Turbo-charged by under-21 international Justin Sherriff, St Andrew's crushed St Columba's by a record margin in the Leinster Schools Senior Hockey Cup final at Grange Road yesterday. Having also taken the league honours with some panache, they now go on tour to South Africa at Easter regretting only that the all-Ireland title eluded their grasp.
Also fielding under-18 internationals Jamie Plower, Richard Beere and Ian Allen, there was no doubting the strength of St Andrew's through the field as St Columba's did well to contain them to a 3-0 scoreline at the interval. Stuart Hammond showed his opportunism to score twice in this half and Sherriff swept home a short corner.
The tally quickly mounted after the break as Sherriff, with a virtuoso solo thrust, Andrew Lewis and Allen (penalty stroke) set the net quivering. St Columba's rallied for David Myerscough to reduce the deficit to 6-1 following a corner but St Andrew's flooded forward again for Sheriff and Hammond to complete their hat-tricks. Also on the target were Richard Beere (captaining the side to emulate his brother Chris who led the school to victory in the 1996 final) and Alun Evans, with the last strike of the game.
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