Cork soccer: Douglas School on a high after ‘unbelievable’ cup final victory

Thu, 05 Mar, 2020 - 11:00

Andrew Horgan

DOUGLAS Community School boss Kevin Ronayne was thrilled with his talented team after a fantastic victory in the FAI Schools Dr Tony O’Neill Senior Munster Cup final.

David Bosnjak’s stunning goal in the second half of extra-time proved the difference as DCS claimed the silverware with a 2-1 win against Cork rivals St Francis College Rochestown on Monday in front of a huge crowd at Moneygourney.

Douglas Community School captain Seán Dunlea lifting the cup high. Picture: Denis Minihane.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Ronayne. “I’m over the moon. We have a brilliant tradition in the school. We got good-luck messages this morning from Adam Idah and Adam O’Reilly, which was great.

“There was so many points throughout the year when it looked like we were beaten. We were 2-0 down in the Munster semi-final away to Clonmel and came back to win it 3-2 in extra-time.

“Even today, conceding the goal straight after going in front, that would rattle a lot of teams but we just went about our game and the goal to win it was just sensational, he’s only in fourth year.”

The U19 boss was also keen to pay tribute to their opponents.

“Your heart goes out to Rochestown because I thought they were sensational as well,” said Ronayne. “They are such a good side and you can see why they have had so much success over the last few years.

“It was a great battle and I would hate to have been on the losing side of it. They are a class team and a class school, we have had some great battles with them down through the years but I think we deserved this one.

“We have had a lot of near-misses; in 2016 we lost out 2-1 to Pres and we had a couple of men sent off. I just had a feeling it was going to be our day this time.

“This crowd are never beaten, there is winners all over the pitch. Just before the kick-off our keeper pulled out with a vomiting bug so we had to put Andrew Cotter in goal. He’s not a goalkeeper, he’s a centre-half, and I thought he was sensational.”

On Thursday afternoon, the Douglas outfit face Pres from Athenry in the All-Ireland semi-final.