Harsh lessons for ATU Donegal in Colleges and Universities FAI Cup final defeat

A bizarre first half proved utterly fatal to the prospects of Shane Byrne’s side on Wednesday afternoon in Athlone in the Colleges and Universities FAI Cup final. 

SETU Carlow 6-1 ATU Donegal

Pursuing a first CUFAI Perpetual Cup for the college since Letterkenny IT’s victory in 2006, the concession of three goals in eight minutes, then a fourth with nine minutes to go before half-time, left them with a mountain to climb against SETU Carlow, and a fifth goal for the Carlow students seven minutes into the second half – the fourth for Matt Butler – reduced the remainder of the contest to a dull, pedestrian affair. 

“Good luck to Carlow, but we’ve played against better teams this year. But if we play like we played today, it’s just not good enough, against any opponent. The goals we gave away were, from my point of view, horrendous” was Byrne’s take on the contest afterwards. 

“In about a seven-minute period they score three goals and the game is done. Then you come back before half-time and get a penalty that might give you a wee bit of hope going into the second half, and we missed the penalty. We weren’t good enough up front, and we certainly weren’t good enough at the back” he fumed.

ATU Donegal had plenty of joy down the two flanks in the first half with Damien Duffy and Stephen Black getting some excellent deliveries into the SETU Carlow box. One immaculate low centre from Black found Gabriel Aduaka at the far post and left the Letterkenny Rovers striker with a seemingly simple finish, but he failed to keep his shot down and cleared the crossbar. 

At the time, such was the flow of play, it looked like ATU Donegal’s breakthrough was only a matter of time. Instead, their defensive frailties were about to be exposed in a ruthless fashion. 

Butler’s first-half hat-trick will capture most of the headlines, but his task was made much simpler by some outstanding play from Evan Farrell in the ‘number ten’ role. Farrell put his name on one of the four first half goals when he met a right-wing cross with a powerful, albeit unmarked header, but he also set up one of Butler’s three with a wonderful first touch and slide rule pass. 

The striker’s other two goals were the result of dreadful defending, as long balls forward found the Ballymun United player in acres of room, and his finishing was accurate and emphatic. 

A foul on Damien Duffy inches inside the corner of the penalty area opened the narrowest window of opportunity for ATU Donegal to give themselves a lifeline in first half stoppage time, but a theatrical stutter step penalty from Aduaka hit the post, and by the time Eddie O’Reilly finally found the net midway through the second half, his muted reaction said all that needed to be said about how the game had gone for his side. 

SETU Carlow: Alex Moody; Ravelli Kilonda, Oisín Hand, Kevin McEvoy, Jack O’Reilly; Anto Dolan, Seán McManus, Jack Connolly, Blake Ryan; Evan Farrell; Matt Butler. Subs used: Dragos Mamaglia for McManus (27), Jordan Tallon for Ryan (61), Precious Omochere for Butler (71), Sam Murray for  Kilonda (71), Omishola Samuel for Connolly (71). 

ATU Donegal: Oisín Farrell; Stephen Black, Lee McLaughlin, Shaun McDermott, Fionn McClure; Ryan Creevy, Kevin Jordan; Eoin Logue, Eddie O’Reilly, Damian Duffy; Gabriel Aduaka.  Subs used: Tom Dokery for Logue (half-time), Charlie White for McDermott (half-time), Conor Black for McLaughlin (64), Nathan Plumb for O’Reilly (75), Leon Boyce for Aduaka (80)
Referee: Ciarán O’Reilly.