Cookstown High School and Bangor Grammar School both got Boys’ Finals Week off to a flying start as they lifted silverware with wins this afternoon.
Cookstown added the Bannister Bowl and Richardson Cup to their Ferris Cup success last week, whilst Bangor Grammar School won the Dowdall Cup with a 2-1 win over Wallace High School
In the first game of the day, Cookstown High School were crowned Bannister Bowl champions with a narrow 2-1 win over Friends’ School Lisburn.
Despite early pressure from the eventual champions, it was Friends’ who took the lead, catching Cookstown on the break midway through the second quarter.
However, immediately from the restart, Cookstown found themselves level once more as Henry Lee broke down the right wing before finding Riley Watters unmarked in the circle as he fired in the equaliser.
Watters struck again just five minutes from the end as he broke through 1 vs 1 with the Friends’ goalkeeper before firing in the game winning goal.
Later in the afternoon, Cookstown also won the Richardson Cup with a 2-0 win over RBAI.
The opening goal came after good work from forward Noah Cuddy who dispossessed an RBAI defender before running through on goal and being brought down for a penalty stroke.
Captain Charlie Costello converted from the spot to give his side the lead before Callum Hewitt doubled their advantage from a penalty corner shortly after.
With no response from RBAI, it was Cookstown High School who were crowned champions and marking an unpresented level of success, completing the Ferris Cup, Bannister Bowl and Richardson Cup treble for a second consecutive season.
In the days final game, Bangor Grammar School were crowned Dowdall Cup champions with a 2-1 win over Wallace High School.
The opening goal of the game came midway through quarter two when Daniel Toogood broke beyond the Wallace High School defence before picking out the bottom right corner.
However, it was the Lisburn side who struck back in the third quarter when a stroke of luck saw the ball make its way through to Noah Best and he volleyed his effort past the Bangor goalkeeper to equalise.
With the game entering the dying stages, it was Bangor Grammar who found a game winning goal with Toogood striking from a penalty corner with two minutes remaining on the clock.
It proved too late in the tie for Wallace to find their equaliser as Bangor Grammar were crowned Dowdall Cup champions.