Junior Cup Final Report: Liffey Wanderers 2-1 Sheriff YC (AET)

Liffey Wanderers deified the bookies odds to lift the FAI Junior Cup trophy after a 98th minute strike from substitute Stephen O’Callaghan.

Sheriff YC raced out of the blocks at the Aviva Stadium, first Keith Dunne with a mistimed shot that was collected by Joseph O’Neill before Sheriff recycled the possession out to Paul Murphy and his cross was met by O’Neill whose strike sailed over the Wanderers goal.

Despite all Sheriff’s pressure it was a mistake by Anthony Kavanagh which saw referee Conor Byrne award a free kick to Liffey Wanderers, Anthony O’Connor’s delivery was then perfectly met by Lee Roche and his head sailed past keeper Lee Murphy in the Sheriff goal.

After taking the lead, Liffey had an effort to double their advantage moments later when Gary Young fired the ball off the woodwork. Sheriff pushed to find a way back into the game, efforts from Keith Dunne and John Rock before a miscommunication saw a dangerous free kick go to waste.

As the game approached half time, Sheriff’s David Browne missed a golden opportunity to level the game after Philip O’Connor collided with a Sheriff Attacker inside the box and the ball fell to Browne who blazed over from three yards out.

When the sides emerged from the half time break it was Liffey Wanderers who had the half’s first chance when Aidan Roche saw Sheriff keeper Lee Murphy off his line, but his shot could not test Murphy who easily gathered.

Moments after Roche’s effort, Sheriff attempted to find a way back into the game, Darren Dunne played the ball to Joseph Flood, who found himself with acres of space inside the 12 yard box, but his free header went over the bar.

Liffey were gifted an opportunity to extend their lead when Philip O'Connor's long punt was met by Lee Roche and he raced through on goal only to be denied by a last ditch tackle by the Sheriff defence.

As the waves of Sheriff attacks continued to lay siege on the Wanderers goal, goalkeeper Philip O’Connor was in no mood to allow their Dublin rivals an equaliser.

John Rock was the next Sheriff player to try his luck but his header failed to test the keeper, minutes later Sheriff had a huge call for a penalty kick when the ball appeared to strike a Wanderers defender in the face, however the referee was not interested in their various appeals.

As the attacks continued to come Browne became the latest man to try and produce a moment of magic, O’Connor pulling off a spectacular stop, moments later it was the same combination as Browne forced a second excellent save from the keeper once again before the ball fell to Keith Dunne whose effort from six yards sailed over the crossbar.

Deep into injury time the difficulty of Sheriffs task increased when John Rock was shown a straight red card by referee Conor Byrne and seconds later Liffey had an opportunity to seal the game after Aidan Roche found himself through on goal for a second time but fatigue allowed the Sheriff defence to recover and halt the attack.

As the game was heading for the final whistle, Sheriff got their rewards for all the pressure after a dangerous free kick on the right edge of the box by Kevin Lynch found its way to John Lester and he fired home from close range to send the game into extra time.

Chances during the first period of extra time were few and far between them as both sides showed evidence of heavy legs, as we approached the end of the first period the ball fell to Stephen O’Callaghan on the edge of the box and the substitute let fly with a curling effort that sailed into the corner of Lee Murphy’s net.

Despite being down to ten men Sheriff continued to push for a second equaliser as they bid for a third crown in four seasons, with Alan McCabe forced Philip O’Connor into a fine save after racing in behind the tired Wanderers defence.

As the clock was edging ever closer to full time, O’Callaghan was denied a second goal of the game thanks to a brilliant save from Lee Murphy in the Sheriff goal. Late in the period both Sean Murphy and Lynch failed to test Philip O’Connor in the Liffey Wanderers goal as the Leinster Senior League side from Pearse Street were crowned Junior Cup champions for the first time.

Liffey Wanderers: Philip O’Connor, Dean Young (Paul Gannon 75), David Andrews, Dylan Roche, William Keegan, Carl O’Brien, Anthony O’Connor, Gary Young, Kenneth Roche (Stephen O’Callaghan 71), Aidan Roche, Lee Roche (Paul Mooney 86)

Sub Not Used: Sean Brazil, James Mooney, Dean Uzell, Jamie Roche, Paul Gannon

Yellow Card: L. Roche (3), P. O’Connor (67) D. Young (75)

Red Cards: None

Sheriff YC: Lee Murphy, Paul Murphy, Anthony Kavanagh, John Lester, David Browne, Joseph Flood (Sean Murphy 63), Darren O’Brien (Alan McCabe 83), Darren Dunne, Joseph O’Neill (Kevin Lynch 63), Keith Dunne, John Rock

Sub Not Used: Alan Murphy, Stephen Larkin, Michael Pigott, Robert Fitzsimons

Yellow Card: K. Dunne (8), Flood (15), Browne (45+2), O’Neill (61), D. Dunne (93)

Red Cards: Rock (90+2)

Referee: Conor Byrne

Attendance: 3,000 (est)

Extratime Man of Match: Philip O’Connor