The SuperValu West Cork Schoolboys League has been competing in the Kennedy Cup for the past decade and represents one of the smallest leagues in the tournament. Some of the most talented players from this season’s Schoolboys leagues were selected by a panel of coaches to represent West Cork in the 2010 tournament.

Ger McCarthy

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.