Cherry Orchard win goals-race to claim Ferrari Cup in 10-goal thriller

CHERRY Orchard are the top dogs having won the goals-race in the Under 18 Ferrari Cup following a 10- goal thriller with St Kevin’s Boys in the DDSL Cup Final on Friday night in the AUL Complex.

Played in a great spirit, the Orchard had to dig deep and relied upon their full panel to get over the line and win on a scoreline of 6-4 after a dogged battle with Kevin’s Boys.

With both teams boasting serious firepower, it became a matter of all out attack in a game that was chock full of goals and brought endless entertainment.

Yet, the Cherries backline of Jamie O’Connor, Chiby Richard, Posi Sola-Ayodele and Ryan Nagle were excellent and battled like dogs to keep the Boys at bay, particularly in the second half.

Orchard raced into a three-goal lead through a Colin Rigby brace, Bobby Packenham and O’Connor providing the assists, and a well-worked Matthew Anderson goal after a one-two with Cillian Whelan.

St Kevin’s pulled one back and Packenham almost re-established the three-goal cushion immediately, but he was denied by the woodwork.

After the interval, Cherry Orchard worked well to contain their opponents and found the net for the fourth time through a tidy Cillian Whelan finish.

Another St Kevin’s goal put the pressure on, but then Anderson pulled out all the stops, cutting through their backline with general ease to make it 5-2.

However, the Boys pulled two more back to reduce the deficit to just one goal.

After being awarded a freekick, there were calls from the sideline for Packenham to hold the ball in the corner to run down the clock and see-out the win by the finest of margins.

But Packenham had different ideas, skinning two players down the left flank and driving the ball into the box for Ryan Dunne to tap it home and secure the Ferrari Cup in style.

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