Battle of the Rovers goes way of the islanders
Achill Rovers celebrate winning the McDonnell Cup Final after their win over Glenhest Rovers B. Picture: Conor McKeown
The bonfires were lit across the island of Achill over the weekend when Achill Rovers won their first cup since 2002 after a narrow 1-0 victory over Glenhest Rovers B last Saturday evening secured them the McDonnell Cup.
“I'm just so proud of all the lads,” said head coach Michael English after the game. “Everyone in the club over the years for all the dedication,” I suppose it's nice to have something to reward for it now. We'll definitely celebrate this now. It's a huge one for us and we're absolutely over the moon.” The first half was a dogged affair, with clear cut chances at a premium. Achill enjoyed the better of the early exchanges, with the deliveries of Michael Moran and James O’Hara dangerous at set-pieces. O’Hara first found Brandon McGing at the back post via a corner, but McGing’s header was wide, while a brilliant ball by O’Hara picked out Calum Doolan Lynch only for his headed effort to go wide of the post also.
Achill enjoyed plenty of the ball, but Glenhest forward duo Fintan McManamon and Matthew Horan were a threat on the counter. Horan had a chance on the break on 19 minutes, but a heavy touch allowed Ruairi Cooney to intercept.
Glenhest’s other chance of the first half came from Fintan McManamon whose shot on the turn at the edge of the penalty area never troubled Achill goalkeeper Stephen Cafferkey.
Achill continued to lurk, and their best chance came a minute before half time as O'Hara's free from the sideline almost caught out Glenhest goalkeeper Keelan Barrett, but the shot stopper was able to tip it over the bar.
Achill got the breakthrough after the restart when Micheál Moran's corner picked out Tristan Carlin and his header nestled into the net. They had a chance to double their lead shortly after when Tiernan Cooney played in Colin Campbell, but Keelan Barrett got a vital touch to tip it away.
“We changed a few things up in terms of set pieces. We had a bit of planning done in that regard. We had certain ones done for the first half and other ones done for the second half and I suppose when we changed it up, you might catch someone on the hop for one or two and we got lucky there. It was a great ball from Micheál and a serious header from Tristan.” Glenhest received a further blow when Tony Leneghan was forced off with injury, but his replacement Fionn Reilly gave Glenhest renewed vigor and attack. Fintan McManamon had a header saved from a corner before Glenhest's best chance arrived on 66 minutes when Fionn Reilly’s volley appeared destined for goal but was cleared off the line.
Glenhest continued to push forward for an equaliser, but the Achill defence was marshalled superbly by man of the match James O'Hara while the ‘Hest also suffered a further blow when Keelan Barrett was also withdrawn due to injury.
“He's been one of our standout players all season,” said English of O’Hara. “It's nothing new and think he's well known around the county for his quality. He had an outstanding performance today. He was winning headers all day, he was delivering great ball all day, couldn't do any more and, yeah, he did a fantastic game.” One last chance for Glenhest arrived via the corner deep in injury time but Achill cleared away and the Islanders could begin celebrating the first cup success for 23 years, their last being them Tuohy Cup back in 2002. having secured the League 2 title last month as well, the treble remains on the cards for Michael English’s side with a Premier Cup semi-final at home against Straide & Foxford United set for the end of the month.
“We haven't been in this position in my lifetime with Achill Rovers. We'll give it our all. There's obviously three very strong teams there. I see Swinford making a few transfers, the rumours are going round so they’re going to be half favourites for it. Equally SNF are going pretty well at this point now and Snugboro are as well.
“We're League Two, so we're going to be the underdogs but we're not going to fear anyone. Whoever we come up against at this point, we're going to have a right crack at it,” said English.
