Pictured above: Clontarf scrum half Fiach O'Loughlin and Old Belvedere lock Scott Hutton pose with the Leddin Finance Leinster Senior Cup trophy which the two Dublin clubs will fight for in Sunday's final at Donnybrook (kick-off 2.30pm).

'Tarf won last season's final 23-16, beating St. Mary's College in a hotly-contested decider at the RDS.



Joe Leddin from competition sponsors Leddin Finance grips onto the trophy with Scott Hutton and Fiach O'Loughlin in the background. Hutton hails from Glasgow and is a big Rangers fan. The 6ft 4in forward is hoping he can help 'Belvo' secure their eleventh Leinster Senior Cup title this weekend.

Belvedere accounted for De La Salle Palmerston (34-17), Naas (38-7), Terenure College (18-8) and Greystones (22-20) on the way to the final. Their only blip came in the round robin series in September when they went down 22-17 to Lansdowne.



Belvo are coached by New Zealander Mike O'Donovan, Richie Murphy and Warren O'Kelly. They are in their ninth consecutive season in AIB League Division Two and currently lie third in the table. Player-coach Murphy, the former Pres Bray Junior Cup star, became the league's all-time top scorer last weekend, kicking 20 points in the 40-8 defeat of DLSP.

The experienced out-half, who works as an Elite Player Development Officer with Leinster Rugby, previously played with Clontarf in the league, as well as Greystones and County Carlow.



O'Loughlin, 24, was a Division One winner with Shannon before his transfer to Castle Avenue last year. He was Ireland's starting scrum half for last March's AIB Club International win over Scotland.

'Tarf have Kiwi Phil Werahiko in place again as their head coach. Wins over Blackrock College (27-3), Barnhall (32-7), UCD (31-27) and St. Mary's College (16-6) have the north Dubliners in with a shout of retaining the cup.

They are currently seventh in the Division One standings, and beat UCD 27-6 last weekend with tries from O'Loughlin, Peter O'Brien (2) and Johnny Wickham, their 2005/06 captain.

**All photos by Cathal Noonan of Inpho Photography**