THE ROYAL and Prior 1st XI take on Wallace High School tomorrow in the McCullough Cup semi-final at the Royal and Prior School in Raphoe.
The Raphoe students topped their group and earned a home semi-final, with a hughe crowd expected to be in attendance tomorrow.
Richard Tinney and Paul Stewart are the men at the helm of a team that has been in magnificent form this term.
Promising young players Alexander Tinney, Luke Witherow and Ben Wallace – all of whom have played for Ireland and Ulster at underage level – are the key men for the Royal and Prior side.
[adrotate group=”88″]The Royal and Prior squad also contains Jamie McKinney, who is also a part of the Kildrum Tigers panel that will head to Limerick on Saturday morning for an FAI Junior Cup fifth round tie against Abbeyfeale United.
A place in the final, against Banbridge Academy next Wednesday, is the prize on offer for the victor tomorrow.
The Raphoe scholars are unbeaten so far this season.
They began the season with a 10-2 away win over Kilkeel. They won 4-1 on the road at Banbridge and 3-2 at Bangor, before being held to a 4-4 draw in a thriller with Friends School of Lisburn.
[adrotate group=”76″]They overcame RBAI 5-1 and hammered Regent High School 7-0 to secure top spot in the group and a home tie against Wallace.
There will be admission of €5 for adults and €2 for students at the gate.
The admission money will go towards The Alan Patterson Trust.
[adrotate group=”46″]Back in late July, former Raphoe Hockey Club player Alan Patterson – who played for the Royal and Prior in 2008 when they last reached a semi-final of this standard – sustained nasty spinal cord injuries dueing a tampolining accident.
He was almost two months in intensive care and spent 11 weeks at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. He is now in Musgrave Park Hospital for rehabilitation.
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