S&F crush Swinford double dreams in frantic finale
Straide and Foxford United’s Conor Devaney watches as his teammate Damien Frontczak pulls away from Swinford’s Joe Slevin. Pictures: John Corless
Nothing much happened in this match until Aiden Dunleavy powered Swinford in front on 71 minutes. After that, Straide & Foxford United scored two in reply, two players were sent off, and player of the match, S&F goalkeeper Darren Flatley, made an incredible save three minutes into stoppage time to hold on for the win.
S&F adapted well to the big pitch and played some nice football. Their home ground at The Green is the minimum width and many felt that they would struggle with the vast expanse of the Milebush surface.
“A big pitch suits us,” S&F manager Alan Campbell told the after the win. “We have good players that can play the ball, and we were never concerned about that at all.”
The first half was evenly contested but no goals were scored. Dunleavy and Niall Egan combined to set up Joe Slevin, but he fired over the S&F goal, after four minutes. At the other end, Matty Leadbetter did good work on the wing and sent in a dangerous low cross, which was met by Conor Devaney. The winger’s shot rebounded off the post and was cleared.
It was sad to see Swinford midfielder Niall Egan leave the field in an ambulance after a nasty leg injury sustained on twelve minutes. Both teams formed a guard of honour for the ambulance as it left the pitch after a lengthy delay, to loud applause.
Paul Moran, who was lively throughout for S&F, sent a decent pass in for Damien Frontczak but his effort was saved, and Michael Guilfoyle came close from distance. Luke Ruane forced a corner, and defender, Kevin McDermott drew a good save from Jamie Leahy. Guilfoyle headed a corner over, and Moran threatened again.
Dunleavy looked like the most likely to score for Swinford. He sent two close early on, and was involved in a well worked move involving, Evan Rowley and substitute, Cillian Goldrick, that just missed the target. Rowley had a shot millimetres wide after a corner and Jack Murphy came close. Team captain Joe Slevin was involved in much of Swinford’s approach play, as he operated more as an attacking midfielder than the out and out centre forward, the number nine on his back might suggest.
Leadbetter, Neary Moran and Guilfoyle all came close for S&F in the second half as they went in search of a lead.
For Swinford, Rowley and Goldrick had a couple of goes at the same chance but couldn’t make the breakthrough. Dunleavy sent a clever pass to Rowley but his movement in front of goal took too long and when he passed to Goldrick, the chance had evaporated. Slevin fired a couple from distance, but nothing came of them.
Dunleavy was growing anxious that nothing was coming from his industry, and he went direct to fire Swinford in front from twenty yards out. A few minutes later, Slevin easily skipped past Chris Downey and McDermott, as he cut inside in pursuit of a second goal. It looked like the defenders were beginning to tire, and for a while, it seemed like Swinford would drive on and increase their lead. S&F’s fortunes took another downward turn when McDermott saw red from referee Eric Eaton for a foul on Dunleavy.
But S&F got a second wind at a vital stage in the final. Downey pushed up for an interchange with Ruane, and a minute later, the veteran Andy Neary levelled matters after Swinford goalkeeper Jamie Leahy was red carded for a foul.
In the frantic finish, Ruane put S&F in front with five left on the stopwatch, before Swinford attacked again, and Dunleavy’s shot rebounded downwards from the underside of the crossbar, only for Slevin’s header to be miraculously saved by S&F goalkeeper, and player of the match, Darren Flatley. The referee’s whistle indicated that S&F had captured the Premier Cup.
“We had no fears coming in to this match,” Alan Campbell said. “We are a Premier Division team, and we looked at this match as a warmup for Thursday evening’s play-off with Killala. We weren’t afraid of Swinford. We knew we could beat them.” On his incredible save at the end, Darren Flatley said he didn’t know what happened.
“I just looked up,” he said. “I saw the shot come off the crossbar, I just looked and saw him (Joe Slevin) heading it and I just threw myself across the goal and thankfully, got a hand to it. So, I don't know how I saved it to be quite honest. I was just in the zone. All I was thinking was get that ball and thankfully I managed to get the hand to it and keep it out.”
Team captain Chris Downey described it as a tough game.
“Fair play to Swinford, they’re a great side. They finished second in their league, and you can see why. It felt like either team could have won it on the day. We left it awful late, but fair play to the lads, you know, they never give in. It's been a tough season for us, with our league form and all that, but we said we'll give this cup a go and look, thankfully it paid off. This bunch of lads, they won't say die. I'm not great for remembering goals but all I know is we got the winner, that's the main thing for us. Darren has been incredible for us for years. He's one of the best in goals, and his save at the end is no surprise there for me. He's a great keeper.”
Swinford manager Aiden Dunleavy Snr said he was disappointed for the players.
“They put a lot of work into it,” he said, “and tried very hard on the day. We still have the Tonra Cup win, and we are promoted, and we’d have taken that at the beginning of the season, but we’re disappointed today. We wish Niall Egan a speedy recovery from his injury which we hope isn’t too bad. He’s been a great player for us, and we are looking forward to seeing him in a Swinford shirt again soon.”
