Munster Senior Shield FINAL
Ballincollig Community School 4/3 Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee (AET)
Killarney Celtic was the impressive venue for the seven goal thriller as Ballincollig faced a determined Tralee outfit Mercy Mounthawk in the Munster Senior Shield decider:
What a thrilling prospect as the first half started with a high tempo pace, both teams sharing possession and attempts on goal:
From the outset it was obvious that the on looking crowd were to be entertained by quality football from two highly competitive teams:
MERCY MOUNTHAWK seemed a force in the air commanding the ball from two very confident centre halves:
Midfield saw an even battle between athletic players on both sides:
Ballincollig began to enjoy more of the possession and with several attempts on goal could feel their efforts would be rewarded:
However slightly against the run of play it was MERCY MOUNTHAWK who took advantage first from clever attacking football and a clinical strike: MERCY MOUNTHAWK went into the break with a 1/0 advantage:
The second half saw early exchanges of shots on target: You could feel a confidence grow in BALLINCOLLIG COMMUNITY SCHOOL, which eventually culminated in Sean O’Connor being taken down by the MERCY MOUNTHAWK centre half: This tackle was enough to have the red card produced and reduce MERCY MOUNTHAWK to ten men:
BALLINCOLLIG COMMUNITY SCHOOL’s Stephen Carroll executed a terrific free kick from the edge of the box finding the bottom right hand corner of the net: With the scores level a new sense of urgency had arisen in both teams to push on for the second goal:
BALLINCOLLIG COMMUNITY SCHOOL’s Sean O’Connor tucked away the third goal of the game from a timely pass from Dylan Casey: It looked as though with ten men on the field MERCY MOUNTHAWK would have to work extra hard to earn an equaliser but that they did in winning a corner and earning a penalty as a result of a hand ball:
With the sides level and the clock ticking it felt that a fifth would decide the match:
BALLINCOLLIG COMMUNITY SCHOOL managed to find the net through Dylan Casey but this was not to be the end: A late push from MERCY MOUNTHAWK saw them thread through the BALLINCOLLIG COMMUNITY SCHOOL defence and score a very late equaliser:
Extra time approached with ten minutes per half to decide the winner: It was BALLINCOLLIG COMMUNITY SCHOOL, through forward Sean O’Connor who found the winning goal in the first period of extra time:
MERCY MOUNTHAWK continued to attack but BALLINCOLLIG COMMUNITY SCHOOL held out to stay calm under the one goal cushion and claim their first piece of soccer silverware for their school:
Report courtesy of Ivan O’Mahony, Ballincollig Community School
