Eight’s great as double dream still on for BGS

Bandon Grammar’s hopes of a Munster Schools Senior Cup double remain firmly on course after their boys’ side swatted Villiers aside in a lop-ended semi-final in Limerick yesterday. The five-time South of Ireland League champions hit eight goals without reply, with skipper and Irish U18 contender Andrew Scannell netting a five-minute hat-trick midway through the first half. Villiers had, to their credit, shown no fear in the opening exchanges and played an open, attacking game, drawing some fine saves from BGS netminder Brian Corcoran in the process.

But such tactics left plenty of gaps at the back, something Karl Lynch in particular exposed with a series of piercing overheads. Fionn O’Leary knocked in a left-wing cross on 13 minutes to get the ball rolling, before Scannell netted in the 15th, 18th and 19th minutes – one from play and two from corners – to put the reuslt beyond doubt. Aidan Walsh added another on 22 minutes to give BGS a 5-0 half-time lead, but they took their foot off the pedal thereafter and didn’t score again for another half hour. That came via a Cathal Duggan strike from play, before Lynch rattled home a short corner and Darren Sweetnam completed the rout from the penalty spot after a goal-bound shot was illegally stopped on the line. BGS – unbeaten in the South of Ireland League all season – will now face the winners of the Ashton/Midleton clash in the other semi-final, and have already secured a place in the new John Waring Cup, an all-Ireland tournament akin to the girls’ Kate Russell-monikered competition. However, there was some crumb of comfort for Villiers in the minor semi-final, as they belied their underdog status to knock BGS out on a 1-0 scoreline. Andrew Smith’s strike proved the difference between the sides in a tight encounter, with Villiers keeper Jack Kearney making two superb saves to keep his side in front. They will face Ashton or Newtown in the final. Senior squads VILLIERS: Dylan Murphy (GK), Roy Harvey, Aodhgan Gleeson, Mark Manning, William Milligan-Leech, Brian O’Gorman, Roger Clarke, William James, Rossa Taylor, Jack Reynolds, Andrew Cusack, Stephen Parkes, Ronan Hunt, William James. BANDON GRAMMAR: Brian Corcoran (GK), Karl Lynch, Sam McIloy, Trevor Gray, Nick Leeming, Darren Sweetnam, Scott Sullivan, Jack Robinson, Aidan Walsh, Fionn O’Leary, Stuart Miller, Trevor Bateman, Ben Scott, Cathal Duggan, Malcolm Coombes, Andrew Scannell (C). Minor squads VILLIERS: Jack Kearney (GK), Ian Gibson, Kenny Sproule, Ben Coady, Charlie Begley, Andrew Smith, Richard Doherty, Jeff Smith, Nathan Eacrett (C), Greg Hall, Devon Stanton, Robert Sutton, Callum Wallace, Darren O’Carroll, Jonathon Powell. BANDON GRAMMAR: Ben Hunter (GK), Sean Woods, Fred McElroy, Colin Kingston, Mark Kingston, Ricky McMahon, Richard Kingston, Stuart Millar (C), Alan Kingston, Keith Aston, Philip Peters, Jack Norman, Sean Scully, Gavin Peevers, Robert O’Sullivan, Cathal Stone.