It’s the perfect underdog story this Friday as St Louis Grammar, Ballymena take on St Joseph’s, Donaghmore in the Year 9 D’Alton Cup Final.

Remarkably, it marks a historic first final appearance for both schools—an even greater milestone for the Antrim side, as they prepare for their first-ever Ulster Schools ‘A’ final.

There’s a sense of familiarity between the teams dating back to their primary school days. Donaghmore Primary claimed the 2024 Ulster Cumann na mBunscol title, defeating St Mary’s, Portglenone in the semi-final. Representing St Mary’s that day were St Louis captain Conan McKeever, along with Nicholas McCrory and Oisín Martin. On the other side, Ruan Kavanagh, Dan O’Neill, Thomas Haughey, Ronan Ogle, and Lorcan Barr were part of the victorious Tyrone outfit.

The sides also met last year in the Year 8 Connor Marron Memorial tournament, hosted annually by St Louis. On that occasion, Donaghmore emerged as deserving winners after an entertaining final—something that will no doubt add an extra edge to Friday’s decider.

The two teams have taken very different routes to reach this point. St Louis’ decision to step up to ‘A’ grade was questioned early on after opening defeats. They led Omagh CBS at half-time in their first outing before eventually falling to a 13-point loss. A similar pattern followed in round two, where they were beaten by nine points by St Malachy’s, Castlewellan—a side they would later overcome in last week’s semi-final, underlining the remarkable progress made by this Ballymena group.

At that stage, even a playoff place looked unlikely. However, a spirited display against St Macartan’s, Monaghan reignited belief within the panel. That belief soon turned into momentum. A stunning 7-14 to 1-1 win over St Michael’s, Enniskillen followed, before a dominant performance in Garvaghey saw them dismantle St Patrick’s, Cavan to secure a quarter-final spot.

Next came St Colman’s, Newry. After storming into a 13-point lead inside 17 minutes, St Louis found themselves trailing by one with under ten minutes remaining. Showing resilience and composure, they rallied with a late 1-2 to book a semi-final clash with St Malachy’s—and a chance at redemption.

They took it.

Now, against all odds, St Louis Grammar, Ballymena stand on the brink of history, with the Tyrone school equally determined to carve out their own place in the record books.

St Joseph’s arrive as deserved favourites. After an impressive group campaign, they comfortably overcame Omagh CBS in the quarter-final before producing a ruthless attacking display to defeat St Mary’s, Magherafelt 5-16 to 1-15 in the semi-final.

The midfield battle could prove decisive. St Joseph’s will look to Kavanagh and Naoise Woods to establish early control against McKeever and Cayden McGuckian, providing the platform for attackers Lorcan Barr, Dan O’Neill, Conan Bonner, and Leo Sheehan to continue their scoring form.

Defensively, Lir Hamill, Charlie O’Brien, and Joseph Killough are expected to shoulder the responsibility of containing the Tyrone side’s dangerous forwards.

For St Louis, much of the scoring threat will come from Oisin Analyschi, Ronan Laverty, and Kieran Jaypashskri, who are likely to be closely tracked by Ogle, Haughey, and Matthew O’Neill.

All signs point towards an open, high-scoring contest between two in-form sides. While St Joseph’s are fancied to repeat their Year 8 Connor Marron success, St Louis have already defied the odds—and the Saffron side cannot be ruled out from producing a famous breakthrough victory.