Inchicore slip past St Francis

St Francis ( Est 1958) and Inchicore Ath ( Est 1972) both previous winners of the FAI junior Cup met for the first time in top flight football on Friday night at Bernard Curtis Park in a matchup that saw Inchicore take the win with a comfortable 3-0 victory.

St Francis who have been accepted into the third tier of League of Ireland are long established in the Senior Division of the LSL.

Inchicore who gained three promotions in five seasons find themselves in the Senior Division for the first time in their history.

St Francis came into the fixture on the back of a string of good results.

Inchicore under the management of Jake Donnelly being his first season into management have built almost an entirely new squad.

Jake and his coaching staff have gone for a very young squad and only retained four players from last season so sitting mid table is successful all things considered along with they are still in three cups.

The match itself was played in a very competitive sporting manner. Both teams played excellent football with the game flowing from end to end. A most entertaining first half finished scoreless with Core edging the shots on target.

The game exploded with two Core goals in the 50th and 54th minutes.

The first by teenager Dylan Barrett who beat two players and hit an unstoppable shot from outside the box.

On 54 minutes after some excellent play down the left the ball fell to Darragh Dunne who on the half volley powered a shot into the top corner from twenty five yards.

St Francis never gave up and hit the post and had a shot cleared off the line.  Inchicore brought on the experienced Craig Walsh, an ex-amateur international who is having a fine season.

Core got a third goal on ninety minutes from the excellent Alex Abudiore.

On speaking with Inchicore Manager Jake Donnelly he was delighted with the result and complimented his coaching staff and squad for working hard over the break .

He says “every match is huge for his young squad , they are learning every week, this level is brand new to almost the entire squad and coaches .

Although new to management, Donnelly has certainly put his shape on the squad and his brand of football should continue to bring success to an ambitious club.