On Saturday June 1st, Armagh Hockey Club hosted their annual U14 Super 8s tournament, The Phil Homan Memorial Tournament. The tournament saw 10 teams from across Ireland and Scotland compete to take home The Rutledge Cup.
The weekend began with a pool stage to determine who would progress to the knockout stages with plenty of quality hockey on show from all sides! It was ultimately Banbridge, Bray, Railway Union and Pembroke who came out on top and progressed to the Semi-Finals.
A series of tight semi-finals saw Pembroke narrowly beat Railway Union 1 – 0. Bray and Banbridge ended normal time with a scoreless draw, but Bray progressed to the Final after a 3 – 2 victory in the run-ins.
Just like the semis, the final was an exceptionally close affair with Leinster sides Pembroke and Bray cancelling each other out. The game ended 0 – 0 requiring run-ins to determine the tournament’s ultimate victors.
Some heroics from Pembroke Goalkeeper Brian gave his side a 3 – 1 advantage with Bray needing a goal in their next run-in to stay in the contest. It was the goalkeeper who came out on top, sealing the Rutledge Cup for Pembroke. The Homan family produly presented this year’s winners with the Rutledge Cup
The weekend was capped off by individual accolades, presented to Charlie of Railway Union for Player of the Tournament, and Brian of Pembroke for Goalkeeper of the tournament.
With an incredible 140+ boys competing and plenty more families and friends in attendance the success of this event goes without saying. A huge congratulations to Armagh Hockey Club and all the Club Members and Volunteers involved in the organisation and running of the event. We look forward to hearing about the success of the 2025 installment of the Phil Homan Memorial Tournament.
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