HOLDERS Portadown College will face Royal School Armagh in the Belfast Telegraph Girls Senior Cup Final after both sides secured semi-final success.
Next Wednesday’s final will see the culmination of the local rivalry between the two sides, who are set to meet in the showpiece game for a third year in a row.
In the first semi-final, Royal School Armagh came from behind to beat Strathearn School 4-1.
It was the Belfast side who took a shock lead after just 90 seconds of play when a scramble in the penalty area ended with Ellis Macleod diverting in to make it 1-0.
However, the lead would only last five minutes as the 2024 champions struck back from a penalty corner with Kate Livingstone being credited with the final touch before they swiftly took the lead.
Again from a penalty corner, Joni Cunningham saw her initial strike saved by Katie Dolan in nets for Strathearn before Hannah Redmond converted from close range to make it 2-1.
With just two minutes remaining in the quarter, Katie Herron made it 3-1 as a ball into the circle found her unmarked at the penalty spot before she fired in to give her side control in the tie.
Despite the best efforts of Strathearn to get back into the tie, the deficit remained two goals until the final quarter when Joni Cunningham sealed the win for her side.
Greg Thompson’s side sealed the win with a third penalty corner goal as Cunningham’s strike from the top of the circle picked out the bottom right corner and booked a fifth final in a row for the side.
In the second tie, Portadown College booked their Final spot with a narrow 2-0 win over Rainey Endowed.
It took until the 27th minute of the tie for the reigning champions to find the breakthrough when they too scored from a corner.
Captain Rebekah Lennon saw her initial strike saved before Maisy Hannath reacted quickest to convert the rebound for her side.
With both sides creating chances, it was a tie that could have went either way, but the second goal of the game fell the way of Portadown College when Evie Thompson doubled their lead.
Having broken down the right wing, the ball was worked to the midfielder at the top of the circle before she picked out the side netting with what proved to be a decisive goal in the tie.
From there, Rainey Endowed were unable to find a route back into the game as it was the 2025 champions who set up another final with familiar opponents, Royal School Armagh.
The final will take place at Playball, Stormont on Wednesday, March 4 with the action set to get underway from 7.00pm.
Royal School Armagh after their semi-final win
