Old County celebrate cup success
A GOAL with just 15 minutes remaining by Old County FC’s Pharrell Manuel decided this pulsating Leinster Senior League Noel Ryan Cup Final, when they met Lucan United in CBS Captains Road, Crumlin last Saturday afternoon.
Not only did Manuel score the winner but he also got himself sent off just five minutes later for a rash tackle right in front of the referee, and it left his side scrambling to the final whistle.
However, when the whistle sounded there was a huge pitch invasion as the County faithful ran on to greet their heroes, who now look set to make it a double by adding the Major Saturday.
For Lucan it was a hard pill to swallow, as in the first half they just were not in the game and the second they gave as good as they got.
Make no mistake on the day County were good value for the win, especially after their first-half performance.
Lucan had keeper Ernie Kernawoutic to thank for keeping them in the game, as he turned a magnificent performance that was somehow overlooked for man-of-the-match.
Lucan United lost out to Old County after conceding a goal in the last fifteen minutes
He denied Cal Keane on a number of occasions, Eoghan Roe and Zack Furey, who was named man-of-the-match, to keep the score level at the break.
They could easily have been out of sight, but United came out fighting in the second half and this game really sprang to life as Brandon O’Halloran, Leo Mayers and Clayton Harte began to find the space that wasn’t allowed to them in the opening half.
All was good except for the finishing as, despite the amount of ball they had, County keeper Jamie Cleary had only routine shots to deal with.
The more this game went on the more it looked like ending in a draw, until Furey made yet another dart down the right hand side, it looked like he was crowded out but the ball somehow spun off his foot from a sliding tackle, went up in the air and Manuel headed home.
It sent the large support wild, with a roar that was probably heard back in Lucan, and all County needed to do was to see the game out, which they did despite Manuel getting his marching orders.
OLD COUNTY: J. Cleary, K. Doherty, D. Longhi, S. Thompson, J. Farrell, Z. Furey, P. Manuel, C. Keane, L. Gibson, C. Roe, V. Godfrey, K. Bowden, D. Byrne, J. Oto, J. McNeill, C. Kelly, K. Geraghty.
LUCAN UNITED: E. Kernowautic, M. Jesus, T. McAleese, M. Tuite, G. Hamilton, T. Kane, B. O’Halloran, C. Harte, J. Hanley, L. Myers, E. O’Halloran, O. Kendrick, R. McMahon, R. Hyland, J. McMahon, S. Lawless, M. Young.
