St: Catherine’s Vocational School, Killybegs 1/1 St: Joseph’s Secondary School, Charlestown (AET) (St: Catherine’s win 3/1 on pens)
On the eve of Seamus Coleman’s debut for the Republic of Ireland, his former school were also on the eve of capturing a spot in this year’s John Murphy Senior Cup Final:
The Killybegs School were triumphant after a nail/biting penalty shoot/out against a much faced St: Joseph’s of Charlestown:
Philip O’Gorman’s outfit celebrated a Connacht title with an impressive 4/2 win over Our Lady’s Secondary School, Belmullet: A confidence builder for any team heading into an All Ireland series
Meanwhile St: Catherine’s struggled to defeat their Ulster counterparts Coláiste Ailigh in a very close affair: 2/2 after extra time and St: Catherine’s narrowly winning 5/4 on penalties: The Killybegs School were ready for a hard fought encounter in IT Sligo:
The game started with neither team taking the impetus in proceedings: Christy Cunningham and Ryan Ward were combining well up front: St: Catherine’s were playing the better football but there was a lack of forward thinking on the Charlestown goal:
The introduction of Ryan McCloskey was successful as he added a new dimension to the Killybeg’s aerial threat: McCloskey combined well with Hugh McFadden from a set piece and again had an individual effort well saved by O’Donnell in the Charlestown goal as the game came to life:
Eddie Hanlon was standing out for Charlestown but the support play was not supplied when he ventured forward:
It took all of 51 minutes for Charlestown’s Eddie Hanlon to register a goal for the Mayo men as they brought about a conviction to see the game to an end: They employed a very good defensive strategy which was assisted by some solid performances from Michael Corrigan, Marty Owens and Niall Hunt: Corrigan was the anchor man in midfield dominating much of the possession in the early exchanges of the second period:
However Killybegs were determined to find an equaliser and their efforts were rewarded as Noel Breslin hit a curling shot past the goalkeeper to the far corner on 75 minutes:
Killybegs were unfortunate not to go one better in normal time as Shane O’Rourke went agonising close to seeing his shot skin the upright with 80 minutes played:
Donegal’s Cian Kennedy and Sean Mulhern were combining well but the final ball into the box was missing an extra dimension and failed to deliver any real threat on O’Donnell’s goalmouth as full time approached:
The only real opportunity in additional time came courtesy of Ryan McCloskey’s free kick which found the head of Hugh McFadden but the ball drifted just over the crossbar:
The deadlock was to remain and shot kicks were to decide the faith of these two schools:
Ulster star’s St: Catherine’s had some experience in this area and would end up using the experienced gained to their advantage:
Donegal’s Hugh McFadden was placed with the responsibility of replacing Daniel McGlynn between the posts for the spot kicks: This proved a vital manoeuvre for Dom Deeny’s side as McFadden’s impressive display saw him deny three of the Charlestown men with his antics on the goal/line, saving twice and putting the third player off to send his shot wide: St: Catherine’s were victorious 3/1 on penalties to seal a place in the Cup Final:
An unfortunate end for Charlestown in their Cup campaign as the future of their School is in the balance: A place in the Schools final may have lifted the spirits of the pupils but the lads did the school proud with a marvellous display of football and more importantly sportsmanship in defeat:
The talented Ulster side will now face Munster men Nagle Community College in the Senior Final on Wednesday, February 16:
St: Catherine’s Vocational School, Killybegs: Daniel McGlynn, Conor Byrne, Jonathan Cassidy, Jon Ban Gallagher, Hugh McFadden, Christy Cunningham, Noel Breslin, Shane O’Rourke, Cian Kennedy, Ryan Ward, Sean Mulhern
Subs:Ryan McCloskey, Luke Kelly, Ciaran Battles, Niall Carbury, Shane Stevens
Teacher:Dominic Deeny
St: Joseph’s College, Charlestown: Garett O’Donnell, Gary Cassidy, Kiefer Craig, Daonal Gavaghan, Nigel Cassidy, Shaun Walsh, Gerry McLauglan, Marty Corrigan, Eddie Hanlon, Niall Hunt, Alan Woods, Michael Keane, Niall Moran (for Shaun Walsh 99), Kevin O’Neill, Kiefer Curry
Teacher:Philip O’Gorman
Referee:Terry Butler