Victories for last year's finalists

The 1999 Esat Digiphone-sponsored Leinster Schools' Senior Cup final will be a repeat of last year's decider after holders Wesley…

The 1999 Esat Digiphone-sponsored Leinster Schools' Senior Cup final will be a repeat of last year's decider after holders Wesley College and Mount Anville won their respective semi-finals, against Muckross Park and Loreto Foxrock, at Grange Road yesterday.

Lisa Byrne and Claire Solan gave towering performances at the heart of an impenetrable Mount Anville defence in the day's first semi-final and it was Byrne who opened the scoring, after 17 minutes, when she fired home from a short corner.

Mount Anville dominated much of the first half, winning seven short corners to Foxrock's one, and deserved their second goal, scored after 22 minutes, when Lisa Dowling slotted the ball past Foxrock goalkeeper Maria Lawlor.

An intense spell of Foxrock pressure midway through the second half failed to yield a score and Dowling secured Mount Anville's place in the final a minute from time with a gem of a goal.

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The day's second match, between Wesley and the 1997 cup winners, Muckross Park, who lost on penalty strokes to the same opposition in last year's semi-finals, was a tighter affair. Hilary Burke set up Anna Carson to score after just seven minutes for Wesley.

It wasn't until three minutes from the end, by which time Muckross had poured forward in search of an equaliser, that Wesley made their victory safe with a goal from Nikki Symmons.

The final takes place at Grange Road next Wednesday (2.30) with Mount Anville coach Maeve McCarthy hoping to see her school end their 25-year wait for success in the competition.

Mount Anville: H Forde, R Assaf, L Dowling, L Murphy, C Rowan, C Solan, B Fitzgerald, S Nestor, L Byrne, A O'Connor, EJ Cassidy (capt). Subs: L Hutch, R Woods, C Tobin, L O'Connor, B Fortune, J Hyland.

Loreto Foxrock: M Lawlor, J Coyne, F Brady, T Dillon, S Kane (capt), L Cotter, A Byrne, S Becker, A Gleeson, L Dillon, J Cotter. Subs: A O'Gorman, N Boland, S Doyle, L Hammill, P O'Duffy.

Wesley College: C Proctor, L Harrison, S Geoffroy, P Agar, S Hayes (capt), S Walker, H Burke, N Symmons, A Carson, R Stuart, E Braithwaite. Subs: V Wall, R Carson, K McKenna, E Delahunt.

Muckross Park: O McGuinness, R Keegan, C Murphy, C Rodgerson, E Ward, J McDonnell, A M Hogan, E Tierney (capt), A McCormack, A Williams, G Sadlier. Subs: L Phelan, J Motherway, G Coughlan, A Seery, N Keegan.

Leinster Senior Cup - Semi-finals: Mount Anville 3 (L Byrne, L Dowling 2), Loreto Foxrock 0; Wesley College 2 (A Carson, N Symmons), Muckross Park 0. Final at Grange Road next Wednesday (2.30).

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan is a sports writer with The Irish Times