Luke keeps his cool to send Bellurgan wild

BELLURGAN UTD QUAY CELTIC 1 0

A late goal from the penalty spot by Luke Higgins secured the under-17 cup and the first silverware for this bunch of Bellurgan players as they justified their tag as favourites in the final at Bellew Park on Tuesday night.

Played in much welcomed sunshine the Peninsula outfit had the edge in a game with a scarcity of real scoring chances but the winners posed the most threat, evidenced by the fact that they had the ball in the Quay net three times only each time the score to be ruled out for offside.

The nagging feeling that fate might be conspiring against them was eventually dispelled with less than ten minutes of normal time left to play. Quay goalkeeper Killian Rice advanced off his line which he had successfully done on a number of occasions in the second half and thwarted danger .

There was a hint that a Bellurgan player was offside and the goalkeeper managed initially to palm away the ball in the air but as he went to grasp it as it dropped he was deemed by the referee to have fouled Sean Dawe. Higgins confidently dispatched the kick low to the net for what was the deciding goal.

However, in a helter -skelter finale Quay might have equalized in the final seconds as they piled all their players, including goalkeeper Rice into the Bellurgan penalty box for a corner kick. A frantic scramble ensued with the ball falling to Rice who couldn’t direct his shot on target and instantly Bellurgan broke away and Higgins from just inside the Quay half accurately steered the ball towards the open goal only for Keith Dollard to race back and kick it clear just clear of the goal line.

This was the peak of the excitement that the game produced, with a lot of endeavour but was short of quality and goalmouth action.

Quay only tested Bellurgan goalkeeper once when Thomas Daly with a lovely piece of skill flicked the ball over his marker inside the penalty box on the right and forced the best save of the match from Ciain Rogan who acrobatically tipped over his powerful drive in the final ten minutes of the first half.

Bellurgan held the attacking sway, with the first of their three disallowed goals ruled out after three minutes. There was more of a delay in deciding to cancel their next, with the referee doing so after one of his linesmen had his flag raised.

Jake McArdle sent Sean Dawe galloping clear down the right and he crossed low beyond the far post for the ball to be turned back inside to Higgins to slot it into the net with 25 minutes gone.

Rice had a straight forward save to make which was as much as either goalkeeper was exerted to that juncture.

Then just before the break Dawe exchanged passes on the edge of the box with Higgins, but Rice who quickly advanced off his line did enough to pressure him into shooting wide of a gaping goal.

Two minutes into the second half Dawe put the ball again in the Quay net after Conor Watters and Gerry Browne combined to set him free, only again it didn’t count.

Quay lived rather precariously with Rice called on to act as sweeper very successfully as Bellurgan threaded their way behind his defence on a number of occasions.

Mainly on account of the goalkeeper they held out with Bellurgan not as clinical as they would wish with other clear-cut chances until the penalty yielded what was on balance a deserved triumph. BELLURGAN: Ciain Rogan, Jake McArdle, Calvin Larkin, Adam McKay, Joe Connor, Conor Watters, Kaylum Moran, Ciaran Murphy, Sean Dawe, Luke Higgins, Gerry Browne, Patrick Johnstone, Craig Kane, Jack McParland, Adam Bolton, Adam Connolly, Diarmuid O’Neill. Managers, Adam Hoey, David McDonald.

QUAY: Killian Rice, Josh Reilly, Kian McEvoy, Ciaran Peelo, Ryan McDonald, Terence Kelly, Oisin McCumiskey, Lee Byrne, Thomas Daly, Peter Wolfe, Keith Dollard, Sam Abu, Ross McNally. Mangers, Stephen Savage, Jim McCumiskey.