U14 Connaught Cup
St Josephs 2 Melville Celtic 1 (aet)
After a thrilling 90 minutes of football in Monksland, St Joseph's advanced to the 2nd round of the Connaught Cup. The visitors from Longford started brightly and put the home side under pressure but the back-line of Rory Barrett, Eoin O'Neill, Sean Fallon and Kevin Kelly defended stoutly. Then, just as St Joseph's were getting on top and had a goal by Denji Adeleye ruled out for offside, Melville went ahead with a great near-post header from a corner. The home side hit back strongly and both Niall Connaughton and Damian Duff went close to equalising before half-time. Minutes into the second, a great run by Denji saw him bundled over in the box and Harry O'Rourke stepped up to coolly slot home the penalty. With Darragh Kildea and Ciaran Lennon now stretching the visitors on the wings, it seemed the second must come but even with the arrival of energetic subs, Brian Hannon and Ian Naughton into the fray, the game remained dead-locked to the end. Five minutes into extra time, great interplay between Rory Barrett and Brian Hannon led to a chance for Niall Connaughton which he hammered to the net, 2-1. There was still time for a comeback from the visitors and it took a truly world-class save from Niall Fowler to deny them. Overall, a deserved win for St Joseph's after a cracking match.
Training
Weekly training has now resumed at Summerhill for all age-groups and players will be contacted by their manager in relation to arrangements.
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