U15 Footballers reach C'ship final
Some pictures here, more to come
Sunny Portmarnock was no place for the faint hearted as Syls overcame local rivals Naomh Mearnog in front of a hostile home crowd for a place in the Championship Final in three weeks’ time. It was an outstanding display of the character, mentality and ability of this well prepared Sylvesters squad. While Syls’ smooth navigation of previous rounds were built on midfield dominance and rampant attacking combinations, this victory was due to resilience, teamwork and cool heads.
The home team’s coaches clearly had their players fired up for the biggest game of the year and they were a goal to the good within a minute of the throw-in. Syls refused to panic, simply digging in as the home team launched attack after attack in the early stages. Naomh Mearnog worked hard to get possession into their big players in the midfield and half forward areas, providing the platform to run directly at the Syls defence. For Syls, the long pass into Ben O’Neill was paying dividends as they rallied to relieve the pressure on their hard working defence. Ben used his strength and awareness to set up Daniel Brennan and Jack Whelan for nerve settling points. From then on the first half was nip and tuck with both teams exchanging well taken scores. Phelim Butler strode forward from his defensive duties to snaffle an excellent score after a neat one two with Bobby McCarthy. Some over zealous tackling on Luke Hughes and Marcus Young allowed Daniel Deneher the opportunity to rack up a further couple of scores from coolly taken free kicks.
As the first half drew to a close, that early goal from the seasiders was the difference between the teams. The second half continued in much the same vein. Scores from Daniels Deneher and Brennan dragged the away team back to level terms before Naomh Mearnog restored their three point lead with a series of well taken frees by Carl Bissett. By the mid point in the half, Syls managed to get their noses in front for the first time in the contest courtesy of another Deneher free kick. Then came the first of the game’s two major turning points. Naomh Mearnog opened up the Blues defence to create a clear shooting chance, only for Sean O’Connor in the Syls goal to pull off an outstanding save. That save and the approving roar of the away team’s followers seemed to put new wind into the Syls sails. Minutes later, Osian Dullaghan released Cian McLaughlin who used his blistering pace to leave his marker for dead down the right hand channel. As he approached the Mearnog goal, McLaughlin showed great composure to place his right footed shot into the corner of the net. At this point, all the intensity deserted the home team as they paid the price for their energetic start. The Syls defence held firm, led superbly by Denis O’Brien and Mikey Dowling. Further points from the goalscorer Cian McLaughlin, Dan Brennan and another free from the excellent Dan Deneher gave the Malahide boys a winning margin that in the end seemed harsh on the Naomh Mearnog boys.
For the victorious Sylvesters squad and their coaching team of Brian Barnes, Paul Rhienhart and Declan Lynch it’s back to the training ground to prepare for a championship final that will hopefully end with a major piece of silverware perched in the Church Road trophy cabinet.
