Melia magic clinches it for Collinstown
By Hayden Moore
A GOAL from Dylan Melia in the first half was enough to see Collinstown lift the DDSL Under-12 Farry Cup at the expense of Sacred Heart when they met in the National Sports Complex in Abbotstown on Saturday.
Collinstown defenders put on a fine defensive show in the second half to hang on to their lead, as Sacred Heart pressed hard with Phineas Rondala leading the charge and forcing five vital saves from Collinstown goalkeeper, Jamie Hickey in the second half.
Collinstown players
It did not take long for Sacred Heart to settle into the game as winger Bradley Doyle combined with Oliver Meade, as he netted in the opening minutes from a lofted cross, only for it to be rulled out for offside.
It became apparent quickly that Collinstown’s plan of attack was to catch Sacred Heart on the break and they did just that on several occasions with captain Dylan Melia, Nate O’Keefe and Derek Kavanagh all coming close to scoring.
All-rounder, Melia, made easy work of Sacred Heart’s defence as he went a number of mazy runs, taking four and five players out of the game consistently.
Melia finally reaped the rewards when he was found by Luke Foley from a route-one free kick, and caught Sacred Heart goalkeeper, Jamie O’Neill on his heels to coolly slot the ball into the bottom right corner to see Collinstown heading into half-time a goal up.
The second half painted a different picture all together, as Sacred Heart pinned the Clondalkin side back in their own half for the majority of the second half with Doyle, Rondala, Kyle Sterling, and Luke Kelly all causing major problems for the Collinstown backline.
Thunderbolt free kick
Kelly left the crowd in amazement, when he unleashed a thunderbolt from a free kick just outside the box, only for it to strike the crossbar.
Collinstown persisted with Luke Kelly and Luke Foley leading by example from the back, while attackers O’Keeffe and Sean Kelly put in fine shifts in chasing the ball and closing down the Sacred Heart players.
It almost worked out for O’Keeffe as he closed in on Sacred Heart goalkeeper, O’Neill and got a boot to his attempted clearance, only for the ball to run wide.
The player of the match was undoubtedly Collinstown goalkeeper, Jamie Hickey, who produced a stellar save right at the end to prevent Sacred Heart’s Bradley Doyle from scoring.
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