St: Mary's College capture Connacht U/16 A Soccer title
St: Mary's College, Galway 0
St: Joseph's College, Galway 0
(AET St: Mary's win 4/3 on penalties)
The St: Mary's College U/16 soccer team emulated their U/18 counterparts by winning the Connacht soccer title after a hard fought battle with local rivals St: Josephs on Thursday afternoon: This was a titanic struggle between two very determined teams, and perhaps it was fitting that the final outcome was not decided until the last kick of the match: This kick came courtesy of St: Marys centre back Christian Lomboto who stroked his penalty past the hapless Bish keeper Micheal O’Donnell, to finally seal the title on a scoreline of 4 /3:
In near perfect conditions, and on the wonderfully kept university pitch at Dangan, both teams treated the large crowd to a wonderful spectacle of football: St:Marys started sluggishly, and found themselves under considerable pressure as the Bish sought to make the best of the confusion in the Marys ranks: A bad mistake when trying to clear the ball early on led to the first real chance of the match when St: Josephs forward Liam Hrehorov ran onto a misplaced back pass, rounded the keeper, but under extreme pressure from St:Marys defenders Barry McEntee and James Casserly forced his shot into the side netting: This close call inspired the Bish to push on and for a period they controlled the midfield, with some especially composed play from team captain Brian Gaffney: Marys at this stage were defending resiliently, throwing themselves into tackles, none more so than Eric Holland: Indeed the captain’s never say die was an inspiration to his team and as the half wore on St: Marys came more into the match, eventually forcing the Bish onto the back foot:
Incisive running from St: Mary’s wingers Seán Glynn and David Wynne began to open up the Bish defence and from one forceful run to the end line Marys won the first corner of the day: The in/swinging cross was met by St: Mary’s striker Shane Maughan whose flicked header was cleared off the Bish line in the ensuing scramble: At this juncture St: Mary’s manager Richie Bell decided that more bite was needed in midfield and introduced John Duane for the unlucky Francis McKeague: Within seconds he latched on to a loose clearance and tested the Bish keeper with a rasping 25m shot: As half/time approached both teams had gotten the measure of each other and the frantic pace of the match settled more into that of a cat and mouse struggle:
The second half opened brightly for St: Marys, who upped the tempo considerably: James Casserly and Barry McEntee were to the fore, gaining a considerable amount of possession and feeding the midfielders with a plentiful supply of ball at every opportunity: Midway through the half a sublime ball into the penalty area from Sean Glynn found the head of Keith Lee and his effort flew inches over the Bish crossbar: Seven minutes later the clearest opportunity of the day fell to David Wynne, when with just the keeper to beat he was unable to get the ball under control, leaving O’Donnell time to smother his effort: Marys continued to drive forward but their efforts were thwarted consistently by the Bish defenders, in particular Tom Curran, Barry McCabe and Chris Clarkson: In midfield Ronan Conlon and Brian Gaffney were instrumental in all of the St: Josephs attacks, while ably supported by skilful centre forward Ebenezer Olayide:
No team were able to make the breakthrough they were looking for, and as extra time loomed the match entered a stalemate situation, neither team wishing to make a match/costing mistake: Extra time once more left the teams deadlocked and scoreless: During this period John Duane and the tigerish Holland went close for Marys, but despite all efforts the referee blew full time leaving both teams to face the dreaded penalty shoot out: This too was a close affair: St: Josephs shot first but St: Marys, who had changed their goalkeeper for the shoot out, saved the effort: Now having the upper hand they themselves were unable to capitalise when they too missed their first penalty: Nerves were taking over, and when the Bish penalty taker shot high over the bar the door was opened once again: From now on in the standard of penalty taking from both sides was sublime, with neither side missing as the competition went down to the wire: Scorers for the Bish were Mark Murphy, Brian Gaffney and Ronan Conlon, while Sean Glynn, Shane Maughan, Christian Lomboto and goalkeeper Christian Badea all netted for Marys:
St: Marys deserve the plaudits for their victory but in truth both teams excelled: The match was played in the true spirit of sportsmanship, and due credit should go to squads, as well as their teachers and supporters for the excellent way this important match was conducted: Praise to for the match officials, Pat Barry, Paul McGrath and Tony Geasley who allowed the game to flow well, and officiated with a minimum of fuss throughout: After the match, St: Joseph’s manager Rob Grealish had the unfortunate task of presenting the Umbro Connacht Junior Schools Cup to Eric Holland in his capacity as chairman of the Connacht Schools FAIS: As he quoted himself “ I’m only smiling on the outside, inside I’m heartbroken”:
St: Marys have now matched the success of their senior counterparts who captured the Connacht U/18 trophy after a hard fought victory over Summerhill College, Sligo in March: The next task facing Richie Bell, Ronan Faherty and their squad of players is to plot the downfall of the Munster champions in the All/Ireland semi/final next Thursday: Before this however St: Marys U/14 team will take on their counterparts from the Bish in the Connacht final at Terryland early in the week:
St: Marys College: Christian Badea, Shane Gallagher, James Casserly, Barry McEntee, Christian Lomboto, Keith Lee, Sean Glynn, Eric Holland, Francis McKeague, Shane Maughan, David Wynne: Subs used: John Duane, Eoghan Walsh, Stephen Fahy
St: Josephs College: Micheal O’Donnell, Tom Curran, Cian Fadden, Barry McCabe, Haad Baswa, Ronan Conlon, Chris Clarkson, Brian McNamara, Brian Gaffney, Ebenezer Olayide, Liam, Hrehorov: Subs used: Mark Murphy, Conor Wynne:
St: Marys College Galway Connacht A U/16 Soccer champions 2008
Back row L/R:
Gavin Cullen, Christian Badea, David Wynne, Shane Maughan, Barry McEntee, Christian Lomboto, Keith Lee, Stephen Fahy, Thomas O’Connor, Sean Murphy, Eoin Walsh, Patrick McCarthy:
Front Row L/R:
John Duane, Dean Bruen, James Casserley, Shane Gallagher, Francis McKeague, Eric Holland, Seán Glynn, Micheal Collins, Craig Brown
Team Captain Eric Holland accepts the Umbro Connacht Junior Schools Cup from Chairman of the Connacht Branch Rob Grealish
Jubilant St Mary’s players celebrate in earnest after the presentation