Cup joy

TU Dublin have ended the year on a high having completed a marvellous league and cup double with a 2-1 victory over Dundalk IT in the CFAI Perpetual Cup Final in Athlone on Tuesday.

The Dublin technological university are in dreamland, after winning the CUFL Premier Division title following a 3-2 win over University of Limerick just a week before seizing the Perpetual Cup.

There was a pair of Tallaght campus students that also played a key role in the success this season, with Mitchell Byrne and Eoin McPhillips part of the squad.

It was McPhillips that was presented the Perpetual Cup as captain of the side on Tuesday following the dramatic victory over Dundalk.

“The game was a very very tough game, Dundalk put it right up to us,” McPhillips told The Echo.

“However, a few times this year luck fell our way and it did again today.

“With not a full fit squad, I thought we played very well with the style of play we’ve done all year, which was great to see from the lads.

“At the end of the day, after a very tough game, we came out with winning the double, we couldn’t ask for much more than that.”

For long stretches in the first period, it seemed like TUD were going to walk away with the tie when Aaron Dobbs and Rob Manley warming the hands of Dundalk ‘keeper Niall Brady.

Manley struck the crossbar and came close yet again in the second-half with a speculative effort.

The Louth side failed to make their efforts count with James Carroll, Jeff Nwodo and Seb Beslic all going close but found TU Dublin shotstopper Lee Stacey in top form.

However, when Eubuka Kwelele bustled through on goal, he did not hesitate to squeeze the ball in at the near post with 89-minutes on the clock – rattling TUD.

But the TUD heads never dropped, and right in the dying embers of the game, with added-time up, Aaron Dobbs struck into an open net after his initial effort was saved to bring the game into extra-time.

At the beginning of the first period of extra-time, Mattie O’Brien spotted Brady off his line struck a spectacular dipping effort right over him from the left wing to nudge the Dublin outfit ahead.

O’Brien’s goal was enough to take the win and, ultimately, claim TUD’s first Perpetual Cup as a technological university.