The West Cork Schoolboys League rebounded from
a difficult start to the 2010 Kennedy Cup to finish
runners-up in the Kennedy Trophy competiton and
finish a creditable 26th overall.
West
Cork were handed the most difficult of assignments
in Group 5 of this year’s tournament by
being drawn alongside 2nd seeds Waterford, 9th
seeds South Tipperary and 18th seeds the North
Eastern Counties (NEC). The WCSL entered the tournament
ranked 25th out of the competing counties and
began their campaign with the daunting task of
having to take on the much-fancied Waterford.
HEARTBREAKING
West Cork produced one of the performances of
the 2010 Kennedy Cup tournament to lose by a single
heartbreaking injury-time goal to Waterford Schoolboys
on June 21st. Shane Dineen headed home three minutes
into injury time after a heroic display from the
WCSL seemed destined to earn the West Cork side
the unlikeliest of results. Chris Moynihan and
Connor Ellis were unlucky not to give West Cork
the lead during the opening half against one of
the favourites to win the 2010 Kennedy Cup but
the magnificent performance of the WCSL back four
should have merited at least a point for such
a gallant effort. Waterford escaped with a lucky
1-0 victory and would go on to eventually top
the group.
One
of the WCSL Coaches, Conor Uhl, outlines why the
performance rather than the result against a star-studded
Waterford side proved such an inspiration for
West Cork in the latter stages of the competition:
“Our display against Waterford was simply
fantastic. It really was our Kennedy Cup highlight
because conceding that goal three minutes into
injury time broke the lad’s hearts but made
them really hungry for success throughout the
remainder of the week”. That Waterford loss
appeared to upset the WCSL’s confidence
as on the second day of the tournament the West
Cork side endured further disappointment by recording
back to back losses to South Tipperary (2-0) and
the NEC (1-0) to finish bottom of Group 5.
TROPHY
WCSL re-grouped after their disappointing start
and recorded a well deserved victory over the
Clare Schoolboys League in the quarter-finals
of the Kennedy Trophy competition on June 23rd.
The tie finished all square (1-1) at the end of
extra time resulting in a penalty shoot-out in
which West Cork impressively held their nerve
to progress 3-1 thanks in no small part to the
heroics of goalkeeper Tom Murphy.
Encouraged
by that hard-fought victory West Cork produced
another stunning display to defeat the 8th ranked
side, Kildare Schoolboys, in the Trophy semi-finals
on June 24th. A tense encounter ended scoreless
after extra time but Chris Moynihan, Johnny Kelly,
Damien O’Gorman and Josh Henry each converted
their spot-kicks to record a magnificent 4-3 penalty
shoot-out win. Tom Murphy from Dunmanway saved
the penultimate spot-kick and once again proved
a colossus along with other net-minder Michael
Casey of Bay Rovers who also enjoyed a productive
tournament.
That
terrific semi-final victory over Kildare set up
a Kennedy Trophy final showdown with the 12th
ranked Mayo Schoolboys League side on June 25th.
Mayo hit the front early on courtesy of a contentious
offside decision but West Cork’s Chris Moynihan
equalised with a smashing effort from outside
the box to leave the sides level at the break.
Mayo were the better side in the second period
and re-took the lead shortly after the restart.
The WCSL had little choice but to push further
players forward in search of a second equaliser
but Mayo captialised to counter-attack and score
a third to run out deserving 3-1 winners.
A
positive finish to the tournament for the WCSL
and Connor Uhl was certain the overall team performance
rather than any one individual was the reason
for West Cork’s upturn in fortunes. “Our
biggest strength was how strong a team we became
with everyone who represented the league during
the tournament working their socks off. It was
a real team effort rather than individual performance
throughout the week”.
“If
I had to pick out individuals then Eoin Lavers
and Jack Hurley were consistently brilliant at
the heart of our defence and played every minute
of every game. Josh Henry, Damien O’Gorman
and Shane Crowley worked tirelessly in midfield
and the combination of these players efforts made
us a really difficult team to break down. The
Waterford performance in particular demonstrated
our squad’s best qualities”.
CONCLUSION
The 2010 edition of the Kenney Cup proved another
huge success for the FAI with a smoothly run tournament
attracting large crowds and scouts from all over
the world. As expected the Dublin District Schoolboys
League added yet another title to their long and
illustrious history following a 2-1 final victory
over close rivals South Dublin.
The
final word on another hugely encouraging Kennedy
Cup showing from the WCSL goes to Coach Connor
Uhl: “I have to say our overall performance
in Limerick was outstanding. Remember we are the
second smallest schoolboys’ league in the
country and constantly punching way above our
weight. Defeating the likes of Clare, Kildare
and narrowly losing to second seed Waterford shows
that we are well able to compete at the highest
level and are a Schoolboys League never to be
underestimated”.
2010
Kennedy Cup - West Cork Schoolboys League squad:
Michael Casey (Bay Rovers), Connor Ellis (Bay
Rovers), Cian O’Donovan (Clonakilty Town),
Jack Hurley (Clonakilty Town), Mark Crowley (Clonakilty
Town) and Josh Henry (Clonakilty Town). Jack O’Connor
(Dunmanway Town), Eoin Lavers (Dunmanway Town),
Johnny Kelly (Dunmanway Town),Tom Murphy (Dunmanway
Town), Shane Crowley (Togher Celtic), Damien O’Gorman
(Lyre Rovers), Ben Van Bree (Lyre Rovers), Michael
Hurley (Skibbereen), Sean O’Donovan (Skibbereen),
Greg O’Sullivan (Skibbereen) Christopher
Moynihan (Bunratty United) and Richard Moynihan
(Bunratty United).
2010 Kennedy Cup - West Cork Schoolboys
League Results
Group5: WCSL 0 Waterford Schoolboys 1, WCSL 0
South Tipperary Schoolboys League 2 and WCSL 0
North Eastern Counties 1.
Kennedy
Trophy: Quarter Finals - Clare Schoolboys League
1 WCSL 1, aet WCSL won 3-1 on penalties. Semi
Finals – WCSL 0 Kildare 0, aet WCSL won
4-3 on penalties. Final: WCSL 1 Mayo 3.
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