KDUL Youth Cup Final– Clane Utd U17 v Clane Utd U18, 25/5/24
Full Time: Clane Utd U17 1 – 2 Clane Utd U18 Competition: KDUL Youth Cup Venue: Doctors Road, Clane Co.Kildare The most eagerly awaited game in Clane United’s underage history took place in front of a huge crowd at Doctors road ground on Saturday and the two teams served up a superb game for the expectant crowd. Right from the very start both teams played the game most people hoped for and was fairly even through the first twenty minutes with chances at a premium and neither goalkeeper really troubled,from then until half time the u17 midfield of Grealis,Murphy and Kirwan started to get on top with a brand of quick,free flowing football that had u18’s under real pressure and with Duffy and Smith supplying some telling passes into Gavin Denton at centre forward chances started to appear.On one such occasion a cross from Duffy seemed to be cleared out but fell to Sean Murphy outside the box and he was able to beat a couple of tackles,move into box and coolly slotted the ball passed Calum Mooney to take a well deserved lead which was held on to till half time despite some chances at both ends. Half time came at the right time for u18’s who were really struggling with u17 midfield after loss of Oloughlin through injury and this gave them time to readjust their setup. Again the start of second half was evenly contested but this time it was u18’s who started applying pressure with back four of Byrne,Henry,O Beirne and captain O’Neill nullifying ever attack allowed O Donaghue,Moore,Mooney and Fitzy to really apply pressure on u17 back four and it is greatest testament to u17 captain Sam Farrell and his fellow defenders that it seemed they were going to hold on.Unfortunately for them it wasn’t to be and with 10minutes left a shot from edge of the box from Darragh Mullahy took a slight deflection and the shot ended up in the net to a equalise and set up a grandstand finish. They say cometh the hour cometh the man and the introduction of Tadhg o Donaghue with 12 minutes left would turn out to be the winning of the game,Tadhg who has been out with a cruciate knee injury for 14 months played his only 12 minutes of the season on Saturday and caused trouble for the back four with his size and pace and won 3 or 4 corners as game drew to a close,with a minute left and the game seemingly going to extra time a cross from the right found its way to ODonaghue and his shot found the bottom corner to take the lead. The u17 responded like the good team they are and went for broke and won a couple of free kicks which allowed them to load the box, on the second free kick the ball fell to Denton and his fiercely hit shot seemed destined for the net only for a truly brilliant save from Calum Mooney which went out for a corner to prevent what looked a certain equaliser.Corner was cleared and the final whistle brought to an end what was truly an amazing game that brought huge pride to everyone involved in Clane united and both teams deserve great credit. Sam Farrell captain of u17 received MOTM award deservedly so but there were so many players who can draw great pride in their personal performances.It is a true testament to the players involved that they had the senior managers waxing lyrical about the standard and talent on view. Well done all!
