The following teams have been selected to represent Ireland in the Junior International tournaments taking place in Glasgow from July 22nd to 25th.
- Glorney Cup (U18)
- David Fitzsimons, Oisin Benson, Sam Osbourne, Hugh Doyle, Dara Murphy (photo)
- Jessie Gilbert Cup (U18 Girls)
- Sarah Jane Hearne, Ruth Cormican, Sarah Cormican (photo)
- Bernadette Stokes Cup (U14)
- Kieran O'Riordan, Ashley Campion, Oissine Murphy, Christopher Young, Jason Hurley, Eoin Moran (photo)
- John Robinson Cup (U12)
- Ronan Magee, Billy McKenna, Eoin Minnock, Paula Eglite, Angus Gill, Sean Guinan (photo)
The Glorney Cup is for players under 18. The Jessie Gilbert Memorial Cup (formerly the Faber Cup) is for girls under 18. The under 14s compete for the John Robertson Trophy and the under 12s for the Bernadette Stokes Cup. The event is taking place in Stratclyde University in Glasgow. It got underway on Tuesday 21st July 2009.
Day 1
It was agreed that there would be a 3 round all-play-all format initially with the 1st placed team playing the 4th placed team and 2nd versus 3rd in two semi finals in round 4. The winners would contest 1st and second place in round five while the semi-final losers would play off for 3rd and 4th place.
The Irish Glorney team started off with first day wins versus Wales (3½ to 1½) and Scotland (3-2) while trophy holders England beat Wales by a similar margin as the Irish team but only managed a draw with Scotland. Ireland subsequently drew 2½ all with England to win the group phase a half point ahead of Scotland (who beat wales 4-1 in round 3) and England.
In the Jessie Gilbert Trophy the Irish team found the going much tougher against strong opposition, drawing 1½ all with Wales and losing narrowly to Scotland on day one before succumbing 3-0 to England in round 3. This left Ireland up against the hosts in round 4.
The main feature of the under 14 and under 12 tournaments has been the continued dominance of the English teams. The format is that each nation plays the other twice with reversed colours in the 2nd game. Each team has 6 players and 6 matches to play involing 3 rounds on day one.
The U-12s started promisingly with a 4½-1½ win over Wales before losing to Scotland and England acquiring 1½ and 0½ points respectively from these nations. A 4-2 win against Wales got the team back on track in round 4 with the standings as follows with 2 rounds to go: England 21, Ireland 10½, Scotland 8½, Wales 8.
The U-14s opened up with a defeat against Wales (1½-4½) before recovering to beat the Scots by 4-2 in round 2. This was followed by a 5-1 reverse against England in round 3 and an excellent 4-2 win against Wales in round 4 to leave the standings as follows: England 20½, Ireland 10½, Wales 10, Scotland 7
So there is still a lot to play for in the final two rounds of all of the competitions. We have reached what Glasgow native and Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson describes as "squeaky bum time" in these tournaments.
An U11 8-round tournament is also being held over the two days and there are 4 Irish competitors involved in this event.
Day 2
Latest Glorney: Ireland 4-1 Wales, England 3-2 Scotland.
Day 3
The Glorney team lost a hard fought match 3-2 to England to finish as runners up to them for the fourth year running!!. The U12s and U14s also finished as runners up to England in the Bernadette Stokes and John Robinson cups respectively. The Jessie Gilbert Cup was won by Ccotland with Ireland finishing in third place behind England.
A full report including games, results and photographs will be put on the website after the conclusion of the tournaments.
