Royal School, Armagh

Irish Honours

Congratulations to Pippa Best in Year 11 who has been selected for the Irish Schools’ U16 Squad as they prepare for their European Championships this summer. She will be involved in a series of matches throughout the spring and summer months against England, Belgium, Scotland, etc.

Ulster Schools’ Cup
Congratulations to our U14XI who have made it through to the Ulster Cup semi-finals where they will play last year’s beaten finalists Rainey Endowed on Wednesday 29th February. The two met in last year’s final, which the Royal girls won by a single goal. On the way to the semis this year they have beaten Royal School Dungannon, Wallace H.S. and Sullivan Upper. The other semi will see Methodist College play Strathearn School, so it will be a country versus city final whoever gets through.

Ulster U15 ‘Talented Development Squad’
Congratulations to Clara Lennon, Judith Hooks, Maria Reaney and Alice McClung who have been selected for the training squad for this year. This programme is designed for talented young players throughout Ireland to develop their playing career with Ulster and then hopefully Ireland.

Representative Honours

Ulster & Irish Schools:
Claire Warnock- Ireland U18 Trials

Ulster U18 Captain- Interprovincial winners

Nicola Monaghan- Ulster U18- Interprovincial winners
Anna-Mae Morton- Ireland U18- European Championships 2009

Ulster U18- Interprovincial winners - UK Games runners-up 2008

Joanne Orr - Ireland U16
Ulster U18- Interprovincial winners - UK Games runners-up 2008
Ulster U16- Interprovincial winners

Leah Ewart - Irish U16
Ulster U16 Captain- Interprovincial winners

SELB U17 Squad-
Zoe Troughton
Linzi Hamilton

SELB U15 Squad- N.Ireland Area Board Tournament Joint-Winners
Beccy Anderson
Sarah McMahon
Lauren Moore

U14 Southern Regional Development Squad (N.Ireland Tournament in May)-
Claire Hanna
Ellen Donaldson
Kate Donnan
Rebecca Loney

U12 Southern Sports Academy-
Pippa Best - Olympic Talent ID 2009
Cathy Heatley - Olympic Talent ID 2009
Joanna Dodds - Olympic Talent ID 2009
Kate McCall
Abby Kilpatrick
Kirsten Doran

1stXI Report
Captain - Claire Warnock
Vice-Captains - Rebecca McMahon & Rebekah Dodds
Top Goal Scorer - Joanne Orr
Most Improved Player - Susanne Hill
Match Results - Played: 27 Won: 25 Drew: 2 Lost: 1

Winners of:
Bank of Ireland Ulster Schools’ Tournament
Mid-Ulster League
Mid-Ulster Cup

Semi-Finalists: Bank of Ireland Ulster Schools’ Cup

The season started well with the girls winning the Ulster Pre-Season Tournament after beating Sullivan Upper, last year’s Ulster Cup rivals, in the final at Jordanstown in September. Despite the loss of such an influential player as their senior international, Amy Stewart, through injury, the girls recorded good results against Cookstown H.S. (3-0), Foyle & Londonderry College (1-0), Wellington College (2-0), Bloomfield Collegiate (2-0) and a draw with Omagh Academy (0-0) on the way to the final. The final ended 2-0, with two fine goals from Joanne Orr, assisted by ‘new’ girl Jill Johnston and ‘old’ girl Rebekah Dodds.

Bank of Ireland/ Belfast Telegraph Ulster Schoolgirls’ Cup
Before the Cup competition began, the girls enjoyed a short tour to Dublin to play against former Armagh Hockey Development Officer Mick McKinnon’s team, King’s Hospital College. The girls played possibly their best hockey all year, with a good win over Leinster U16s (3-0), before trying out the new European Hockey League rules against King’s Hospital (4-1) and Mount Sackville (3-1). This set the girls up for a good start to the Cup campaign.

However, the Cup holders almost went out of the competition in the second round (after a bye in the first round) to old rivals, Sullivan, despite beating them comfortably in the tournament final only a couple of months before. Trailing one nil with only fifteen minutes to go, after a poor, nervous start, the girls picked up their game, dominating the final quarter, going on to win 2-1, with goals from Joanne Orr and Rebekah Dodds. This was to be the fifth time the two teams had met in a year!

The third round called for a more confident performance, which was delivered after a good win away to Carrick Grammar. Despite winning numerous penalty corners and conceding none, the girls only managed to score a single goal, with Joanne Orr smashing a raised ball into the back of the net. The girls were delighted to produce a good performance and so were looking forward to their next match, a tough home draw against a relatively unknown team from Rainey Endowed.

The weather was horrendous for the quarter finals, but Armagh started the game well and had Rainey on the back foot for most of the game, with Nicola Monaghan having another quiet game in goals. Rainey defended heavily and the Armagh girls found it difficult getting past their solid defence. Leah Ewart and Anna-Mae Morton were outstanding and linked well for Morton to get the only goal of the game at the start of the second half, but this was enough to see the girls into the semi-final draw.

The draw for the semi-final was predictable with Foyle the opposition - a team looking for revenge after last year’s semi-final defeat. The match was held once again at the superb facilities at Lisnagarvey H.C. and despite still being on a half-term holiday a good crowd came from Armagh to support the girls. Foyle’s Irish senior international Megan Frazer was outstanding throughout the whole game, covering the entire pitch and really lifting her team. Armagh were missing a couple of key players, but this was no excuse for their performance on the day, as they let Frazer dictate the game. Frazer scored the only goal of the game at the start of the second half, while Armagh had their own chances at the other end. In the end the best team on the day won, and took their chance well, while the Armagh girls will have to regroup next year and try again.

Mid-Ulster League and Cup
Armagh won the Mid-Ulster League with three 3-0 victories over Portadown College, Lurgan College and Royal School Dungannon.

In the Cup competition, they defeated Portadown College 3-0 and Cookstown H.S. 5-0 and then played Royal School Dungannon at their wonderful astro-turf pitch in the final, in March. After an excellent, flowing game of hockey, and a blistering start to the second half, Armagh won 3-1, with goals from Leah Ewart, Anna-Mae Morton and top goal scorer Joanne Orr. Mr Hewitt, retiring Headmaster of RSD, presented the cup to Claire Warnock who received it on behalf of RSA.

On behalf of the squad, I wish to thank everyone who has supported us throughout the year, both in school and throughout the local community.