Dungannon school aiming for second cup victory in three years

INTEGRATED College Dungannon (ICD) will attempt to win the Danske Bank NI Schools’ Cup for a second time in three years when they face St Joseph’s College, Derry in Thursday’s showpiece final at the Blanchflower Stadium.

ICD won the prestigious trophy for the first time in the schools history back in 2023 when they defeated St Columb’s Derry 2-1 in the showpiece decider at The National Stadium.

The Dungannon school also reached last year’s final only to lose to Our Lady St Patrick’s Knock, that after the organising committee refused to move the date of the final to accommodate ICD who had six of their starting eleven unavailable because of their participation in the Dallas Cup in the States.

There are no such problems this time around, and, according to coach Lee McNulty, the ICD class of 2025 are fully focused on Thursday’s showpiece showdown.

“Our campaign has been something of a slow burner,” he admitted.

“Initially we didn’t think we would get this far because we didn’t seem to gel as a team in the opening rounds. Then we played Larne High School in the quarter-final which is part of the Larne FC Academy.

“We were excellent that day, really, really good and we won 2-0. From that game on we really upped it, the boys got the bit between their teeth and you could see a massive difference in them.

“It seems the better opposition we have, the better we play and we hope that continues in the final.”

In the semi-final ICD defeated Lumen Christi College 4-0 while their opponents were 4-2 winners over North Coast Integrated College.

North Coast Integrated College, like ICD, is part of a football academy, and their defeat has put McNulty, joint manager Mark Patton and their players on red alert about the quality of the opposition.

“North Coast were tipped to win the other semi-final but St Joseph’s defeated them 4-2 on the day and that was a big shock to everyone I think. No one expected that, so they are obviously a talented outfit,” continued Fivemiletown man McNulty.

“We have done our homework on them and we know where we can exploit them but I’m sure they are thinking the same about us.

“It promises to be a great game.”

ICD go into Thursday’s decider without midfielder Matthew Brady who is out for the season after chipping a bone in his ankle playing for Glenavon under-20s.

That’s a major blow for the Dungannon school given he is one of their key players and McNulty insists they will have to reshuffle the pack.

“He’s one of the mainstays in the team and we don’t really have a like for like replacement.

“Without giving too much away, we’ll have to come up with a plan, a change of system to cope with his absence. But thankfully everyone else is fighting fit and really looking forward to the final.”

Thursday’s decider kicks-off at 1pm