St Francis U14s complete league and cup double

EXTRA-TIME was required in two of St Francis’ DDSL Cup Finals, as the club stormed to the Under 14 Harmon Cup to complete a league and cup double, and fell just short in the Under 16 Premier Nilfisk Cup final.

The DDSL Cup Final weekend started on the right track for the Baldonnel club when they got the better of Cherry Orchard in the Under 14 decider at the AUL Complex on Saturday.

It did not take Francis long to settle into the occasion, winger Aaron O’Reilly getting in an early cross to Harley Reid, whose headed effort was parried into the path of Alex Kennedy to take the lead.

The Cherries worked diligently to make it difficult for the Saints, with Conor Kelleher and Tom Downes putting in a significant number of tackles and blocks to break up the play.

Kelleher and Downes’ efforts provided a base for the Orchard to search for an equaliser and they did just that before half-time through Seán Paul.

Paul’s breakthrough gave Cherry Orchard great heart, and he very nearly could have sent his team into the lead, with the striker ballooning the ball over the bar from close range with moments left on the clock.

In extra-time, Orchard netminder Rhys Ennis was called upon several times as St Francis went in for the kill. St Francis’ forward Ben Connolly caused havoc and scored one of the goals of the weekend when he beat multiple players before finding the net to restore his side’s lead.

After raiding forward to score Connolly was then taken down in the box and Bobby Ellis tucked the ball away to make it 3-1.

Substitute Tristan Reid very nearly scored a screamer from distance, but for the upright, before JJ Reilly nabbed his teams fourth with the last kick of the game.

In 30 games, St Francis went totally unbeaten this season, only conceding nine goals en route to a terrific league and cup double.

On Sunday, St Francis found themselves on the wrong side of a 1-4 result after extra-time as Shelbourne stormed to the U16 Premier Nilfisk Cup.

The Baldonnel outfit put it up to a strong Shelbourne outfit, initially taking the lead after just seven-minutes after Bradley Byrne’s corner was nodded in by centre-half Lee Brennan.

Byrne, a technical player, was a live-wire in the final and nearly doubled his sides lead when his free-kick hit the inside of the post and spun across the line before being cleared.

Abdul Adelokun and Bailee Hayden also had chances to extend their lead but Shels fought their way back into the occasion, despite Luke Maguire, Jake O’Neill and Teddy Corrigan’s best efforts.

Equalising, Shelbourne pushed forward in search of the lead, with St Francis’ Evan Heaney clearing a ball off the line to keep the game level pegging at full-time.

However, things slightly fell apart in the extra-periods, with Shelbourne finding the net three times to capture the U16 Premier Nilfisk Cup.

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