The 46th Provincial Towns Plate Final will be contested by SKERRIES and PORTARLINGTON on Sunday in Naas with a 3pm kick off…
Last year the Plate Final was won by Boyne who went on to record their first Provincial Towns Cup Final win this season.
SKERRIES were defeated by Enniscorthy in Round 2 of the Provincial Towns Cup and received a walk over from Portlaoise in their first Plate fixture. Wins over County Carlow (28-13) and New Ross (25-23) sees them participate in their first Plate final since 1977. Skerries have appeared in four previous Plate finals for two wins. In 1965 they defeated Wexford Wanderers and in 1970 they defeated Portlaoise.
The 1970 Plate win ignited a record four consecutive Provincial Towns Cup wins for Skerries from 1971 to 1974. Skerries Plate final defeats came in 1969 to Naas (following a replay) and in 1977 to Roscrea. This season, Skerries finished 7th in Leinster League Division 1 with seven wins from 13 League games.
PORTARLINGTON made a first round exit from the Provincial Towns Cup with a 16-13 defeat at the hands of Ashbourne. Their Towns Plate campaign has seen them record four impressive victories – Round 1 defeated Wexford by 29-7 in Wexford, Round 2 defeated Gorey by 29-7 in Gorey, Round 3 defeated Arklow by 39 –23 in Arklow and a semi-final win over Clondalkin by 25-20 in Edenderry.
Portarlington’s only previous Plate final appearance was in 2000, when they were defeated by Kilkenny (Kilkenny went on subsequently to win the Provincial Towns Cup in 2001 and 2002). Portarlington finished 5th in Leinster League Division 2 this season with seven wins and one draw from 13 League games.
