Tallaght get that Pat on the back
By Alex Dunne
QWAM Ikobala notched a brace off two assists from Jamie O'Connor as Tallaght Town defeated Granada FC 3-0 in the Pat White Cup Final at the SDFL Complex in Ballyowen Park on Saturday morning.
Tallaght took the lead after just two minutes when a wonderful cross-field ball from O'Connor found Ikobala free in the right channel, and he slotted home well, before the two combined again when Ikobala finished off an O'Connor corner.
Sean O'Reilly then killed off the game with a well-taken goal in the second half to seal the cup prize for his side.
Granada had the opening chance in the first few seconds through Ethan McQuade, which provided a quick test for Warren Mallon in the Tallaght goal, but his throw to Ben Madden was the beginning of the move that led to the opening goal.
Madden fed O'Connor on the left wing, whose lofted ball to the far side was inch-perfect for Ikobala to pounce upon, drive past Jeswin Thomas and finish confidently.
Granada were given no time on the ball as Town hustled them from the start, and interceptions high up the pitch bought about early chances for Luke Haybyrne and O’Connor, before the corner from O’Connor was turned in by Ikobala for the second goal after just 15 minutes.
O’Reilly had a superb volley off a Haybyrne cross saved well by Killian Curran as Tallaght ended the first half on top.
Granada came back into the game in the second half, with Chris McInnerney in midfield playing excellently, but a cutting pass from Madden through to O’Reilly set the striker away and a confident low finish under Curran into the bottom left corner made it 3-0.
From there Tallaght eased to the victory, but were it not for a fabulous triple save from Curran, denying Haybyrne, O’Connor, and Owen Phillips in quick succession, it could have been 4-0.
TALLAGHT TOWN: W. Mallon, D. Cummins, B. Madden, S. Oluwa, J. O’Connor, P. Cronin, L. Haybyrne, Q. Ikobala, S. O’Reilly. SUBS: S. Weafer, O. Phillips, L. Green, A. Oyebanji.
GRANADA FC: K. Curran, P. Buckley, F. O’Leary, J. Thomas, E. McQuade, H. Dixon, J. Leyden, C. McInnerney, W. O’Brien. SUBS: B. Davis, M. Gileen, J. Clancy, S. Kilroy.
TAGS Sport
