Delight for Douglas U12s after beating Ballincollig to retain Danny Crowley Cup

DOUGLAS retained the Danny Crowley Cup after a very impressive victory over Ballincollig at Carrigaline.

The cup is played at U12 level in memory of Danny Crowley, who sadly passed away on November 29, 2013, at just 13 years-of-age. The Carrigaline player’s last game for the club was U12.

The family donated a cup in his memory for the Premier 1 league and Carrigaline deserve huge credit for making it a special occasion. Douglas have now won six in a row and were well on top here against a Ballincollig team who had won six of their seven league ties and been impressive in the semi-final.

While the city side were the better team on the occasion, there was some fine football from both, which impressed the large crowd.

Douglas got off to a good start, with points from Mark O’Brien and Padraig McGrath settling their nerves, while Eoin Gibson nabbed a key goal.

Cian Mulcahy and Danny Miskella kicked some fine points for the Village, but Douglas were that bit slicker in attack with Keelan Kavanagh and Gibson particularly sharp.

A second-half goal from Brendan Murphy gave Douglas a firm grip in the second half, forcing Ballincollig to chase a goal of their own which never came thanks to some resolute Douglas defending.

The holders were full value for their victory but we can expect these two clubs to have plenty of battles over the coming campaigns.

Afterwards, Danny’s father, Donal, presented the cup to the victorious Douglas side.

DOUGLAS: J O’Flaherty; T Hayes, L Kelleher, H McGinn; J Mouret, J O’Brien, R Maher; M O’Brien, R Sweeney; E Gibson, D Burke, O Healy; P McGrath, R O’Connor, K Kavanagh.

Subs: B Murphy for D Burke, F Swanton for P McGrath, B O’Sullivan for O Healy, O Dromey for T Hayes. S O’Keeffe, B O’Keeffe, C O’Donoghue, J Sheehan, K O’Callaghan, O Doherty, W Hanley Banks.

BALLINCOLLIG: C Walsh; E Lynch, C Aherne, A Rose; E Fitzgerald, P McCarthy, C Mulcahy; D Miskella, P Rose; C O’Connor, S Richmond, T Murphy; D Browne, D Kirstein, K O’Leary.

Subs: C Ward for A Rose, M Thompson for D Browne, O Twohig for C O’Connor, J Kelleher for E Fitzgerald. B Ryan, M Delaney, D Walshe, D O’Mahoney, F Moynihan, R Healy, D Murphy.

Referee: Kevin Joyce, Carrigaline.