Mayo school secures national cup title
St Gerald's College, FAI Schools First Year Boys National Cup Champions.
St Gerald’s College, Castlebar defeated debutants Willow Park Senior School from Blackrock in extra-time to claim the FAI Schools First Year Boys National Cup in Athlone Town AFC last Thursday.
It was a brilliant showcase with two excellent sides doing battle and it took added time for Castlebar to get the better of their Blackrock opponents with a wonder goal to secure the title.
Despite the action being end to end in the first thirty minutes, the game was goalless at the break with Willow Park’s Ben Walls the busier of the two keepers.
Matthew Daly finally opened the scoring six minutes into the re-start to give St. Gerald’s the lead. A mistake in the Blackrock defence saw Daly steal the ball inside the box and drill an audacious shot under the diving Ben Walls.
Blackrock were impressive going forward as Paddy Mullaney, Sam Cruz, Thomas Kilty and Ronan McDonagh linked up well at times. But St. Gerald’s had Blackrock talisman’s Arya Golchin well marshalled throughout proceedings.
Peter Quinlan used his bench effectively as Blake and Horne were introduced and the deadly duo linked up well for the elusive equaliser eight minutes from time. Jamie Blake latched onto an excellent through ball from Archie Horne for the latter to finish superbly and bring the game to extra-time.
Ben Walls pulled off some exceptional saves early in the first period of added time when he denied Keating, Mulroy, Reilly and Moran in quick succession with Jack Fitzgerald on the line to clear the danger for the Leinster Champions.
The match winner came two minutes into the second period of extra-time as a well worked manoeuvre saw St. Gerald’s convert in fine fashion. Eddie Moran snatched the ball on the right flank and played it into the path of Ruairi Molloy who pushed it forward to Cillian Keating. A quick one-two, saw Mulroy claim the pass again and he slotted it past the impressive Ben Walls for a worthy match winner.
As Cup Champions, St. Gerald’s College, Castlebar will have the opportunity to represent the Republic of Ireland at the SAFIB Allen McKinstry Cup next season. The school will play the Cup Champions from Northern Ireland, Wales and England in a three-day tournament.
Last season’s Cup winners St. Francis College, Rochestown are currently in action in Cardiff at the Home Nations tournament. No doubt David Joyce’s side would relish a chance to play some strong opposition from further afield.
