A PIECE of history was created last week when Regent House had not one, but two teams competing in the last 16 of the Belfast Schools’ U18 Cup.Having been the only school to enter two squads in the 32-team group stages, Regent were delighted when both squads made it through to the knockout rounds.The U18A team, coached by Steven Cairnduff, started the competition in a confident mood having reached the 2024 final. Wins over Lagan College, Belfast Boys’ Model and De La Salle saw Regent top the group and set up a tie against Belfast Royal Academy in the round of 16. BRA proved a much sterner test for Regent’s title aspirations than perhaps was initially anticipated. After trailing 2-0 at half-time, the Regent boys responded well to an inspired team talk from coach Cairnduff and quickly pulled one back after the break through Ryan Bailie. Thereafter, Regent completely dominated the game, going close on countless occasions and got a deserved equaliser from a Jack Martindale penalty. With the game heading to full-time, Regent desperately tried to find a winner to no avail and a penalty shootout was required to decide the game.After the first round of kicks ended all square, captain Aaron Scott pulled a brilliant save out of the bag and Jude Carlisle calmly rolled in the winner, resulting in Regent winning 6-5.Regent A will now play Breda Academy in the quarter-finals.Regent’s B side, coached by Jonah Heron, are a squad predominately made up from Year 12 pupils. But despite the fact they were playing two years up, the boys have had a tremendous season to date.They narrowly lost 2-1 to group winners, St Mary’s Grammar, had a creditable 1-1 draw with perennial cup achievers St Malachy’s College and defeated local rivals Bangor Academy 2-0.The cup adventure came to an end for Regent B last Wednesday, going down to a narrow 2-0 defeat at Rathmore Grammar, one of the favourites to lift the cup. The boys can hold their heads high after going toe to toe with four other schools in this competition, and the experience will only make the squad come back stronger next year.Regent Director of Football, Paul Fitzsimons, has been delighted with the progress to date and feels it has been a tremendous achievement to have both teams in the knockout stages of a major tournament as it highlights both the strength of depth and the quality Regent House have on the field.
