FAI Schools John Murphy Senior ‘B’ National Cup Semi Final (Under 19, Small Schools)
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
St. Peter’s CS, Passage West 1-0 Glenamaddy CS
Liam Quinn (26)
The ten men of ST. PETER’S COMMUNITY SCHOOL, PASSAGE WEST saw off an extremely difficult challenge in Glenamaddy Community School at Fairview Rangers AFC this afternoon (January 21).
This clash was a repeat of last season’s National Cup Final in which the Cork side outperformed the Galway crew in the second half to prevail on a 5-2 scoreline that afternoon.
Yet again Passage West had the bragging rights but had to work exceptional hard to defend their one goal cushion for much of the game.
The pressure intensified for Joe O’Regan’s team when Rema Mbakwe was dismissed with twenty minutes remaining as he picked up a second yellow card and subsequent red.
Unfortunately for Glenamaddy they were without the services of influential Captain Alan Conroy who sustained an injury last Friday which saw him miss out on the provincial decider on Saturday and he didn’t make it back in time for this massive fixture. He could have made quite the impact if was available to John Kennedy’s squad.
The only goal of the game came midway through the first half as Liam QUINN’S set-piece got a slight deflection enroute to the top corner.
The goal came against the run of play as Glenamaddy had started the game on the front foot with Eoin Morgan and Dylan Joyce combining well with Conor Kennedy. Keeper Jake Walsh had to be alert to the trio’s antics in the box.
The goal seemed to settle the Cork side as they played more possession football with slow build up leading to their attack.
St. Peter’s Captain Brian Linehan seemed to cover every blade of grass as the Cork ploy was to feed the ball to the feet of talisman Rema Mbakwe and Jamie Nduwuba. Shay Morgan and Sam Nolan both put in a solid performance to deny the deadly duo as well as some smart goalkeeping from Ross Hegarty when required.
The teams went into the break with St. Peter’s enjoying the slight advantage.
It was more of the same in the second period with St. Peter’s controlling the early exchanges however they were under the cosh for most of this period as Glenamaddy went in search of an equaliser with long balls from defence to draw level.
It was a hugely entertaining half as St. Peter’s to their credit absorbed sustained levels of pressure especially following the sending off with Glenamaddy looking to make the most of the numerical advantage.
However, there were no clear cut chances for either team as the defensive partnerships worked well to clear their lines.
Glenamaddy’s Dylan Joyce did have two strikes on goal late on but Walsh got a hand to one and Tomás Hanlon blocked the other in quick succession to ensure St. Peter’s the victory.
St. Peter’s will now await the winners of the other semi-final which sees PCC Falcarragh take on Grennan College, Thomastown in Oriel Park on Thursday (1.0).
The FAI Schools John Murphy Senior ‘B’ Boys National Cup Final is scheduled for Wednesday, February 5 (1.0). Venue to be confirmed.
ST. PETER’S COMMUNITY SCHOOL, PASSAGE WEST | Jake Walsh, James Barry, Golding Nduwuba, Tomás Hanlon, Scott Moynihan, Brian Linehan ©, Liam Quinn, Hugo Recio, Jamie Nduwuba, Rema Mbakwe, Ryan Dalton
SUBS USED | Seán Coughlan for Barry (80)
SUBS NOT USED | Ciaran Taffe, Zac O’Hanlon O’Brien, Oisin O’Sullivan, Paul Canty, Racael Attiz, Aston Doyle
TEACHER | Joe O’Regan
GLENAMADDY COMMUNITY SCHOOL | Ross Hegarty, Shay Morgan, Luke Walsh, Sam Nolan, Tomás Lee, Aaron Tevnan, Bryan Lambe, Enda Keane, Dylan Joyce, Eoin Morgan ©, Conor Kennedy
SUBS USED | Cormac Brennan for Lambe (51), Conor Brennan for Nolan (83)
SUBS NOT USED | Eoghan Hunt, Finn Hargadon, Colin Griffin, Michael Griblin, Eoin Thornton
TEACHERS | John Kennedy, Michael Heavey, James Francis, COACH | Kevin Morgan
MATCH OFFICIAL | Mike Monahan (Limerick)
