O’Mahony the toast of Blarney
FAI U17 CHALLENGE CUP FINAL
Blarney United 1
St Kevin’s Boys 0
Daire Walsh
Dalymount Park
Michael O’Mahony’s 32nd-minute goal saw Blarney United create history in the FAI U17 Challenge Cup decider at Dalymount Park on Saturday.
Despite losing Anthony Butler and Sean Keane to red cards in a heated finale, O’Mahony’s strike was enough to give the Leesiders their first national title.
Scott Forrest was a lively presence in attack for Blarney and it was his hard work that earned a corner just beyond the half-hour.
Following McCarthy’s precise delivery on the left, centre-half O’Mahony flicked past the stranded Ross Leonard in the Kevin’s goal.
Having struggled to build momentum prior to the interval, Kevin’s were expected to ramped up the pressure on the O’Shea Park outfit.
Skipper Killian Philips had the ball in the net two minutes after the resumption, but referee Dylan Redmond ruled it out for a foul on Blarney netminder Sean Quinlivan.
While they were largely reduced to speculative strikes, Kevin’s received a boost when Blarney defender Butler was dismissed for a second yellow-card offence on 80 minutes.
They looked set to finish with a two-man advantage after Keane was also given his marching orders, only for Kevin’s substitute Sean Larkin to see red for his part in the same incident.
Once the dust settled, Blarney had to negotiate their way through five minutes of stoppage-time.
They breathed a massive sigh of relief as Philips was once again adjudged to have impeded Quinlivan before scrambling home, but a superb defensive effort ultimately sealed a groundbreaking success for Blarney.
BLARNEY UNITED: Quinlivan; Connolly, Butler, O’Mahony, O’Connor; C Murphy (E Murphy 71), Keane, McCarthy, O’Connor (Morrissey 57); Forrest (Cremin 95), O’Donoghue (Murray 77).
ST KEVIN’S BOYS: Leonard; Dolan, Tynan, Woodlock, Halligan; Philips, Braddell (McNamee 89); Paget, McEvoy (Larkin 56), Brooks (Ridgeway 56); Kelly.
Referee: D Redmond (Dublin).