This Saturday in Donnybrook, Old Wesley RFC will face Lansdowne FC in final of the Bank of Ireland Albert O’Connell Cup, KO 2pm…
Check out how Old Wesley have progressed to the Cup Final with a report from Billy Browne, Old Wesley PRO below…
Old Wesley 3RD XV played in division 4 of the Metro league this season where they won 11 of their 14 league games finishing second behind Terenure.
In the play-off held in Lakelands Park, Wesley just came up short and was beaten 11-6 in a very entertaining final which could have gone either way.
In the first round of the O’Connell cup Wesley travelled north side to face Clontarf, whom a couple of weeks previously had also been beaten by Lansdowne in the league playoff of Metro league 3. Wesley produced their best performance of the season to turn the form book on its head and won 12 –5 which consisted of four penalties from Ian Masterson.
In the next round Wesley received a walk over from Railway Union.
In the semi-final Wesley played Old Belvedere in a repeat of last year’s Moran cup final. In a typically tight affair, Wesley held out to win 25-18 scoring three tries in the process from Craig Petrie, Simon Goldsmith and David Rowe.
In the final Wesley face a massive challenge in their attempt to win this cup for the fifth time and are expecting a huge physical battle against a Lansdowne team who won the Metro League Division Three. The core of this Wesley team has contested several finals over the last number of seasons and will no doubt be up for the challenge.
Saturday also sees the end of an era in Old Wesley as Andrew Leeson takes charge as coach of the 3rds for the final time.
Stuart Kinlan, Old Wesley’s Junior Director of Rugby comments “Andrew has been a fantastic servant to junior rugby over the last 10 years, winning numerous cups and leagues. It would be a fantastic send off for Andrew if we were to win on Saturday.”
