4pm
Venue 2 (St Columba’s College): St Columba’s v Kings Hospital, 1.30pm; Mt Temple v Kings Hospital, 2.45pm; St Columba’s v Mt Temple, 4pm

Schoolboy’s League structure
Senior League, Group One: St Andrew’s, High School, King’s Hospital, Sutton Park, St Killian’s, Wesley B
Group 2: Wesley, Dundalk GS, St Columba’s, Mount Temple, Newpark, St Andrew’s B

Junior League, Group One: St Andrew’s. High School, King’s Hospital, Sutton Park, St Killians, Wesley B, St Andrew’s C, Mount Temple B, Newpark B
Group Two: Wesley, Dundalk GS, St Columba’s, Mount Temple, St Andrew’s B, Sandford Park, Wesley C, High School B

Minor League, Group One: St Andrew’s A, John Scottus, King’s Hospital, Sutton Park, St Killian’s, Wesley B
Group Two: Wesley, Dundalk GS, St Columba’s, Mount Temple, Newpark, St Andrew’s B, Newpark

U-13 League, Group One: St Andrew’s, High School, King’s Hospital, Sutton Park, St Killians, Wesley B, John Scottus
Group Two: Wesley A, Dundalk GS, St Columba’s, Mount Temple A, Newpark, St Andrew’s B, Sandford Park

U-13 C League, North: Drogheda, Dundalk, Mount Temple, Donabate, King’s Hospital B, Headfort
South: St Columba’s, Rathgar, St Andrew’s C, Wesley C, Taney, Whitechurch, St Andrew’s Prep

Leinster Schoolboy’s Senior Trophy draw, quarter-finals (by January 27, 2012): Mount Temple/Newpark vs Kilkenny; King’s Hospital vs St Killians; High School vs Sutton Park; Dundalk vs St Columba’s
** Two finalists to progress to the Senior Cup to face Wesley or St Andrews

Junior Cup, first round draw (by January 15, 2012): Newpark vs St Andrew’s; High School vs Kilkenny; King’s Hospital vs Sandford Park; St Columba’s vs Mount Temple
Second round (by February 2): Newpark/St Andrew’s vs Sutton Park; Wesley vs High School/Kilkenny; King’s Hospital/Sandford Park vs St Killians; Dundalk vs St Columba’s/Mount Temple

Minor Cup, first round draw (by January 26): High School vs Kings Hospital; Wesley vs John Scottus; Dundalk vs St Columba’s; St Killians vs Mount Temple; Newpark vs Sandford Park; Sutton Park vs Kilkenny
Second round (by February 16): High School/Kings Hospital vs Drogheda; Wesley/John Scottus vs Dundalk/St Columba’s; St Killians/Mount Temple vs St Andrews; Newpark/Sandford Park vs Sutton Park/Kilkenny

U-13 Cup first round draw (by January 12): Sandford Park vs Wesley; Whitechurch vs St Andrews; King’s Hospital vs High School
Second round (by January 19): Sandford/Wesley vs Donabate; Newpark vs Drogheda; Rathgar vs Headfort; St Columba’s vs St Killians; Whitechurch/St Andrew’s vs Taney; Mount Temple vs Dundalk GS; Kilkenny vs Sutton Park; John Scottus vs King’s Hospital/High School

’Garvey were standout performers at numerous levels, their firsts and seconds on both men’s and women’s reaching national finals. Their men’s seconds came home with the Junior Cup with the firsts runners-up in the IHL while their women annexed the Irish Hockey Trophy and a final berth in the IJC.

Add in a first Ulster Premier League title in six years, promotion to the women’s top tier and a string of junior league titles, it was a massive year for the Lisburn club. They took the award ahead of strong challenges from Monkstown, Railway Union ladies and Catholic Institute.

Railway ladies’ case was built on double European medals, winning on their maiden trip to an indoor competition in Bratislava, taking gold in the club Champion’s Challenge while bronze was secured on home turf in the outdoor equivalent.

Catholic Institute were Munster’s queen-pins, ending Cork Harlequins’ epic 15-year reign in the league while they showed well in the women’s IHL to suggest they can be contenders in the coming seasons.

The Town broke their long wait for a senior title when they won the Mills Cup on St Patrick’s Day and added a second in quick succession with the Neville Cup last week.

With their women continuing their rapid rise through the divisions and their men’s seconds continuing dominance of Leinster division three, they were strong candidates.

From the Awards, they will console themselves with the Youth Club of the Year title, a feature of the club who are perennial nominees for their work at underage level.

In the player’s awards, David Ames and Emma Smyth took home the Irish Players’ Player of the Year prizes, voted for by their fellow Ireland squad members. ’Garvey eyes were smiling once again as Mark Raphael was honoured with the Men’s Senior Club Player of the Year title, taking the title ahead of Leinster’s Shane O’Donoghue – a senior debutant at just 18 and scoring 34 goals in his first 27 games of the season.

O’Donoghue was also a runner-up in the U-18 section, Irish Senior Cup final star Ian Sloan the recipient after a bumper year at club, interpro and school level.

This included captaining Ireland U-18 Boys to the gold medal at the Home Nations in Cork in July 2010; Ulster U-18 Boys to the silver medal in the UK Schools and his school team to victory in the McCullough and Burney Cups, scoring hat-tricks in both finals.

Gold in the U-18 interpros also came in November, playing an instrumental role in the recovery from a 2-0 deficit in the decider against Leinster.

The coup de grace, though, was his ISC final man of the match performance, scoring twice and creating two as Cookstown won the title for the first time since 1986.

Kate Dillon took the women’s senior equivalent, capping a superb year in which she was a powerhouse in the indoor and outdoor game, providing umpteen goals from midfield.

She got the nod ahead of former internationals Emma Stewart and Elaine Brommell and Loreto up-and-comer Aisling Campion.

Limerick girl Roisin Upton was the U-18 winner. A key member of Catholic Institute’s double-winning team in Munster, she was also providing the backbone of the Crescent Comprehensive side.

She captained Ireland at U-16 level at the 2010 European Championships 2010 and was vice-captain at the Youth Olympics in Singapore.

In the coaching honours, Michelle Rainey took the top honour for her work double-winning exploits with Pegasus after seven successful years with Ulster and Ireland’s U-16 setup.

Alison McNeill won the U-18 honour, marshalling Ulster U-18s incredible victory in the UK School Games where they got the better of England, Scotland and Wales’ national teams. The province also claimed their third successive interprovincial championship.

Lurgan College were the inaugural School of the Year thanks to their clean sweep of trophies winning the Ulster 1st Schools’ Tournament, the Senior Schools’ Cup, Local leagues Mid-Ulster and league Cups and finishing by winning the All Ireland Kate Russell Competition.

Helen Johnston was a popular winner of the Volunteer of the Year award after many years with her enthusiasm, creative ideas and generosity of time growing stronger each year.

She manages Railway ladies’ first team, was a joint leader of the committee set up to organise the EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy that her club hosted and took on the media duties along with her management role on the European indoor trip to Bratislava.

Among other moments, Johnston generated massive publicity for Irish hockey when contacting Irish Times’ columnist Tom Humphries to invite him to the ISC final. He did and wrote a highly positive article in his popular Locker Room column as a result, garnering large national kudos for the sport.

Newbridge were named Developing Club of the Year. They were founded in 1995 and have since grown to fields four adult ladies teams as well as over 150 U-16 members.

From an initial group of only 11 members, the club has grown year on year and had considerable on-field success this season, namely their first team promoted to Division 2 after just a year in division three while their seconds won division six – their fourth successive promotion.

The introduction of an U-16 team also prospered while they were winners of West Leinster Blitz competition U-14, the Leinster U-14C league and the West Leinster Cup.

David Foster took the Umpire of the Year. A Senior Panel umpire for the Ulster Elks for a number of seasons, he was forced into retirement from top flight hockey this season following surgery and illness.

Undaunted, he has been reluctant to give up umpiring and continues to blow whistle for the Elks junior teams every weekend, some weekends covering two games on a Saturday.

International Irish Rugby player Tommy Bowe – brother of women’s international Hannah – and ex-Irish football manager Brian Kerr were among the guest speakers at the Burlington hotel for the 6th running of this event with Darragh Maloney returning as MC.

Four new inductees to the prestigious Hall of Fame were also named including Olympic gold medallist and current chief executive of the Olympic Council of Ireland, Stephen Martin.

Violet McBride, capped 38 times for Ireland and 64 times for Great Britain – and vice-captain in the 1988 Seoul Olympics – is another to enter the Hall. Former Irish internationals, Cookstown man Mark Burns and Hermes’ player Gwen Doherty were also among the latest additions to the prestigious group.

Club of the Year: Lisnagarvey
Youth Club of the Year: Monkstown
Coach of the Year: Michelle Rainey
Developing Club of the Year: Newbridge
School of the Year: Lurgan College
Senior Women’s Player’s Player of the Year: Emma Smyth
Senior Men’s Player’s Player of the Year: David Ames
Senior Female Player of the Year: Kate Dillon
Senior Male Player of the Year: Mark Raphael
U18 Coach of the Year: Alison McNeill
U18 Female Player of Year: Roisin Upton
U18 Male Player of Year: Ian Sloan
Umpire of the Year: Davy Foster
Volunteer of the Year: Helen Johnston
Presidents Award: Peter Jackson