St. Peter's Dunboyne 4:11 St. Vincent's/Curraha 3:10
St. Peter's Dunboyne showed great character to claim the U16 Division 4 football title in dramatic fashion in Dunsany on Tuesday evening. On a great evening for football, it was Dunboyne who got off to the perfect start when lively corner forward, Cormac McGovern reacted quickest to a loose ball in the square to shoot to the net. St. Vincents responded to this set back with some well taken scores, but points from Peter O'Dohety, Eoin Martin, Paul Grant, and a Johnny Pearl effort from a near impossible angle, kept Dunboyne in front. They were then rocked by a Curraha goal after 20 minutes, but points from Michael Murphy and Eoin Martin steadied the ship as the sides went in level at half time.
Both sides traded points after the restart before Dunboyne had a "purple patch" with two goals from Michael Murphy, including an expertly taken penalty after Oscar Braun had been taken down in the square. St. Viincents however responded with 2 well taken goals to push them one in front with 5 minutes remaining. Driven on by the hugely determined Liam Byrne, Dunboyne refused to be beaten and Peter O'Doherty quickly levelled the scores.
With 3 minutes remaining, the energetic Eoghan Cairns jinked through several players and despite being brought down, he showed great awareness to offload to Gavin Finnerty who crashed the ball to the Curraha net. In injury time Dunboyne's rear-guard marshalled by John Mitchell held firm before centre-back Sean Ryan pushed up the field to grab the insurance point with the last kick of the game.
After the game Coiste Fe 18, Vice Chairman, John Gilmartin presented the Division 4 cup to Dunboyne captain, Michael Murphy and congratulated both teams on a great contest.
St. Peter's Dunboyne: Sean Melia, Kevin Quinn, John Mitchell, Kevin Conway, Conor Cagney, Sean Ryan (0:01), Gavin Finnerty (1:00), Eoghan Cairns, Liam Byrne (0:01), Cian Smyth, Eoin Martin (0:03), Jonathan Pearl (0:01), Peter O'Doherty (0:02), Michael Murphy (2:02), Cormac McGovern (1:00), Paul Grant (0:01), Oscar Braun, Gavin O'Keefe, Zach Murray
Under 16 Division 4 League
St Vincents/Curraha 3-10 St Peters Dunboyne 4-11
A controversial side line call by the linesman and a wayward kick out by St Vincents/Curraha helped to tip this Division 4 under16 final in favour of Dunboyne at Dunsany on Tuesday evening. The match appeared to be heading for extra time with both sides tied at 3-10 each on the hour mark when Dunboyne found a match winning score. Overall, this was pulsating final with both sides grabbing the initiative at various stages throughout the hour but failing to push on for victory.
St Vincents/Curraha were first off the mark with Patrick McGill raising the first white flag. Almost on the next attack St Peters stun their opponents when they found a way through for an early goal. The next seven to ten minutes saw St Vincents/Curraha grow into the game with excellent tackling and turnovers thanks to the hardworking midfield pair of Conor O Farrell and Patrick McGill. McGill added two points with O Farrell and Leo Corry also pointing during this spell. St Peter's then seemed to find their feet again and narrowed the gap with three points from close in. The hard working St Vincents/Curraha side were rewarded again with Corry getting his second point and then Jack Byrne raising a green flag after an excellent attack down the right. St Peters's responded and added three points to draw level on a score of 1-7 each as halftime approached. On the stroke of half time though, St Vincents/Curraha had an excellent chance of a goal when Diarmuid Moriarty's was put through but his shot rebounded off the crossbar to safety to leave things all square at the break.
Very little separated the sides in the opening ten to fifteen minutes of the second half with both sides exchanging points. Conor O Farrell adding two for St Vincent's Curraha. O Farrell was then unlucky not to have been awarded a free when he was flatten 30 meters from the goal with what appeared to be a shoulder in the back. Mid way through the half Dunboyne grabbed the initiative again when they were awarded a penalty for a push on one of their forwards which was converted for another three pointer. St Vincents/Curraha's response was quick with McGill gaining possession from the kick out to set up an attacked down the right. From this attack Jack Byrne gained possession and as delivered his kick he was upended, however the late tackle went unpunished and on the counter attack St Peter's were awarded a free in the corner from where they worked a point. St Vincents/Curraha were then dealt a further blow when a short kick out was pounced upon by one of the Dunboyne forwards who netted from close range to push them five points clear with about seven minutes remaining. St Vincents/Curraha didn't give up and with some excellent work at the back by Danny Tuite and Ian Battersby they worked the ball forward where it found Diarmuid Moriarty who rifled to the net from the edge of the square. Within minutes St Vincents/Curraha were attacking again. O Farrell attacked down the left where he showed tremendous skill and balance to waltz past several defenders who eventually fouled him. The referee awarded a penalty. O Farrell took the responsibility himself and cooled converted the spot kick to put his side a point clear with minutes on the clock. There was to be one further twist in this battle for supremacy however, when a sideline ball that appeared to have gone off a Dunboyne player was signal in his favour. The resultant attack led to Dunboyne breaking through for the match winning goal. They followed up with a point to ensure the victory.
Overall, this was an excellent game of football befitting any final. There were some excellent performance on both sides with St Vincents/Curraha's Conor O Farrell, Patrick McGill, Danny Tuite, Ian Battersby, Jack Byrne, Leo Corry and Diarmuid Moriarty all in excellent form.
St Vincents/CurrahaTeam: James Fox, David Corry,ConorHarford, Charlie O Brien, Andrew Moriarty, Ian Battersby, ,Danny Tuite, Conor O Farrell (1-3), Patrick McGill 0-5, Jack Byrne (1-0), Jack O Connor, Nigel Hand, Diarmuid Moriarty (1-0),Niall McLarnon , Leo Corry (0-2). Subs: Evan Connor for N McLarnon, Yusuf O Driscoll for C O Brien, Tadgh Sullivan, Eoghan Corry,.
Tweet