Brennan’s bit of magic leads 10-man Malahide to Cup glory
MALLAHIDE CS 1
CLONKEEN COLLEGE 0
Daire Walsh
MARK BRENNAN was the hero in Ballyowen Park yesterday as 10-man Malahide Community School recorded their first-ever Tony O’Neill Cup triumph with a hard-fought victory.
Played in extremely windy conditions on the Astro pitch, the Blackrock school who had the first chance, as lively centre-forward Ben McEntee shot just over from outside the area after a telling pass through.
However, Malahide gradually started to gain control, and Dylan Cashin almost got his head to a Colm Curtis cross on 14 minutes.
The north Dublin side did take the lead three minutes later as Brennan picked up a slack clearance from Clonkeen ‘keeper Aidan Quinn, before chipping him superbly from all of 35 yards.
Although Clonkeen worked hard to force their way back into the contest, Malahide were looking the more potent side.
But Clonkeen came desperately close on 41 minutes when McEntee hit the post following a knockdown by Brian Allen.
Malahide suffered a major set-back seven minutes after the restart, however, when Glen Daly was given a straight red card by referee John Clarke following an incident involving Clonkeen skipper Stephen Moroney.
This dismissal meant that Malahide were forced on the back foot for a prolonged spell.
And, with Clonkeen’s Irish U-18 international duo of Ryan Matthews and Paul Moffatt beginning to exert their influence, it would take a gargantuan effort from Malahide to keep out their south Dublin counterparts heading into the final half-hour.
Malahide showed great courage and determination in adversity, though, and apart from a couple of narrow misses by Steven Byrne and Moroney, Clonkeen didn’t threaten Kevin Dunne’s goal as much as they would have liked.
Indeed, the best chance of the second period fell the way of Malahide’s second-half substitute, Jamie Walsh, who forced an excellent close-range save from Quinn on 81 minutes.
Malahide had ridden out the Clonkeen storm by this stage, and they closed out the game effectively to record a historic, and much deserved, victory.
MALAHIDE CS: Dunne; Ferguson, Daly, Callaghan, Curtis; Merald (Walsh 77), Brennan, Woods, McGahan; Cashin (McNulty 54), Mullarkey.
CLONKEEN COLLEGE: Quinn; Flynn Fallon, Costello, Matthews, Byrne; Dunne, Allen, Moroney, O’Grady; McEntee, Moffatt.
REF – J Clarke.