Family celebrate three generations of Senior Cup hockey success after Portadown College triumph

Emily Cartmill (née Matchett) won Northern Ireland’s biggest school hockey honour in both 1964 and 1965 with Portadown College before daughter Linda was part of the 1996 cup-winning side – the last team to lift the famous trophy prior to this week’s triumph.

Now, Emily’s granddaughter and Linda’s niece Beth Evans has also collected a Senior Cup medal after she was part of the squad that won a dramatic showpiece decider at Stormont against the defending champions.

With Beth’s parents also involved in hockey as coaches – mum Suzanne, who featured in a Senior Cup final during her own playing days, has led the Ulster Girls’ U18s to Inter-Provincial success and previously coached a number of Wednesday’s winning squad in the junior section at Portadown Hockey Club, while husband Mark was coach of the Ulster Boys’ U18s side that claimed Inter-Provincial glory last year – sport clearly runs in the family.

There could be yet more cause for celebration on Tuesday as another granddaughter of Emily’s, Jessica Cartmill, is set to play for Coleraine Grammar in the U14 Junior Schools Cup final against Rainey.

"I'm absolutely delighted for all the girls,” said Emily. “It's a good story for our family.

"I think I only realised after the match was over! I hadn't thought about it at all before. It's great.

"It all started with me quite a while ago...we won in 1964 and 1965. We won the competition back-to-back and then Linda was in the team that won it in 1996.

"Beth is still only in fourth-year and has been a squad player this season. They have a brilliant team. It was great for Beth to be part of it.

"It's a big milestone in your school hockey career and it means they progress now to the Kate Russell All-Ireland Cup finals to try and win the Kate Russell All-Ireland Cup as well. It's a big challenge but I've every faith that the girls will do it."

School sport holds a special place in the Northern Ireland ecosystem – every year, regardless of how long ago they left, ex-pupils will appear in familiar colours to support their former place of education, spurred on by a sense of connection, community and pride.

It’ll be the exact same at the Danske Bank Schools Cup rugby final on St Patrick’s Day when Wallace High meet Royal School Armagh and it’s a feeling which Emily can resonate with.

"You never lose that connection and feeling inside you that wants your school to win or do well at whatever it is,” she added. “You never lose it.

"You always want your old school to be top on whatever they are doing.

"Watching Wednesday’s final did bring back memories, but it's so different.

"We played on real grass, not the astroturf, and the sticks nowadays are unreal and totally different. The skills that these players can perform now is fantastic...we could never have done it on the pitches we played on."