29 May 2024
U14 Div. 1 DDSL O'Neil Cup Winners
All roads led to the AUL complex on Sunday the 26th of May as the u14 and u16 Clontarf teams played in their respective divisional cup finals.
There were 87 DDSL finals played over the weekend and it was a great achievement for both teams to be involved.
With the U16s winning their final earlier in the day, the u14s played for the Division 1 O’Neill’s cup.
To reach the final our lads had beat Home Farm 7-2 and Park Celtic 6-0 in the previous rounds and to many went in to the final as favourites, but all our lads knew it was a strong Tallaght Town team who provided the opposition in the final.
Our lads had only just beaten them in the league at the end of January 3-2, but it was a very tight game with the Clontarf lads relieved to hear the final whistle that day so there was no complacency going into the game.
Clontarf started off really well, with lots of possession, but there was a setback in the 10th minute when Cormac Nolan who was having a great game, had to come off with a bad injury after he fell awkwardly while taking a shot. Thankfully it wasn’t serious and will be back in action soon.
Soon after this the breakthrough for our lads came in the 13th minute when Derin Jonmark was taken down in the box. Up stepped Seánie Whelton whose demeanour exuded composure as he calmly placed the ball on the spot, blocked out all the surrounding noise and dispatched the spot-kick, sending the keeper the wrong way and propelling Clontarf into a 1-0 lead.
Clontarf continued to dominate the game and got a second in the 21st minute from Cathal Markey struck the ball really well and placed it well out of the keepers reach.
With a 2 goal cushion, Clontarf kept the pressure up for the rest of the half, but couldn't extend there lead, and just before half time it took a marvellous save from Sean de Burca to keep that lead when he tipped a fantastic shot onto the crossbar, much to the relief of all the players, coaches and supporters in blue. A goal for Tallaght Town just before half time would have made for a very different teamtalk.
However, Clontarf went to the break with a 2-0 lead. The message from Urban was to keep our shape and to continue to push forward.
The second half began in similar fashion to the first, until the 10 minutes in when Tallaght Town scored from distance from a free kick. This gave them huge confidence and roared on by their support they start to apply pressure on the Clontarf defence.
Then as forecast the thunder storm came, bringing a downpour which made conditions for both teams extremely tricky.
The game became frantic, with some fantastic last ditch defending by everyone in the Clontarf defence to keep the score as it was.
As the clock edged towards fulltime, Tallaght Town started sending their keeper up for set pieces, which increased the sense of panic from the Clontarf support, who were begging for the final whistle to blow.
But while the supporters might have been panicking, the 10 lads in blue and Sean in his illuminous yellow keepers kit on the pitch remained calm and steadfast in their job to keep the score at 2-1.
Thankfully the final whistle came, much to the relief and joy of the team and their supporters. It was just reward for such a fantastic team who have given us all such great times over the past season.
Our captains Eddie and Marc accepted the O’Neill’s Cup on behalf of the team
The lads made the short journey after the game back to Clontarf for some well earned food and refreshments. A big thank you from all involved in the team to the parents who cooked especially Raed, Salva, Martina and Meave.
