Cronin's six goal show for Ballincollig in big win over Park United

Ballincollig  6 

Park United 1 

SIX goals from Ballincollig’s Brian Cronin gave his team a seemingly comfortable 6-1 win over Park Utd in the Under 14 Division 3 match at the Regional Park in Ballincollig last Saturday morning, but the score line didn’t reflect on just how close this match was with four goals being scored by Ballincollig in the final ten minutes.

Chances fell to both teams in the opening minutes, with the visitors coming close in the 5th minute only for Ballincollig keeper Finn Murphy managing to get a hand to Mikey O’Brien’s shot on goal and which was subsequently cleared by defender Chidu Ebili.

Ballincollig were pressing forward, creating chances but couldn’t get a decent shot on goal as the Park Utd defence held firm and cleared the ball away at every opportunity, even counter attacking, although keeper Cian Linehan did well to keep out Brian Cronin’s shot in the 25th minute.

The breakthrough came in the 31st minute when against the run of play, Park Utd’s Zak Murphy’s 30 yard free kick went through a packed area and into the back of the net as the visitors went in at the break 1-0 up.

Ballincollig equalised within a minute of the restart when Cronin headed home Daniel Zeph’s cross as the home side started to gain momentum and confidence, and took the lead for the first time in the 45th minute when Brian Cronin’s 25 yard effort went over the head of the Park Utd keeper and into the back of the net.

Despite falling behind and relinquishing their lead, Park Utd attempted to get back into the game, with chances falling to Zak Murphy, Rueben Walsh and Mikey O’Brien without success with Ballincollig keeper Finn Murphy gathering shots from outside the area with the game still finely balanced.

However, the rest of the game belonged to Ballincollig and goal scorer Brian Cronin , with one of his efforts being tipped wide by the Park Utd keeper Cian Linehan, and started his ten minute scoring spree in the 61st minute when he chipped the keeper from 12 yards to give his side a two goal lead and much needed breathing space and had bagged his hat trick in the process.

Five minutes later he added a fourth when he picked up a long ball in the centre and slotted home from 15 yards and added another two goals in the remaining minutes, one a 25 yard shot giving Linehan no chance and his sixth and final goal coming from a back pass interception two minutes from the end to round off an exceptional six goal display from the youngster.

The win did little to improve Ballincollig’s fortunes on the Under 14 Div 3 table as they remain in fourth place with 10 points from seven games while Park Utd must wonder where it all went wrong in the final stages of the game after being on par with their hosts for well over an hour.

Ballincollig: Finn Murphy, Donnach Dwyer, Oisin Ryan, Lennan Power, Conor O’Sullivan, Darragh Crowley, Habeeb Olatokunbo, Brian Cronin, Kevin Walsh, Daniel Zelph, Chindu Ebill, Zach McGinn, Jack Sheehan, Aaron White, Donnacha Noonan 

Park United: Cian Linehan, Jack Moher, Ben O’Connor, Sean Walsh, Aaron Walsh, Eoin English, Zak Murphy, Jamie Fitzgerald, Reuben Walsh, Mikey O’Brien, Thomas Murphy, Sean Murphy, Sean Keane Referee: Ryan McCarthy