U15As win the Championship
If anyone has pictures to share I would appreciate getting them as I lost all the action pictures (don't ask me how, sorry lads).
Report from the Evening Herald here - big file, may be slow to download but worth the wait
Congratulations to captain fantastic Dan Deneher who also received the 'Player of the Game' award for a commanding performance at centre back.
Those of you old enough to remember when Mary Robinson became the first female President of Ireland or when Toto Schilaci broke Irish hearts at the World Cup, will appreciate the enormous achievement of the St. Sylvester's U15 footballers last Sunday as they became the first team from the club to win the U15 championship since 1990. The Malahide boys' performance against Lucan Sarsfields on the day was mature, clinical and efficient as they dominated their shellshocked opponents from start to finish.
Syls exploded out of the traps on the throw in. Marcus Young and Osian Dullaghan bossed the midfield area from the start, supplying top quality ball into their fleet footed forward line. With 11 minutes on the clock, Syls were three points up thanks to scores from Daniel Deneher, Luke Hughes and Daniel Brennan. The smart interchange of passing involving these three and their forward colleagues Bobby McCarthy, Sean Daly and Ben O'Neill left the Lucan defenders dazed and confused. Lucan kicked a couple of wides before steadying their supporters' nerves a little with their opening point from play. However, the blues looked dangerous every time they had possession in the Lucan half of the field, particularly when Luke Hughes and Sean Daly ran directly at the defence. One such attack bore fruit when on 19 minutes a despairing Lucan tackle gave the ref no option but to brandish a black card to the offender while pointing to the spot for a penalty. Jack Whelan, who had been introduced to the fray only three minutes earlier for Colm Casey, calmly tucked the ball away in the corner of the net. Lucan were under the cosh for the remainder of the half as Syls calmly racked up a further two points from Deneher and a right footed effort from Whelan, a rarity from the left footed sharpshooter.
The teams took their half time breather with Syls enjoying a well deserved lead of 1-6 to a solitary point from Lucan. The Sarsfields mentors clearly had some strong words for their charges during the break as they emerged with more conviction in the second half. If the first half was dominated by the Syls forward line, the second period saw their disciplined defence come to the fore. The boys in green started the second half brightly, picking off the first score of the half after three minutes. But Syls refused to let their opponents build up any momentum, immediately replying with a couple of points of their own through Whelan and Dan Brennan. The game was becoming more stretched as Lucan scored their second point of the half before the game's major turning point 8 minutes in. A Lucan attack was halted illegally by the Syls defence and for the second time in the match, the ref had no option but to point to the spot. Crucially, Syls goalkeeper
Sean O'Connor, aided by teammate Dan Brennan, had scouted the Lucan spot kicker in their semi final match a week earlier. Sean knew that his opponent favoured placement low to the 'keeper's right. As the ball left the spot, the 'keeper was sharply down to his right at full stretch, getting a firm hand to the ball to push it to safety. Yet another demonstration of how this team's meticulous preparation and
teamwork had paid dividends.
The missed penalty seemed to rattle Lucan as they immediately missed a scoreable free and had another player black carded for a senseless foul on Phelim Butler as he rampaged up the right wing from the half back line. At the mid point of the second half, target man Ben O'Neill, after another fine display, made way for speed merchant Cian McLoughlin. It's fair to say that the sight of Cian is not a welcome one for tiring defenders late in a tough match, and so it proved as Cian got away from his marker to set up Dan Brennan for Syls' second goal of the match. With a 12 point lead at this stage, Syls were content to soak up any Lucan pressure, using their pacy forwards to hit their opponents on the break when the opportunity arose. Their full range of tenacity and discipline was on display as every player tackled, covered and blocked doggedly for this period, led by the outstanding Aaron Lynch, Bob Manzanilla, Liam Butler and Dennis O'Brien.
With ten minutes remaining, another well constructed break from defensive duties saw Cian McLoughlin released into a scoring position, and he finished unerringly to extend Sylvesters' lead to an unassaible 15 points. As the clock ticked down, Lucan added some respectability to the scoreline, notching a goal and two points, but there was no denying Syls their day of glory.
A final score of 3-9 to 1-5 was a fair reflection of the blues' dominance, and to huge roars of delight from their loyal supporters, man of the match Dan Deneher became the first Syls captain to lift the trophy since 1990.
