St. Mary's College RFC & The O'Connell Cup

In 1962 it was Bill Gray who captained the only club team to win a trophy that season and, if it wasn't of major national importance, it was notable insofar as it was the first time St. Mary's had won the O'Connell Cup.

(Captain and first-win detail from the club's Centenary Book.)

Still needed for 1962: opponent, final score, match report and line-up.

St. Mary's won the O'Connell Cup for the second time in 1964.

Still needed for 1964: opponent, final score, captain, match report and line-up.

St. Mary's third O'Connell Cup came in 1973.

Still needed for 1973: opponent, final score, captain, match report and line-up.

St. Mary's won the O'Connell Cup in 1980 as part of a J2 League and Cup double.

(Double confirmed by the club's Centenary Book honours tables.)

Still needed for 1980: opponent, final score, captain, match report and line-up.

1985 was a fine year for the club: the Metropolitan Cup for the seventh time, and the Albert O'Connell Memorial Cup (J2) for the fifth time.

(Season detail from the club's Centenary Book.)

Still needed for 1985: opponent, final score, captain, match report and line-up.

St. Mary's won the O'Connell Cup again in 1990, the first of three in a row.

Still needed for 1990: opponent, final score, captain, match report, team photo and line-up.

The second of three consecutive O'Connell Cups, and part of a J2 League and Cup double.

(Double confirmed by the club's Centenary Book honours tables.)

Still needed for 1991: opponent, final score, captain, match report and line-up.

A third O'Connell Cup in a row for St. Mary's, again as part of a J2 League and Cup double.

(Double confirmed by the club's Centenary Book honours tables.)

Still needed for 1992: opponent, final score, captain, match report, team photo and line-up.

After three consecutive wins, St. Mary's reached the final again in 1993 but finished as losing finalists.

Still needed for 1993: opponent (the Roll of Honour shows Lansdowne as winners that year — to be confirmed), final score, captain, match report and team photo.

St. Mary's regained the O'Connell Cup in 1995, the first of four consecutive wins, and part of a J2 League and Cup double.

(Double confirmed by the club's Centenary Book honours tables.)

Still needed for 1995: opponent, final score, captain, match report, team photo and line-up.

The second of four consecutive O'Connell Cup wins.

Still needed for 1996: opponent, final score, captain, match report, team photo and line-up.

A third in a row, and part of a J2 League and Cup double.

(Double confirmed by the club's Centenary Book honours tables.)

Still needed for 1997: opponent, final score, captain, match report and line-up.

A fourth consecutive O'Connell Cup for St. Mary's, completing another J2 League and Cup double.

(Double confirmed by the club's Centenary Book honours tables.)

Still needed for 1998: opponent, final score, captain, match report, team photo and line-up.

St. Mary's reached the final in 2001 but finished as losing finalists to Blackrock.

Still needed for 2001: final score, captain, match report and team photo.

A second consecutive losing final, this time to Old Wesley.

Still needed for 2002: final score, captain, match report and team photo.

We are the Champions! The J2s secured the historic league and cup double, beating our great rivals Terenure and achieving an unbeaten season in the process. This was a huge occasion for the team and management — not only was it a cup final, but it was against the team we had been battling for the last two seasons in both competitions, and who knocked us out of the cup the year before. All this resulted in a very intense and physical game.

Before kick off the point was made by the coaches that we needed to start well and get ourselves into the game early. That is exactly what happened: the pack went through the phases very well and, with the wise head of Eoin McCormack guiding us at the base, we controlled the first ten minutes. After a sustained passage of play and some excellent hard yards gained by Graham Foran, Joey Connolly got the ball in midfield just outside the Terenure 22. There was a wall of defenders in front of him, but somehow he evaded three tackles and, with great acceleration, sprinted in under the posts for an excellent try which he converted. Alan Conboy at full back had a great day with his boot and certainly made the forwards happy with some Ronan O'Gara-like touch finders. Under that pressure Terenure gave away a penalty in front of the posts, which Joey converted. Had we been more accurate with other penalties the gap could have been wider.

At 10–0 ahead we looked to be in control, but Terenure came back at us and in the final ten minutes of the first half we were camped on our line. Only some heroic defence — especially from Robbie Hudson at first centre — kept the line intact. They did manage a penalty to bring it to 10–3 at half time.

The second half began like the first had ended, with Terenure enjoying a lot of early possession, and again our defence was strong, especially around the fringes with Paul Collins and Kevin Gallivan putting in some huge hits. Our next score came from Jack Buggy: Joey put a lovely chip into the Terenure 22 and the ball bounced right into Buggy's hands. He got hit just as he caught it, but managed to pull himself up and crash over the line. This was a huge score and put daylight between us. Terenure came back strongly and put us under a lot of pressure in our 22, then one of their moves in midfield broke down, Barry Cahill latched onto the ball, and it went through a couple of hands to reach Buggy again, who showed great pace to run in from halfway for the most dramatic score of our season.

We knew we had it won then, but fair play to Terenure — they never gave up and scored a late consolation try. There was great celebration when the final whistle went, from players and supporters alike. To go a season unbeaten and win two trophies is really a great achievement and all involved deserve great credit.

Team

Subs used: Kenny McInerney for Collins, Ollie McCormack for Moran, Gareth Austin for Ryan, Garry Roche for Buggy, Ritchie McDonald for Lannen.

(Match report and line-up from the 2017 J2 Treble Double Reunion booklet.)

This final is complete. If you have anything to add, please get in touch.

Inspired by the heroics of our J3s on Friday night, the J2s defended their Albert O'Connell Cup in style in Donnybrook on the Saturday. An excellent performance of skill, power and commitment gave us a deserved win over a strong Rock side. We followed up our double the previous year with a second cup win in a row — a great way to end a season disfigured by opposition teams pulling out of our league and several cancellations due to bad weather.

The only change to the semi-final team was the reunification of the old firm in midfield: Jason Verdon (winning his fourth O'Connell Cup) and player-coach Alan Shirley. These two had battled together for the club since 1997 and, as usual, were hard in the tackle and classy going forward. Both were involved in our opening try, which was a quality score. The ball was moved down the blindside by winger Baz Cahill, who fed full back Neil Cowhey. Cowhey showed his undoubted class by tip-toeing down the touchline before giving it back to Cahill to touch down in the corner. Playing against the wind in the first half we struggled for sustained field position, but our forwards were still physically dominating. Two penalties by Rock left us 5–6 down at the break, but confident.

Louis Burke was exceptional — fielding kicks from the wing and full back with effortless class, running the ball back with power and skill, and making big tackles at vital times. McInerney and Keane were lording the lineout and maul, and Tommy Meredith was excellent out of touch and in the loose. Gallivan and Brophy made the hard yards and never stopped tackling, and Paul Collins was doing his Peter Clohessy impression and literally terrorising the opposition. The pack were driven on as ever by the peerless Eoin McCormack, also winning his fourth O'Connell Cup — an interesting fact being that Tommy Meredith was six years old when Mucker won his first! Joey Connolly was thriving off the regular supply of quality ball, and Jimmy Dunne made some outstanding 60-yard clearances.

In a difficult swirling wind for kickers we missed some that would have put daylight between us, but we were playing too well to lose. Another brilliant mauling and rucking passage of play ended with Joey changing the direction of the move to Shirley on the blindside, who fed man of the match Louis to score in the corner. That made it 19–6 with time running out. In the last play of the game Rock got a consolation score that flattered the scoreline, but the celebrations soon erupted.

It was a deserved ending for players and management who had worked hard all season. Derek Gately did a great job as manager — his organisation, planning and late-night video analysis were key to our success — ably assisted by Mick O'Connor. Colm Barry did Trojan work all year running great drills at training, and Alan Shirley coached the backs expertly and played through thick and thin despite his dodgy ribs. Most credit though must go to captain Mikey Houlihan, who was an inspiration on and off the field all year. In his first year of captaincy, Mikey led with great skill and authority — the club are lucky to have him.

Team (from the semi-final v Lansdowne, one change for the final)

Subs: N. Murphy, A. Conboy, K. Lannen, G. Crawford, R. Ryan.

(Match report and line-up from the 2017 J2 Treble Double Reunion booklet.)

Still needed for 2010: the exact final XV (the line-up shown is the semi-final team), and a team photo.

Path to the final

The J2s completed the League and Cup double after beating Stillorgan in Kilternan. The cup win rounded off an excellent year for captain Graeme McInerney and his team, who were beaten only once in a total of 17 competitive games. We needed an extended squad to achieve this and many players contributed hugely over the course of the season, not just the 20 who played in the final. To be able to cope with the loss of Alan Shirley, Jason Verdon and Jack Buggy and still field the backline below indicates the great strength in depth we are lucky to possess.

We needed all of those qualities to beat a very powerful and motivated Stillorgan team. This was their highest ever final, and they beat Lansdowne, Clontarf and Malahide en route. Stillorgan have become a force at J2 level and a real welcome addition to the ranks.

We expected an early onslaught from the massive Stillorgan forwards and we got it. Using their big maul, strong ball carriers and expert choke tackle, they dominated the first half. Only in the last few minutes did we get going, scoring two vital tries before the break. Both came after great phase play and rucking, with Harry Norton going over in the right corner — unfortunately breaking his nose in the process and being replaced by Hugh McGovern — and the second finished brilliantly in the left corner by Barry Cahill. Despite these scores Stillorgan still led 11–10 after ten minutes of the second half.

Under real pressure we then produced our best 30 minutes of the season. Our forwards decided they were tired of being pushed around and began to dominate. Lower body angles in contact and at ruck time generated faster ball, which the backs used in the wider channels, resulting in tries for Ronan O'Doherty and Hugh McGovern, who intercepted brilliantly to score. The pack spotted weakness at the tail of the opposition lineout and created two excellent mauls at 6, resulting in scores for Rob Timmons and Brian Moran — some achievement given the opposition. Overall, an excellent performance the lads can be proud of.

Team

Subs (all used): 16. Louis Burke, 17. Mikey Houlihan, 18. Ger Somers, 19. Simon Gibney, 20. Hugh McGovern.

(Match report and line-up from the 2017 J2 Treble Double Reunion booklet.)

Still needed for 2013: full dates for the earlier rounds.

Path to the final

The J2s repeated the previous season's league and cup double with a great win over Bective Rangers' second team in Templeville Road on the Friday night. The strength of our squad was tested in full due to injuries to several key men in the semi-final. Under-20 hooker Lucas Moran came in and played very well, regularly taking on and beating larger and more experienced opponents. Alan Shirley and Kieran Lewis returned from their coaching roles to shore up the midfield, and Hugh McGovern came in for Ronan Doherty — not bad men to be able to bring in.

The first score came off a great scrum by the pack, with a pre-planned move seeing Dave O'Halloran come in off his blind wing to take an inside pass from Joey and scorch in under the posts. O'Halloran was electric all night, scoring a second try in the last play of the game. He just edged out his mate Gilsenan for man of the match, who as usual played with sublime skill and creativity — best displayed when he nonchalantly stepped up to take a straightforward penalty kick, then tapped the ball and ran with it before passing to McGovern, who did very well to score in the corner with three men on top of him. Gilso also got one himself later on, going under the posts.

The whole squad including the subs contributed very strongly in a great team performance. Led by captain Graeme McInerney the pack were everywhere, carrying and rucking and getting fast ball to the backs. The backs are a potent mix of ageless Mary's legends — Mucker, Joey, Shirley and Lewis — with the new pace and skill of the aforementioned young guns.

A great end to a great season.

Team

Subs: Cormac Treacy, Simon O'Donnell, Robert Timmons, Brian Flaherty, Mikey Houlihan.

(Match report and line-up from the 2017 J2 Treble Double Reunion booklet.)

Still needed for 2014: the team photo needs uploading to the Media Library (see file comments).