DELIGHTED UNITED!
NEWTOWN BEAT RATHNEW FOR JIM MCLOUGHLIN TROPHY
NEWTOWN UNITED again came out on top in another cup final last Friday evening at Ferndale Park in Arklow, this time beating Rathnew 4-1 in the Jim Mc Laughlin Cup Final.
It was another impressive cup final display by the cup double winners but the champions didn’t get off the best of starts. Rathnew went into the game with many absentees and were forced to look to youth players to try help them overcome an impressive Newtown side.
But it was Rathnew who started the game the brightest of the two sides. It was a case of Rathnew knowing they were looked at as the underdog in the game because of the many absentees but they wasted no time in taking the game to Newtown.
Rathnew should have had the opener in the fifth minute when Aidan Small made run through on goal but the winger took too long to get his shot off and Redmond came out to smother the ball.
Small continued to cause problems in the first half down that left wing, the physical winger proved to be a handful for the Newtown defence.
Newtown’s talisman upfront Ryan Cahill didn’t see much of the ball in the opening 15 minutes of the game and became frustrated with the lack of link up play he was getting with his fellow team mates, the striker kept drifting too deep looking to gain possession of the ball but left Dillion Carthy isolated on his own when United broke on the counter attack.
Neill Martin was unlucky not to open the scoring on the 10th minute with a bullet header from a corner but the United defenders header smashed the crossed bar and went over. This proved to be Newtown’s best chance of the first half by far.
Rathnew continued to apply the pressure throughout the rest of the half and made some tactical fouls to stop their opponents gaining any flow to the game, which was a clever tactic from the Rathnew side as United just couldn’t seem to get into the game in the first half.
Both teams regrouped at half time with it all to play for as the first half remained 0-0 at the break. Newtown came out in the second half like a different team, United started pressing more and taking the game to their opponents with some dazzling link up play between Ryan Cahill and Ross Davis. Davis should have had the opener on the 50th minute when he was played in by Cahill to go one on one with Rathnew keeper Cathal Moody but the midfielder tried curling his shot into the right hand corner of the net but pulled it just wide of the post. The midfielder had the exact same opportunity to put his team infront a few minutes later when he went on a great run into the box beating two Rathnew defenders on his own but his follow up shot again went just wide.
The introduction of Stuart Synnott on the 58th minute was a turning point for United in the game as he provided more width on the left wing going forward. Synnott replaced Stephen Davis just before the hour mark as the winger seemed to injure his knee after a tackle on Tommy Smullen.
Synnott made some great runs on the left wing just as he came on, linking up with Dillion Carthy and Ryan Cahill and it looked to be only a matter of time before one of the three found the back of the net.
The breakthrough came for Newtown on the 73rd minute as Matt Kennedy found the net with a well struck strike inside the penalty area. A small lapse in concentration from Rathnew proved to be costly as Kennedy went unmarked in the box and left to finish off a good United attack.
Two minutes later Cahill finally found the goal he had been hunting for all game. Cahill made a dazzling run through the Rathnew defence and was played through by Martin Williams before finding the corner of the net as he went one on one with the keeper.
Rathnew looked deflated after the second goal went in. They had kept out Newtown for over an hour of play but them two lapses in concentration had cost them deeply and would find it difficult to fight back from 2-0 down, especially to a well organised and defensive side like Newtown.
Cahill dealt Rathnew another blow in the 80th minute as he found himself unmarked on the halfway line and went unmarked and through on goal to finish and make it 3-0. Not long after that substitute Stuart Synnott found the net and got a well-deserved goal after changing the game since coming on, but unfortunately for Rathnew his goal meant game over.
Jay Devlin did managed to grab one back for Rathnew in the last few minutes but at 4-1 down there was little time to fight back the score line. An unfortunate end to the game for Rathnew as the game came to life for Newtown after the 70th minute and credit to Rathnew for holding out a very strong United side with many first choice players absent. A great second half performance from Newtown United the newly crowned Jim McLaughlin back to back cup winners.
Newtown United: 1. Irah Redmond, 2. Martin Melia, 3. Neill Martin, 4. Glen Carthy, 5. Ross Davis, 6. Matt Kennedy, 7. Sean Heffernan, 8. Martin Williams, 9. Ryan Cahill, 10. Dillion Carthy, 11. Stephen Davis. Subs: 12. Stuart Synnott, 13. Adam Heffernan.
Rathnew AFC: 1. Cathal Moody, 2. Sean Paul Dunne, 3. BA Franey, 4. Chris Gregory, 5. Jay Devlin, 6. Jack Healy, 7. Christian Kearney, 8. Tommy Smullen, 9. Mitchell Kelly, 10. MA Doyle, 11. Aidan Small. Sub: 12. Evan Doyle.
Referee: David Jameson