A REAL HUMDINGER!

Coolboy Rangers see off Ashford Rovers after penalties

COOLBOY RANGERS ASHFORD ROVERS 2 2

THE small support for this Under-13 Interim final in Coolafancy were treated to a humdinger of a battle between these two committed and talented sides on Wednesday evening last.

It’s cruel that there had to be a loser in this one, especially by way of the dreaded penalty shoot-out, but after an hour of entertaining and attacking football, with the score of the game at 1-1 and the tie at 2-2, we headed into 10 minutes of extra-time (five per half due to fading light) to try and find a winner.

When those 10 minutes had elapsed both teams were faced with spot kicks. Coolboy Rangers, through quality shots from Rua De Faoite and Marcus Norse snatched victory for the home side after Ashford Rovers had their second penalty saved superbly by Louis Judge and their third blasted over the crossbar to give Coolboy the win and prompt raucous celebrations among the players and supporters.

The first real shot on goal came after five minutes when Coolboy’s Ryan Conway got in behind the defence and blazed a wicked shot right across the face of Fionn Doyle’s goal. Coolboy Rangers, who overcame Ashford Rovers on penalties.

on another while Darragh Rawson saved the day on another with a fine clearance under pressure.

Coolboy’s attacks were being thwarted by a resolute Ashford defence of Aran Cavanagh, Ronan McElhinney, Cian Ryan and Adam Daly but Marcus Norse looked sharp and brought an excellent save out of Fionn Doyle after 28 minutes.

Scoring was never going to come easy in this game such were the qualities from both defences and especially the goalkeepers, but Ashford were the first to find a way when James Grant threaded through a gorgeous ball for Tadhg Lord to run on to and the strike made no mistake with 30 minutes on the clock despite Louis Judge getting his hand to the shot. The defensive exploits of Cian Ryan at the other end can’t be overlooked when examining the origins of this superb goal.

A beast of a free from halfway from Cillian Murphy was the key to unlocking the miserly Ashford defence five minutes into the second half. The ball skipped past the Ashford defenders and there was Marcus Norse bearing down on Fionn Doyle’s goal and the Coolboy attacker stroked home a beautiful goal to the bottom corner of the Ashford to level matters between these two excellent teams.

The remainder of the game saw both sides come close and produced some stunning defensive work. We have to mention Glen Connolly’s shot immediately after the Coolboy goal.

The Ashford player launched a stunning effort from distance that brushed the top of Louis Judge’s crossbar. Had it been a few inches lower it would have been a leading contender for goal of the season without a doubt.

With no further goals, the referee wisely signaled that two halves of five minutes of extra-time would be played due to the fading light.

As it had been throughout the game, the football produced by both sides was impressive and honest, but the final whistle sounded with the teams still level.

On we went to penalties. Ashford’s Luke Fitzpatrick dispatched the first with ease. Rua De Faoite chalked up Coolboy’s opener with a wicked shot.

Louis Judge pulled off a fine save from Glen Connolly’s strike and then the hugely impressive Marcus Norse fired home to heap the pressure on the next Ashford kicker and that kick rose just too high and sailed over the crossbar.

Coolboy Rangers were absolutely delighted as expected. Ashford were noble in defeat and could leave Coolafancy with their heads held high after giving their all in what was a really entertaining and competitive game of football.

Coolboy had fine servants in Cillian Murphy, Ryan Purcell and Jamie Schoeb while Jack Brownrig, Lorcan Fitzsimon and Daragh Rawson also shone.

To a man Ashford never relented. Tadhg Lord was their main attacking threat but they were well served by Cian Ryan, Adam Daly, Daniel Daly, Luke Fitzpatrick, Sean Ryan and James Grant to name a few.

1. Louis Judge,

2. Cillian Murphy, 3. Ryan Purcell, 4. Maurice Hedderman, 5. Ryan Hilliard,

6. Jamie Schoeb, 7. Jamie Purcell, 8. Jack Brownrig, 9. Lorcan Fitzsimons,

10. Ryan Conway, 11. Jack Deegan,

12. Daragh Rawson, 13. Shane O’Connor Keogh, 14. Rua De Faoite, 15. Ciaran Lambert, 16. Marcus Norse.

1. Fionn Doyle,

14. Aran Cavanagh, 3. Ronan McElhinney, 4. Cian Ryan, 5. Adam Daly,

6. Daniel Daly, 7. Luke Fitzpatrick,

8. Sean Ryan, 9. Adam Clark, 10. Tadhg Lord, 11. Glen Connolly, 12. James Grant.

Referee:

Coolboy Rangers: Ashford Rovers: