Ashton, beaten in last year's decider by Bangor, were the most accomplished team in this week's gruelling Irish Schools Hockey Championship but it was only with the last stroke of extra time that Wesley's defiant resistance was broken in the final at Grange Road yesterday.
Richie Gash forced his side's 16th short corner on the final whistle and Karl Burns, the Cork captain, swept the ball goalwards, hoping for Gash to slip it home, but instead it was a defender's deflection which made the difference.
So, after all the other set pieces had been broken down by a Wesley defence in which Wendell Armstrong and John Cuppage were outstanding, Ashton were rewarded for relentless pressure and became the first Munster school to carry off the trophy.
Having overpowered King's Hospital 7-0 in their semi-final, it looked as if Ashton would soon pierce the Wesley cover as Stephen Teap and David Hobbs drove strongly from midfield and John Jermyn produced skilful turns in the circle, yet Armstrong and his cohorts refused to yield.
There were several last-ditch saves at the start of the second half and with the Wesley captain Peter McConnell dropping back from his role at centre-forward to help out his defence, Ashton were becoming frustrated as Jermyn and Rory Heaslip struck good chances off the target.
A number of dangerous counterattacks developed through David Roche on the Wesley right wing, calling for a particularly alert save by Mark Ruddle from Graeme McCoy, who was also foiled by a vital clearance by John Hobbs before the game went into extra time.
Roche and McCoy, joined by John Griffin, gave the Ashton defenders a few further scares in the last 10 minutes but Burns showed his experience and composure in launching Ashton back on the offensive to forge victory. So, it's turning out to be a heartening year for Munster hockey in their centenary season. Ashton will provide the backbone of the under18 squad in the youth interpro vincials next month and no doubt there will be an assured bid to emulate the men who won the senior title at Harlequin Park a fortnight ago. There remains promising material in Leinster, too, and McConnell will be leading another sturdy team in quest of the honours. It was perhaps significant that no Ulster side was in yesterday's final, though it was only in the last minute that Cookstown were eliminated by Wesley (2-1) in the semi-final stage.
Ian Hutchinson had given Cookstown a first-half lead from a penalty stroke but Wesley - having displayed much spirit in Wednesday's conquest of RBAI - again fought all the way and equalised through McConnell before Alex Cuppage forced home the winner.
