Good Luck to U17s in John Ward Cup Final Sunday 23rd Nov

Dear members

I would like to wish our U17 players the very best of luck as they line out this Sunday, the 23rd, in the John Ward U17 Final against Suttonians in Malahide at 14:00. This is a fantastic occasion for the boys, their families, and everyone involved in our youth rugby programme.

DOW — the combined team of De La Salle, Old Belvedere, and Wanderers — is a tremendous example of what collaboration in underage rugby can achieve. It stands as a huge credit to all the coaches across the three clubs, but especially to our own Brian Kennedy, who has been coaching this group since they were Under 6s back in 2015. His commitment, passion, and belief in these players have been instrumental in guiding them to this final.

The road to the final has been far from easy. The boys earned their place with tight, hard-fought away wins over Seapoint (Seapoint 10 – DOW 22) and Terenure (Terenure 14 – DOW 18), followed by a superb home semi-final performance, defeating Malahide 49–19. Each of these games showed their resilience, teamwork, and growing maturity as a squad.

Keeping a youth team competitive and moving forward — particularly when many players are both league and school-tied — is an exceptional achievement. Whatever the result on Sunday, every one of the players and coaches should know that the club is immensely proud of what they have accomplished so far.

Best of luck to DOW and to all the Old Belvo boys representing the black and white. Enjoy the day, play with heart, and know that the whole club is behind you. All support welcome on Sunday.

Nick Fingleton

Youth Boys Chairperson