Mount Anville show mettle

SCHOOLS' HOCKEY/LEINSTER SENIOR CUP FINAL - Mount Anville...2 Muckross Park...0:When Mount Anville last won the Esat Digifone Leinster Schools' Senior Cup, in 1999, it was their first victory in the competition for 25 years. They have, though, only had to wait another three years to regain the trophy after their 2-0 win over Muckross Park at Grange Road yesterday.

A well deserved triumph it was, too, not least because it came only three days after their exhausting, but thrilling, extra-time semi-final win over St Andrew's. Then they found themselves 2-0 down with just 11 minutes to go and not even their most hopeful of supporters could have envisaged Mount Anville's gifted captain Gillian Davy raising the cup come Thursday afternoon.

True, in the closing stages of yesterday's final the weariness showed on the faces of Mount Anville's players but, once again, they produced enough character to carry them successfully through to the end. Sweeper Amy McCabe, flawless as she was in the semi-final, and centre back Kate Quigley combined to foil the bulk of the Muckross attacks, the most dangerous of which were the result of fine work by Nikki Keegan and Julie Motherway, with full-backs Sandra Blennerhassett and Lisa Banahan skilfully sealing off the wings.

Despite conceding three first-half short corners to their opponents' one, Mount Anville had the majority of possession, with Christine Quinlan and Kate Fitzgerald dominant in midfield, but had to wait until three minutes before the break to convert that advantage into a goal. A speedy counter-attack, following a Muckross corner, culminated in Carol McGowan's shot on goal being stopped by a defender's foot for a penalty stroke which McGowan converted.

Three minutes into the second half lively left-winger Claire Sexton put her side two up when she deflected home Davy's effort on goal after Quigley had found her captain from a second short corner. Two minutes later, goalkeeper Nuala Maguire and sweeper Clara McCormack denied Mount Anville a third goal when Rachel McGrath broke through on the left and Maguire was again quick off her line to thwart Davy after she had been put through by Dearbhla McGuinness.

With five minutes to go plucky defending by Banahan denied Muckross a chance to halve the deficit, from their final short corner of the game, before Mount Anville threatened to extend their lead with four corners in the closing minutes.

MOUNT ANVILLE: G Young, A McCabe, S Blennerhassett, L Banahan, K Quigley, K Fitzgerald, C Quinlan, C McGowan, C Sexton, G Davy (capt), R McGrath. Subs: S Geoghegan, R Copeland, K O'Donnell, D McGuinness, L Coady.

MUCKROSS PARK: N Maguire, C McCormack, G Coughlan, G Lewis, C Picard, J Motherway, S Cooney, C Devane, N Keegan (capt), F Wade, R Tevlin. Subs: B Murphy, G Fitzpatrick, S O'Brien, K Clear, D McCourt.

Umpires: G Garrett and M O'Brien.