- Tom O'Connor
- Sun, Jun 26 2016
Dundalk Under 17s fell to a single goal defeat at Oriel Park on Saturday afternoon against Shelbourne, who pipped them on goal difference to progress in this competition last season.
The first half saw Liam Burns’ troops began on the front foot with early opportunities for both Shane Gregory, whose shot was well saved by Gaffney in the Shels goal, and Scott Prendergast’s effort flew over. The Dublin side roared back however and Carroll had an effort which drifted over the returning Dixon’s crossbar.
A few minutes later Shane Gregory found the keeper’s midriff with a free kick from distance, while the netminder was second best in a challenge with Jordan Kelly in the next attack but Doyle got back to snuff out the danger and hack the ball clear. The play then swung to the opposite end of the pitch as the Shelbourne lone front man, Mc Cann, skimmed the post following a mistake in the Dundalk defence. Dundalk bossed the latter part of the second half, winning a series of corners, before Mc Cann had another opportunity as the half drew to a close but he blazed his effort over the bar.
The second half began without much action in the first fifteen minutes and it took until the 59th minute for Jordan Kelly to register the first major effort of the half. The young forward heading over from a deep free kick. This sparked the away side into action and a minute later Dylan Hand blocked well from Carroll’s effort inside the area.
The next few chances fell at the hands of the Lilywhite attackers as Jordan Kelly and Jack O’Keefe both had efforts from the edge of the box which were narrowly off target. Kelly took a knock and was replaced by Semelivicius whose acrobatic effort was sensationally clawed out of the top corner by Gaffney following the keeper’s previous solid tip over of Scott Prendergast’s thunderous drive. Shelbourne struck back a few minutes later as a Tang free kick from 30 yards fizzed just wide of Dixon’s post.
Shelbourne took the lead from a similar free kick a few moments later. Fox’s effort was stopped by the wall but the ball broke to the Shelbourne skipper Molloy on the edge of the area and he hammered the ball coolly beyond the reach of Abraham Dixon and into the bottom left hand corner of the net. The home side almost equalized less than five minutes later but the referee ruled that O’Keefe’s effort wasn’t legal as the whistle hadn’t been blown. The forward suffered at the absence of a whistle in the next attack also as he felt he had been bundled over in the penalty area but the referee disagreed.
The final action of the game saw Shelbourne almost extend their lead but Scully’s effort skimmed the outside of the post and it was Molloy’s strike which ended up being the difference between the sides.
Dundalk FC: Abraham Dixon, Liam Jackson, Dylan Hand, Andrew Mooney, Jack Reid, Adam Finnegan (Capt), Mark Kilgallon, Shane Gregory, Jack O’Keefe, Scott Prendergast, Jordan Kelly
Subs Used: Tauvydas Semelivicius, Ryan Kavanagh, Jack Mc Kenna
Shelbourne: Kelan Gaffney, Jonathan Anene, Leo Tang, Matthew Mc Menamin, Nathan Doyle, Ross Strong, Aaaran Molloy, Jordan Carroll, Kaelyn Thompson, Brandon Mc Cann, Josh Scully
Subs Used: Leon Kennedy, Jordan Fox
