THE conveyor belt of football talent at Hamilton High School Bandon shows no signs of slowing down after their impressive Munster colleges U17B title triumph.

Nine months after their senior football team won the Simcox Cup, the Hammies have proven that there are more exciting players coming through in the West Cork school, as they defeated De La Salle Macroom 3-14 to 2-7 in the final.

‘There was great excitement, especially for the younger students. A lot of the transition year students were playing, those who may have not got the opportunity at Corn Uí Mhuirí level this year,’ manager Rob Honohan told The Southern Star.

‘Football is going very well in the school. We won the Simcox Cup for the first time earlier in the year.

‘We’re lucky to have good feeder clubs and are very fortunate that way. There is a lot of work going on in the school in both football and hurling.’

The Hammies have eight feeder clubs/amalgamations, including usual suppliers Bandon, Newcestown and Valley Rovers. Kilbrittain, Courcey Rovers, Owen Gaels (Ballinascarthy and St Oliver Plunkett’s), Ibane Gaels (Argideen Rangers and Barryroe) and Ahán Gaels (St Mary’s and Diarmuid Ó Mathúna) all supply players.

In this Munster final Hammies were seven points up at half time and won by ten, but there were still some shaky moments.

‘I don’t think we were always in control. We went in with a seven-point lead at the break. It was a good lead but we still didn’t feel the game was won,’ the Hammies’ boss said.

‘I thought we had to match the intensity that we showed in the first half and not slip into the trap of thinking the job was done and leave De La Salle back into it. If we dropped the levels at all, they were capable of getting scores.’

The key now is to build on this championship success.

‘That’s the hope. Some of this team had played in the A grade at U15, got beaten in the first round after getting drawn against St Brendan’s. We got drawn against Clonakilty Community College in the first round last year at U15 and got beaten. Over the course of two years, this group had only two matches. It's great that we got a run this year so that we could build on something and get to know players better. It builds a bit of confidence. Definitely, going forward, this is a big step. It gives fellas a proper run of games and builds some team spirit,’ Honohan said.

The Hamilton High School panel includes Cormac Moroney (Owen Gaels), Harry Forbes (Ahán Gaels), Adam Browne (Valley Rovers), Daniel Dullea (Bandon), Cathal Murphy (Valley Rovers), Rory Fleming (Ahán Gaels), Russell Crowley (Bandon), Gearóid Donegan (St Oliver Plunkett’s), Paul Deasy (Ibane Gaels), Conor Murphy (Ahán Gaels), Alan Long (Ahán Gaels), Olan Kelly (Newcestown), Donal McSweeney (Newcestown), Conail Hurley (Bandon), Aidan O’Driscoll (Bandon), Charlie Curtin (Valley Rovers), Sam Molumphy (Valley Rovers), Tadhg O’Mahony (Bandon), John Bates (Owen Gaels), JJ Galvin (Ahán Gaels), Patrick Barry (Valley Rovers), Aaron Buttimer (Ahán Gaels), Fionn Murray (Ahán Gaels), Eoin Wilcox (Ibane Gaels), Niall Egan (Kilbrittain), Kevin O’Driscoll (Bandon), Jack Allen (Newcestown), Cillian Harte (Ibane Gaels), Odhrán Madden (Kilbrittain), Seán Platt (Valley Rovers), Cillian Madden (Kilbrittain), Daniel McCarthy (Owen Gaels), Patrick Hennessy (Valley Rovers), Tom Kingston (Bandon), Mike Joe Foley (Ibane Gaels), Nick Daly (Valley Rovers), John Hennessy (Valley Rovers), Ronan Sheehy (Kilbrittain), Brian Kelleher (Kilbrittain), James Henchion (Ibane Gaels), Ruaidhrí Crowley (Courcey Rovers), Donncha O’Mahony (Newcestown) and Liam Ryan (Owen Gaels).