Cork boss delighted with U19 triumph

After claiming the Enda McGuill Memorial Cup on Wednesday evening, Cork City completed the second part of a memorable double. Speaking to extratime.ie, manager Stuart Ashton hailed it as a "fantastic" achievement.

"Obviously it is a fantastic achievement. Winning the double is an excellent achievement for the lads and for the club. We are delighted. It caps off a wonderful season. This is probably the highlight but the double is a wonderful achievement."

Ashton went on to praise Dundalk and spoke of how it isn't easy being a manager in these situations.

"It was a hard fought game tonight. We expected that. Fair play to Dundalk, they made a great game of it. From a managers point of view it was a heart-stopping game. The game really could have gone either way.

"We had chances in the first half, where we could have been two or three up at half-time and then the second half they had two or three chances and could have equalised in the last minute to take it into extra-time. It was probably too open a game from a managers point of view, it's not easy on the touchline but I am delighted we managed to get the right result.

The Cork City boss admitted it was a great game of football and was pleased that both teams put on a good show. He also spoke of how important the league is and can be.

"It truly was a great game of football. It was a great game for the crowd, a real roller coaster. As you know, the League of Ireland have brought this (under)19's league in. It's about getting players into the first-team. We have one or two on the verge of that, hopefully. One or two more may go into the first-team we hope.

"We'll try doing it the right way. Trying to play properly and over the season I think we've done that and got the rewards. The league can be a very important part of their development and that's what the league can do."

Despite this year's success, Ashton is already looking ahead to next year and what prospects he has for the squad - both individually and collectively.

"As a group, only seven or eight of them will be underage again next year and the rest will join the first-team squad straight away. They'll have a few days off now and then they'll go into the squad. From there, it's up to them where they take their careers themselves.

"The hard work has just started and it's a big step up as we all know. They know that, but hopefully a few of them will go on to make great careers for themselves."