St Francis 4-1 Mervue Utd (SFAI Goodson Cup Final)

There was to be no Irish Cup joy for Mervue Utd’s Under 14 side in the SFAI Goodson Cup final on Sunday afternoon as a lack of a clinical finishing touch eventually saw St Francis come from a goal down to take a second national title in succession at Jackson Park in Dublin.

Mervue will rue a host of missed first half chances and a blatant penalty claim after just three minutes which could have changed the complexion of the entire game as they dominated the opening half. The final score-line does flatter the winners somewhat as they certainly were not three goals better than a Mervue side who showed, particularly in that opening half, that they can mix it with the best.

Having deservedly taken the lead just after the half hour mark through a Ronan Manning free-kick, a failure to convert their dominance onto the scoreboard saw the Dublin side strike a sucker blow in first half injury time to send the teams in level at the interval.

Despite that blow Mevue created another excellent chance to go back in front just after the break but failed to take that before the holders showed they did possess a clinical side as they scored twice in five minute period to effectively seal the issue.

Mervue started very brightly and after just three minutes Aaron Connolly, who was a constant threat throughout the first half, worked his way into the box and just as he was about to pull the trigger was upended with the Dublin referee, Tom Shannon, awarding a goal kick to the dismay of the large Mervue support in attendance.

This setback didn’t seem to affect the young Mervue side as they poured forward in search of an opening goal pinning the St Francis side back in their own half. Just after the quarter hour mark Ronan Manning fed winger Adam Kelleher on the right and he pick out Connolly in the box and the striker took one touch before seeing his on target effort brilliantly pushed away by the Francis keeper Sean Prenter on 16 minutes.

Two minutes later and Connolly turned provider as he played a defence splitting pass to release Kelleher through on the right and the winger advanced into the box but struck his effort just over Prenter’s crossbar. Manning then floated a free-kick into the danger area which Adam Rooney headed back across the goals to Connolly who produced a wonderful overhead kick which flew just over Prenter’s crossbar.

The Mervue defence of Daniel Brennan, Adam Rooney, Lewis Waweru and Sean O’Brien were doing well to restrict the St Francis front line as their only threat in that opening 20 minutes came from a Millenic Alli cross which picked out an unmarked James Jennings who headed badly over after nine minutes.

The deadlock was finally broken on 31 minutes after Connolly had been foul about 35 yards away from goal and his strike partner Ronan Manning struck an effort past Prenter, which did take a slight deflection of a St Francis defender, on the way to the net.

The lead was no more than Mervue deserved and they continued to push forward with Connolly’s strength and power a constant cause for concern for the Dublin side who were struggling to cope with the big number nine.

But they suffered a blow two minutes into first half injury time when St Francis left back Ryan Murphy strode forward and unleashed a stunning strike which flew in over the head of Mervue goalkeeper Cian Mulryan to leave the game all square at the break.

Mervue could have hit the front two minutes after the restart as Connolly once again forced his way past two defenders before picking out Colin Kelly in the box and he brilliantly side stepped the covering defender but saw his low effort well saved by Francis keeper Prenter. St Francis right back Conor Fitzharris almost headed past his own keeper just after as Prenter scrambled across his goal to bundled the ball away for a corner following a Kelleher ball into the box.

After showing very little in the opening half the Dublin side looked a different proposition in the second period and struck twice in that five minute spell between the 50^th and 55^th minutes through Jennings. Charlie Barry split the Mervue defence with a lovely ball which Jennings ran onto and slotted past Mulryan with the aid of the far post and then struck a second within minutes as he finished at the back post following a throw into the box which wasn’t dealt with by the Mervue defence.

Mervue continued to battle and push hard to get back into the game as Eoin Broderick headed over and Aaron Connolly went close to reducing the deficit back to the minimum but they were caught on the break for a fourth goal with a minute remaining as they pushed forward in numbers. A long ball forward from the impressive midfielder Jack Connolly saw Thomas Caffery chase the ball with covering defender Daniel Brennan as Mulryan advanced to clear but the ball fell kindly to the winger and he brilliantly cheekily back heeled the ball into the corner.

Huge disappointment for Mervue in the end but it could have been so different if that early penalty decision had gone their way and if they had made their opening half dominance count but they can hold their heads up high as they had already captured a treble this season winning both the local Galway Premier Division league and cup and the provincial Connacht Cup title.

Mervue Utd: Cian Mulryan; Daniel Brennan, Sean O’Brien (Dylan Buckley 61), Adam Rooney, Wilson Waweru; Adam Kelleher (Jason Gorham 62); Ronan Asgari, Eoin Broderick, Colin Kelly; Ronan Manning, Aaron Connolly.

St Francis: Sean Prenter, Conor Fitzharris, Ryan Murphy, Mitchell Byrne, Jack Connor (Tadhg Parker 62); Thomas Caffery, Jack Connolly, Dylan Connolly (Josh O’Toole 66), Millenic Alli (Charlie Smith 55); James Jennings (Cian Kelly 61), Charlie Barry.

Referee: Tom Shannon (Dublin)