Old Wesley showed that there is still tremendous vibrancy in their Junior ranks, by winning four trophies over the past few weeks.
In recent years, Old Wesley have worked very hard on the rejuvenation of their Junior teams, under the guidance and direction of Stuart Kinlan (son of former first-teamer Willie), Nigel Poff and many other dedicated volunteers.
After a number of successes last season, this culminated in a record breaking season this year, with the following trophies won :
Metro League 3 – Wesley 3rd Team – captained by Michael Hastings, with twin brother Brian Hastings, Gavin Telford and Stuart Kinlan acting as coaches/ managers. They beat an excellent Wanderers team by 29-23 in the final after a very attractive end to end encounter.
Metro League 5 – Wesley 4th Team – captained by David Taylor, with Paul McClatchie, Stephen Wallace, Ivan Sutton and Nigel Poff acting as coaches/ managers. They played superb running rugby to finally get the better of a very experienced and competent Clontarf team with a 24-10 scoreline.
Metro League 9 and O’Connor Cup Double – achieved by Wesley’s 5th team, who beat AIB in both finals, with the Cup decider being a very narrow 23-20 victory after a pulsating match with the lead changing hands on a number of occasions.
The 5th team contained a subtle mixture of youth and experience, with the evergreen Dave Bursey (former Irish under 21 player, club captain and club president) performing valiantly in the role of player/coach. The side was captained by the youthful Sam Pollock, with both Graham Richmond and Des Johnson acting in a coach/ manager capacity.
A feature of all the Old Wesley Junior Teams was the attractive running rugby they embarked upon throughout the season, fuelled by the wonderful 4G pitches in Donnybrook.
By Paul O’Rourke