After coming through a tough group earlier in the year and then advancing from a very close semi-final V Wesley College, our under-19 boys reached the final for the second year in a row.

The date and opponents were set, Oblates Hall Inchicore on December 12th, V St Aidan’s Tallaght. Hopes were high, and with a strong crew of supporters behind us, the boys were feeling confident. Tipp off at 1:45, and we were up and running. The first quarter was a close encounter, with both sides setting the pace with some excellent scores from Yude He. The opposition had a slight edge, with one player really on form, scoring several three-pointers.

It was more of the same in the 2nd quarter. Tallaght continued gaining momentum with a great performance from their number 9. Yude He and Maks Senatore rallied with some excellent scores of their own and strong defensive play from Odhran Leahy and Gabriel Gelvin. By half time, although the gap was 10 points plus in St Aidan’s favour, we were still fighting hard. Although the boys pulled together in the third and fourth quarters, St Aidan’s continued to pull away, and unfortunately, the gap was just too big to overcome. St Aidan’s ran out worthy winners in the end.

Although it wasn’t our day, we are immensely proud of all the boys and their hard work during these last three months. Well done to the entire team. They did themselves and their school very proud.

Team.

Yude He, Maks Senatore, Eoin Walsh, Coirin O’leary, Odhran Leahy, Emmanuel Keene, Gabriel Gelvin ,Jake Khan, Emre Ucar, Andrew Meehan, Liam Crimes and Tony Tang.