St Eunan’s College cruise to FAI Schools Minor ‘A’ U-15 Boys Ulster Cup success

A Mark McGuinness hat-trick helped seal a win for St Eunan’s College against Carndonagh CS in the FAI Schools Minor ‘A’ U-15 Boys Ulster Cup final.

McGuinness was in hot form throughout, adding to Ryan Buckley’s opener to seal the title for the Letterkenny side.

The match kicked off in the Letterkenny Community Centre under sunny conditions with rainy spells throughout, with Eunan’s testing the Carndonagh defence.

Just two minutes in, St Eunan’s got their breakthrough with a goal from Buckley after his teammate Finn Nolan hit the bar. St Eunan’s manager Paul Browne said after the match that this goal helped settle his side early on.

Carndonagh would begin what would be a decent pattern for them in the first half with a long ball coming to their front line but eventually collected by St Eunan’s keeper Cormac Crossan.
Nine minutes in and Carndonagh won a free-kick off of an Evan Duffy foul.

The ball was lofted into the box but was claimed by Cormac Crossan who threw it quickly, leading to Eunans winning a corner. St Eunan’s full-back Jonah Cannon took the corner and the ball spilled into the six-yard box, Carndonagh would eventually get it cleared after a stressful back and forth. Eunan’s had the majority of possession and continued to try to create chances.

Soon afterwards, the Letterkenny lads found themselves with three players outside the box passing the ball back and forth looking for a clear chance but nothing presented itself.
St Eunans would once again win a free-kick at the halfway line after a handball. Cannon would hoist the ball high into the area but a freekick was given after a foul on the Carndonagh goalkeeper.

Carndonagh would build the play well as they moved the pitch but Eunan’s would defend well.

St Eunan’s hit back and doubled their advantage through McGuinness who volleyed home after a ball played into the back post. Nolan and Evan Duffy would hold possession in the corner before Nolan would cross it and as it bounced out of the box, McGuinness hit a slicing volley which rattled the crossbar. The referee blew the whistle for half-time with Eunan’s 2-0 up.

In the second half St Eunan’s continued their pressure on goal with two chances for McGuinness, who was unlucky on both occasions. He would make up for it a few minutes later with a header to put Eunan’s three to the good.

The pressure would build again for Carndonagh as they had to defend many corners in quick succession. Finn Nolan would have a chance to score for Eunan’s but a great sliding effort from Carndonagh’s holding-mid denied him.
Nolan would be denied again as the Carndonagh keeper ran out to head the ball clear.

Sixty minutes into the match, McGuinness would be in the box looking for a penalty. As play continued, his teammate Davin Blake would flick the ball over a Carndonagh player only to volley it wide.

St Eunans would finish the game with another onslaught, substitute Zach Gallagher hit the post and minutes later fellow sub Temple Akpo would hit a low-driven shot which the keeper parried only as far as McGuinness who rounded out his hat trick and a great Eunan’s performance.

St Eunan’s will go on to play the Connacht champions in Sligo on Tuesday, April 30, and manager Paul Browne hopes that his side can “stay injury-free and have all of the squad ready for the match. It’ll be a huge occasion.

“We’ll have to up the intensity which I thought we lacked in the second half today. We were lucky to get the early goal which helped settle the nerves.

Though the end result could have been seen as a comfortable one, Browne and his lads weren’t prepared for a comfortable game.

“We looked at the physicality and the size of the Carndonagh players and felt it was going to be a tough game but as I said the early goal gave us a good platform to build on,” he said.

“Going in at half-time two up we were grateful in one sense but on the other hand we knew the danger we were facing with the next goal being vital. Luckily we got that next goal through Mark McGuinness who had a great game claiming the match ball, which we were very happy with.”

Browne was quite open on how he thought the intensity dropped in the second half. He said: “I think we’ll have to sit down at our next training session and see why the energy levels dropped so low because on another day we could’ve let Carndonagh back in.

“Even in the last 15 minutes we had one or two clearances off the line and another goal could’ve changed the outcome. Thankfully we pushed on and came through at the other end. With players like McGuinness and Blake stepping up when needed in the last few games Browne revealed how all of his players play with confidence.

“Mark is involved in a lot of corners and set pieces which I suppose gives him a lot of goalscoring opportunities but we try to bring the confidence of all of our players up and get them ready for a game like this,” Browne added. “We’ll have to do the same in two weeks' time so hopefully we can get a result like this if not better.”

St Eunan’s: Cormac Crossan; Evan Duffy, Blake Merideth, Donal McBride, Jonah Cannon; Davin Kelly, Adam Rodgers, Finn Nolan; Ryan Buckley, Mark McGuinness, Shai Thompson. Subs: Zach Gallagher, Temple Akpo.