BANN MEMBERS WIN GOLD WITH IRISH U21s
Four Banbridge members were part of the Irish Under 21 squad which were crowned champions and secured promotion for Ireland back to Division A at the Europeans in Lousada, Portugal on 13th-19th July.
Matthew Bell, Owen Magee, Johnny McKee and new signing Jamie Wright alongside former Bann players Peter Brown and Ben Cosgrove all returned with gold medals following a very successful tournament for Ireland. The U21 squad topped their group with victories over Russia and the Ukraine and a draw with Portugal which took them through to the next stage where they saw off Italy in a 9-2 victory to then play Scotland in the final game which they won 3-1.
Commenting after the victory in the final game Coach Jonny Caren said “Six months of preparation has paid off with this massively talented group. It was done the hard way but to win with a corner variation we had practiced relentlessly and then two goals in the dying minutes is a testament to what this group is about.”
“Our conditioning showed in the latter part of the game enabling us to cover a lot of ground both offensively and defensively. I couldn’t be happier for the guys as they have done everything asked of them to make this win possible. We will now look forward to our future in A division with many of this team still eligible in two years time.”
A huge congratulations to all the team, coaching staff, parents, and support staff on such a fantastic tournament.
Starting XI: Mark Ingram GK: Lee Cole; Darragh Walsh; Owen Magee; James Lorimer; Ben Cosgrove; Johnny McKee; Jamie Wright; Matthew Bell; Nick Burns; Peter Brown
Reserves: Jamie Carr GK: Simon Wolfe; Sean Murray; Harry Spain; Neal Glassey; Mark Loughrey; Jeremy Duncan