Rovers see off Kevins in decider
By Hayden Moore
SHAMROCK Rovers lifted the Under-12 Tom Kavanagh Cup after a tough battle with St Kevin’s Boys at the National Sports Campus on Saturday.
In a physical game in which the foul-count quickly stacked up, both sides played out of their socks, but it was Rovers who earned the bragging rights as a Cian Dillion goal ensured the Tom Kavanagh Cup was heading to Tallaght.
Shamrock Rovers celebrating their win
Right out of the gates, Rovers came close to scoring when Carmichael Uchenna broke down the left wing and sent Kevin’s Boys full-back, Ben Collier the wrong way with a shimmy before whipping the ball into Cian Dillion, who went to shoot before he was surrounded by Kevin’s players and lost the ball.
Striker Dillion was a constant threat every time he got on the ball as he formed a nice partnership with Uchenna on the wing, and found himself in a duel with St Kevin’s centre-half, Josh Lyons, who per-formed a number of picture perfect last-ditch tackles throughout the game.
The Whitehall side came close to scoring when playmaker Danny McGrath released Logan Preston down the left wing and he hit the post from a shot from the edge of the box.
With both sides having it all to prove in the second half, they each came flying out after the break as both sides conceded foul after foul in this gritty clash.
Rovers broke the deadlock midway through the second half when Uchenna beat two Kevin’s players in the middle of the park and sent a direct ball to John Sullivan, who hit it first time across Kevin’s goalkeeper, Ryan Maher, into the bottom right corner.
Once they scored their first, it was open season for Rovers as they piled on the attacks with Malin Idony and Corey O’Sullivan coming close.
Dillion added a second to Rovers’ tally when he beat two players on the right wing and cut inside before slotting under the onrushing goalkeeper, after being found by captain Troy O’Dowd in his own half.
St Kevin’s Boys pulled one back with the last move of the game from a free-kick whipped in to the near post by Joao Pedro where Mark Tarzan met it with a bullet header into the top-right corner, but it was to prove no more than a consolation.
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