Leinster Schools soccer final: Wexford CBS beat Coláiste na hInse in extra-time

Daire Walsh

Dr Tony O’Neill Leinster Schools Senior Cup Final

Wexford CBS 2 Colaiste na hInse, Bettystown 1

Sam Norval struck a brace of goals at Wayside Celtic in Kilternan yesterday afternoon as Wexford CBS secured the Dr Tony O’Neill Leinster Senior Cup title with an extra-time victory over Coláiste na hInse, Bettystown.

The deadlock had remained unbroken at the end of a tight and tense opening period of play, but Norval (who is currently on the books at Waterford FC) eventually created daylight between the teams when he fired home at an awkward left-hand angle eight minutes after the resumption.

Following this setback, the Coláiste na hInse management looked towards their bench for some inspiration. The subsequent introduction of Alex Wade paid rich dividends as he turned sharply inside the box before unleashing an unstoppable strike to the bottom left-hand corner of the Wexford net.

This left the tie delicately poised once again and while Kaylem Harnett headed home at the opposite end with 85 minutes gone on the clock, his effort was ruled out for offside. Coláiste na hInse had an opportunity to snatch a win at the very end of normal time, but Wexford effectively dealt with a goalmouth scramble to ensure the game was headed for an additional 20 minutes of action.

While Norval dispatched a clinical strike to the net seven minutes into extra-time, referee Aaron Pisarnik had already blown for a Wexford free-kick moments earlier. Norval quickly dusted himself off, however, and superbly curled home the resulting set-piece off his lethal left boot for what proved to be a match-winning goal.

WEXFORD CBS: O’Leary; Farrell (Purcell, 58 mins), English, Brohan, Dempsey; Mackey, Byrne Moloney; Harnett, Norval, F Wasilewski (J Wasilewski, 100 mins); Stafford (Harpur, 91 mins).

COLÁISTE NA HINSE, BETTYSTOWN: Myles; Carroll, Ndebumadu, Tunstead, Featherson; Graham, O’Donoghue; McGinn (Wade, 63 mins), O’Connor, O’Keeffe; O’Reilly (Moore, 101 mins).

Referee: Aaron Pisarnik.