19 May 2011
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
