Queen's University Crowned Senior Cup Champions

Queen's University secured a clear 37 - 0 victory over Malone in the First Trust Senior Cup Final last Friday night at Ravenhill.

The first half was dominated by the boot, with both sides electing to kick for territory. In the 4th minute, Queen's out-half James McKinney opened the scoring with a penalty after Malone was penalized for offside. Neither side looked particularly effective with ball in hand; however Queen's showed signs of strong running throughout the first half, with some forward passes costing the side in crucial situations.

In the 10th Minute Malone Out half Josh Pentland was involved in a brutal collision, after which he needed medical attention. He bravely tried to play on, but he was later replaced after he failed to shake off the injury. In the 34th minute, McKinney again stepped up to make Malone pay for their mistakes, slotting another penalty between the posts to leave the half time score of Queen's 6 - 0 Malone.

The second half sprung to life in the 57th minute when Queen's finally broke through the Malone ranks to score the game's opening try. Winger Matthew Arneill touched down in the left hand corner after some strong running through the forwards initially. McKinney converted a difficult kick to leave the score Queens 13 - 0 Malone.

This try was to open the floodgates, with Queen's sensing that the match was theirs to lose. They stepped up a gear and proceeded to score another try through prop Paul Karayiannis. The Queen's man broke through a tackle to score under the posts and leave McKinney with an easy conversion. This left the scoreline at Queen's 20 - 0 Malone.

Further tries from David McIlwaine and James McKinney finished up the scoring as Queen's showed their cutting edge in the second half. McKinney finished the game with 19 points and put Queens on the front foot throughout with some excellent kicking.

Malone put up a brave fight throughout the game but struggled to recover from losing their out half so early in the game. Their tackling was dogged throughout and they made sure the game was an engaging contest for the Ravenhill crowd.
It was left to Man of the Match and Queens Captain, Mark Robinson to lift the trophy at the end of the game to the ecstatic Queens support.

Queen's: Paul Karayannis, Michael Boyd, Mark Sampson, Michael Ferguson, Andrew Linton, Paddy McGowan, Mark Robinson (Captain), Conor O'Neill, Ian Porter, James McKinney, Matthew Arneill, Jonny Shiels, Michael Pyper, Stuart Campbell, David McIlwaine

Replacements: Gareth Megaw, Tom Patton, Gareth Hooks, Michael Hooks, Chris Quinn

Malone: Jarlaith Carey, Simon Bailie, David Halliday, David Cobain, Martin Boyd, Mark Hill, Jamie Chapman, Glenn Moore, Michael Wilson, Josh Pentland, Michael Barker, Johnnie Burgess, John Anderson (Captain), David Irvine, Thomas Horner

Replacements: John Porter, Daryl Maxwell, Shaun Dougall, Johnny Amos, Phillip Coulter

Referee: Michael Black

Touch Judges: David Wilkinson, Bill Halliday, Graham Gibson and Teddy Sloan

Match report by Colin McGloin

Click here to see photos from the Senior Cup final