Dublin boys dethrone Rice College
Rice College, Westport, pictured before the final.
Hopes of back-to-back national titles for Rice College were vanquished by a well-drilled Portmarnock Community School as the Connacht champions were beaten 1-0 in the FAI Tom Ticher U17 National Cup Final this afternoon in Athlone.
The decisive goal came on four minutes when Cian Wilson’s low drive from 20 yards gave Michael McDonnell in the Rice College goal no chance.
The Westport school struggled to make inroads for much of the first half but enjoyed their best period in the final ten minutes of the half, with Rian Durkan unfortunate to see his volley cannon back off the post.
McDonnell was forced into action early in the second half to deny Portmarnock centre-forward Jamie Fynn, while the same man had the ball in the net moments later but was disallowed due to a foul on Sean Casey in the buildup.
Rice began to peg them back but Portmarnock were a threat on the counter, and Eoghan Moran denied Cian Wilson a second goal with a vital challenge.
Darragh Connolly and Brian Flannery’s men continued to launch it in late on but the Portmarnock centre-back duo of captain Matthew Goti and Tadi Chikoko dealt with the remaining threat well.
