Wonderful display by Clonmel soccer stars
Clonmel Town U/12’s did the club proud on Sunday with a magnificent performance in the national finals of the Danone Cup.
While the ultimate prize of a trip to Poland in September to represent Ireland in the World Cup finals eluded them the team put in an heroic display at the AUL headquarters in Clonshaugh to top their group to reach the national final against St.Josephs from Dublin.
An elite eight teams had qualified to fight it out for the right to represent their country in Poland having won their regional finals and the teams were split into two groups of four on the day.
Clonmel Town were drawn against favourites St.Kevins Boys of Dublin , Corinthians of Cork City and Portlaoise.
They took on the might of St.Kevins in their first game and after an initial settling in period Clonmel Town gave an excellent account of themselves.
Clonmel soaked up the early pressure with Diarmuid Mulcahy,Luke O’Donnell and Sam Dwyer closing down the opportunities for the pacy Dublin side.Goalie Brian Quirke pulled off some excellent saves and as the game progressed Clonmel Town managed to settle and create problems for St.Kevins Boys.
Captain Jack O’Donnell and John Furlong battled tenaciously as Clonmel Town started to put St.Kevins under pressure.Both sides searched for a breakthrough but the contest ended in a scoreless draw after a pulsating twenty minutes of football.
It was a superb start to the tournament for Clonmel but with less than a ten minute turnaround to the next game against Portlaoise the Clonmel Town team after their exertions against St.Kevins looked a little flat against Portlaoise.Clonmel lost out one nil in a game that they enjoyed plenty of possession but could not make it count.
ClonmelTown were under enormous pressure leading into their final game of the group with a win required and the result of the other match in the group needed to go their way if they were in with a chance of making the final.
They took on Corinthians of Cork in their final group game and played wonderful football, outplaying their opponents with slick,stylish play on an excellent surface in their best performance of the day.
Peter O’Dowd opened the scoring with a screamer to the top corner after he was picked out with a beautiful pass from Brian Lacey who minutes later pounced on a defensive error in the Corinthians lead to give Clonmel a two nil lead.
Defenders Dara Murphy, Gavin Byrne and Mark Fannon stood firm as Corinthians applied the pressure and while they
pulled one back Jake Guinan unleashed a piledriver of a shot to get Clonmels third goal and seal the victory.
There was an anxious wait for the outcome of the other game in the group and because that ended in a draw three teams
ended up level with four points at the top of the group.
Those goals against Corinthinas proved crucial however for Clonmel who went through to the final thanks to a superior goal difference.
The Clonmel town team walked out for the final against St.Josephs before a large crowd and a wonderful atmosphere.
The prize was huge, a national title and the honour of representing Ireland in the World Finals in Warsaw in September.
Clonmel Town were under a lot of pressure early on but gradually found their way into the game.Unfortunatley in time added on for injury before the half time break St.Josephs struck a killer blow.
In the second half Clonmel Town worked hard to try and create an opening for striker Donal McCabe but while chasing the game Clonmel were caught and conceded a second with minutes to go.
St.Josephs were a very polished team, a strong unit that were very well drilled in defence and Clonmel Town found it hard to create chances in the final.
The Clonmel Town players had done their club proud and were applauded off the field at the final whistle by their families and the club members who travelled to Dublin to support the team.
It was a remarkable achievement for the squad to reach the last eight and then against the odds to make it to the final in such illustrious company.
The team showed that they can compete with the very best teams in the country and their display further enhanced the reputation Clonmel Town has at schoolboy level.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Late Tadhg Culbert was a proud Tipperary man who made his home in Donegal
- Bobby Ryan’s body officially identified
- Frankie Dettori proves a big hit at Chinese restaurant
- Missing Hayley found safe and well
- Tipperary’s ‘hidden gem’ the Glen of Aherlow named one of the top 25 holiday destinations in the country
- Cashel News in Brief...
- Tipperary meet Clare in ladies football u-14 ‘C’ Munster final
- Clonmel Credit Union - the singular most important organisation to be established in Clonmel over the past 50 years’
- Calls for postcodes to help emergency services
- Frankie Dettori proves a big hit at Chinese restaurant
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Weather for Clonmel
Saturday 18 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South east
