Tullow Community School 4/2 St: Kieran’s College, Kilkenny
Tullow Community School pulled off a shock result by knocking out one of the favourites for the Senior Cuptitle on Wednesday (6 October) in a hugely exciting game that saw the Cat’s take a commanding lead only to see two players dismissed in the second half:
St: Kieran’s Cup pedigree over the past few years has been outstanding, reaching the final last year and winning both the Leinster and All Ireland Junior titles the previous year: The Kilkenny School started the season as one of the favourite for the trophy, but Tullow had other ideas:
The game started at a slow pace with both teams testing each other which saw the midfield area very congested at times as both teams pressed hard to deny any space:
Tullow created only one chance in the first half and that produced a great strike from Michael Byrne who forced a good save from the Kieran’s keeper:
St: Kieran’s created little but were gifted a goal just before the interval: The Tullow defender misjudged the bounce of the ball which was played over the top and the Kieran’s striker was in, one on one, only for Adam O’ Neill to make a great save but as luck would have it, the rebound fell straight to the striker who tapped in to give Kieran’s the lead:
The second half was nothing like the first with high drama and a surge of goals to entertain the visiting crowd: No one could have predicted the events which unfolded as St: Kieran’s doubled their lead three minutes in when a mistake by the Tullow keeper gifted them their second of the afternoon:
The Tullow boys had a mountain to climb but didn’t droptheir heads: The pairing of Andy Mulligan and Eric Molloy pushed forward to take the game to Kilkenny: The Tullow forwards created constant attacks leading the Kieran’s defenders to foul repeatedly: A major blow for the Cats saw the dismissal of one of their players after a poor tackle giving the opposition some impetus to increase the tempo:
A well executed manoeuvre from Andy Mulligan saw him win the ball in midfield to fed Eric Molloy in space who was clean through on goal: An untimed tackle saw the Kilkenny defender take down Molloy resulting in a penalty and a second red card for the away team:
A major turning point in the game as Molloy picked himself up and smashed home the penalty:
The fight back continued for Tullow and just five minutes later and home side were level when Joe Sunderland found Michael Byrne on the edge of the box and smashed home into the bottom corner to level the match with half an hour remaining:
Nine man Kilkenny were contesting every ball but it was proving difficult to sustain the high energy levels required to keep the Tullow side at bay:
Tullow finally took the lead ten minutes later when David Cole made a fantastic solo run to round two defenders and beat the keeper sliding the ball to the bottom corner:
St: Kieran’s remained vigilant and played some excellent football in the final ten minutes which saw the team nearly level the game on three separate occasions: The tension was mounting as the final minutes were ticking by:
Tullow’s Michael Byrne ended the game for the Cats as he finished well after an Eric Molloy cross:
It was an outstanding effort from all the Tullow lads who played brilliantly and while many may not have fancied them they have pedigree of their own winning both the Junior and U19 South Leinster Leagues last year and nobody will fancy meeting them in the next round:
Tullow Community School: Adam O’ Neill, Frankie Nolan, Keith Slye, Donal Kelly, Jeff Worth, Eric Molloy, Michael Byrne, Andy Mulligan, David Cole, Joe Sunderland, Dale Cosgrove:
Report courtesy of Brian O'Reilly, Regional Organiser FAI Schools Carlow/Kilkenny region
