Newpark Comprehensive win U19C Boys All-Ireland Schools Cup with thrilling 57-55 win over Clarin College

Newpark Comprehensive have won a thrilling  U19 'C' Boys All-Ireland Schools Cup 57-55 against Clarin College of Galway. The school from Blackrock scored three points in the last 20 seconds to come from behind and secure victory over the Galway side.

Both sides traded scores back and forth in the first quarter. Gareth Hopwood scored six of Newpark’s first eight points but a three from Joshua Okafor had the score at 8-7 with three minutes left. Hopwood, Billy Webb and Noah Dodson managed to push Newpark slightly ahead as the opening period of the game as they went into the second quarter up by five.

Scores from Joshua Okafor and a big three from Noah Wilbur got Clarin back to within one point as we approached the half-time break, but just as Newpark managed to stretch back ahead, four points from Ricardo Arbelo and three points from Okafor put Clarin ahead at the break by one.

A cagey third quarter saw nervy attempts made on both sides in what resulted in just 12 points being scored between the two sides. Just Alfie Ryan and Gareth Hopwood were on the scoresheet for Newpark in the third but they did enough to win the quarter and bring a 44-39 lead into the final ten minutes.

The final quarter was as chaotic as the scoreline would indicate. A 5-0 start to the fourth for the Athenry school tied the game up midway through the last quarter. In the next two minutes, both sides traded blows and exchanged the lead on three separate occasions. Noah Wilbur hit a three and Ricardo Arbelo hit another to give Clarin a three-point lead with under two minutes to go.

With just one minute to go, it was 52-55 to Clarin, but a singular free throw from both Jamie Bannigan and Gareth Hopwood reduced the lead to one point. Then a big inbound play saw a floater from Hopwood edge Newpark ahead by one point with 20 seconds to go. Bannigan managed to add one more free-throw and double the lead to two with four seconds to go. Clarin could not convert on the final offence which meant the U19C Schools Cup was to go to Blackrock this year. 

Quarter Scores: Q1- 19-14, Q2- 16-22, Q3- 9-3, Q4- 13-16

Game Scores: Q1- 19-14, Q2- 35-36, Q3- 44-39, Q4- 57-55

Teams

Newpark Comprehensive: Noah Dodson, Leeroi Gabat, Alfie Ryan, Sebastian Cuculici, Jamie Bannigan, Jonathan Warshager, Tim Gebhart, Sean Daluz, Turlough Rooney, Conor McGee, Nathan Ekweariri, Gareth Hopwood, Charlie Webb, Billy Webb

Top Scorers: Gareth Hopwood (24), Noah Dodson (12), Alfie Ryan (12)

Head Coach: Alex Doyle

Clarin College: Amar Debiasi, Joshua Okafor, William Poland, Fionn Daly, Daragh O’Malley, Jack Forde, Noah Wilbur, Daniel Speight, Paul Thornton, Trent Slattery, Ricardo Arbelo, Jack Cooke

Top Scorers: Joshua Okafor (16), Ricardo Arbelo (16), Jack Cooke (9)

Head Coach: Claire Burke

MVP: Gareth Hopwood