St Francis goalscorer Chisom Chime shields the ball from Peamount’s Darragh O’Brien and (inset): St Francis Darren McDonald, Jeff Dolan, Conor Kinsella and Padraig O’Donnell
Photos by CM Photography
St Francis secure the U18 LFA Youth Cup
ST FRANCIS U18’s side have won the LFA Youth Cup following a 1-0 victory over Peamount in the final which was held in Richmond Park over the weekend.
Originally meant to be played in Pearse Park on the Astro Pitch, the LFA moved the venue to Richmond Park after efforts from St Francis to have it moved with St Patrick’s Athletic accommodating the venue change.
The two sides have played each other twice in the league this season with both sides managing a win.
It would be Francis who emerged the victor of the best of three series after a goal in the dying minutes of the game from Chisom Chime following a defensive error from an otherwise resolute Peamount defence.
Francis themselves impressed in defence, particularly the centre back partnership between Caiden Curley Ruane and Muadh Abughoffa.
The side showed strength off the bench too with Adam Gilson in particular impressing.
Coming into the season Francis were hoping to win silverware.
A league cup defeat to Corduff after extra time saw an exit from that competition as well as a penalty shootout defeat to Castlebar Celtic in the quarter finals of the All Ireland.
This left the LFA Youth Cup as their primary focus alongside the league.
Francis reached the final after wins against Belvedere and Leicester Celtic in the quarter and semi final stage, 5-3 and 2-0 victories respectively.
This put them on a wave of momentum and they were ready to seize the opportunity to lift some silverware in what is their last ever season of DDSL football.
They are also still fighting it out in their league, currently battling towards the top of the table alongside Corduff and Belvedere.
Manager Jeff Dolan was delighted with his team’s performance.
“We certainly didn’t go into this game with the mindset of it being a done deal.
‘We knew that if we weren’t at our best they would make us pay.
‘It was just a matter of trusting ourselves.
‘We’d been playing well in the lead up, winning 3-0 against Corduff the week before.
‘The squad from 1-18 have been great.”
“It was a soft pitch so the lads were red faced at halftime, we knew the substitutions would be important and we got them right thank god.
‘The subs we made gave us that energy and you could see that in the second half. It just turned the tide of the game to us.”
“It was a huge crowd at it, great for everyone to have that day and what an amazing stadium to have the final in.”
