St Kevin's retain FAI Umbro U17 Cup

St Kevin's Boys 3 Cherry Orchard 2

St Kevin's Boys retained the FAI Umbro U17 Cup on Sunday afternoon when an injury-time winner from winger Stephen Confrey gave them a 3-2 win over Cherry Orchard at Glebe North FC, Balbriggan.

The Saints had bounced back from conceding a 22nd minute goal by Conor Mooney to lead 2-1 at half-time through goals by Evan Shine and Aaron Ashe but then found themselves down to ten men with 15 minutes to go when left back Jason Caffrey was sent-off after receiving his second yellow card.

Two minutes later, Cherry Orchard equalised through Adam Walsh and then had a goal disallowed for offside and the game looked destined for extra-time when Confrey struck.

Even then the drama wasn’t over as St Kevin’s midfielder Cian Kavanagh was sent-off for picking up his second yellow card then the Cherry Orchard captain Sean McGrane was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle.

Despite the strong wind which blew across the excellent Glebe North surface, the two teams served up a tightly contested game in which chances were at a premium and it took ten minutes before Cherry Orchard became the first side to find the target when Jamie McGrath shot weakly at St Kevin’s goalkeeper Jack Brady.

St Kevin’s had the most possession in the opening quarter and looked the more threatening but it was Cherry Orchard who opened the scoring on 22 minutes when St Kevin’s conceded a needless corner. Left back Adam Harvey swung the flag kick to the back post where centre half Conor Mooney met it first time and drilled a low shot in to the far corner.

That goal seemed to move St Kevin’s into another gear and they eventually equalised on 36 minutes when some good build up play ended with a cross by Cian Kavanagh to the back post where Evan Shine was on hand to head home.

Three minutes later, St Kevin’s went in front when an Adam Ashe corner from the right was met by the head of Aaron Ashe and the ball somehow squirmed past goalkeeper Ian Molloy and over the line to make it 2-1 at the break.

St Kevin’s were very much in control of the second-half for 30 minutes but the sending off Jake Corrigan for a second yellow card changed the whole complexion of the game and threw Cherry Orchard a lifeline which they gratefully accepted within two minutes.

An innocuous looking shot from the edge of the box by centre-forward Adam Walsh deceived keeper Jack Brady and he could only watch in horror as the ball bobbled over the line and into the net.

Three minutes later substitute Ryan Masterson looked to have put Cherry Orchard ahead when he swept the ball into the net after Brady had parried a shot but the assistant’s flag shot up immediately for offside and the goal was disallowed.

The three minutes of added on time had just commenced when St Kevin’s grabbed an unlikely winner as somehow they found themselves in a 3v1 break and Stephen Confrey showed great patience and coolness in drawing the keeper before slotting a low right-footed shot into the corner of the net to send the Northsiders’ supporters into rapture.

But the drama wasn’t finished there. Over-exuberant celebrations saw midfielder Cian Kavanagh  receive a second yellow for removing his jersey, having been earlier booked for dissent, and St Kevin’s found themselves down to nine men. However, Cherry Orchard’s two man numerical superiority only lasted a few seconds as from the re-start skipper Sean McGrane was shown a straight red for a dangerous tackle.

St Kevin’s managed to hold on for the remaining few minutes and referee Ciaran Redmond’s final whistle signalled the end of a dramatic final. St Kevin’s defender Sean Heany was named as the Umbro Man of the Match and the FAI U17 Cup was presented to St Kevin’s captain Ryan Robinson and vice captain Aaron Ashe by the chairman of the FAI Domestic Committee, Jim McConnell.

St Kevin’s Boy’s: Jack Brady; Gregory Sloggitt, Ryan Robinson, Sean Heaney, Jason Caffrey; Stephen Confrey, David Packenham, Cian Kavanagh, Dylan Kavanagh; Aaron Ashe, Evan Shine. 

Subs: Kaleem Simon for Kavanagh (65), Glen Reddy for Shine (77), Keith Kelly for Ashe (90). 

Subs not used: Sean Gorman, Jordan O’Reilly, Ronan Jones.

Cherry Orchard: Ian Molloy; Adam Harvey, Conor Mooney, Conor Dunne, Jake Corrigan; Timmy Babbington, Sean McGrane, Armstrong Becomo, Jack Bayly; Adam Walsh, Jamie McGrath.

Subs: Ryan Masterson for Babbington (63), Jack Byrne for Adam Walsh (85). 

Subs not used: Conor Foley, Karel Ntumba, Lyle Hood, Daragh Gannon, Chris Roche.

Referee: Ciaran Redmond