Saints march on after shootout win over Riverstown in U12 CSL Cup

St Mary's 1 

Riverstown 1 (after extra time)

(St Mary's win 4-3 on penalties).

St Mary's are through to the next round of the under 12 Blackwater Motors Local Cup as they defeated a spirited Riverstown side 4-3 on penalties at St Mary’s Park on Sunday morning.

A sensational piece of skill and subsequent finish from Matthew Madden looked like it was going to be enough to send Riverstown into the next stage of the competition but a last gasp equaliser from Calvin Blake in injury time sent this cup tie into extra time.

The two sides couldn’t be separated in the additional period of play so a penalty shoot-out was required and it was Mary's that ultimately emerged victorious with keeper Cathal Geaney making a great save which allowed Tadhg Harden to fire home the winner.

The visitors started the game on the front foot and they almost opened the scoring inside the first two minutes but after taking the ball past the goalkeeper, Ryan Horan couldn’t apply the finish as the defence recovered to deny him.

Joshua Waters rolled an effort just wide of the far bottom-right corner shortly before both Matthew Madden and Alex Chambers were thwarted by keeper Cathal Geaney midway through the first half.

Mary's eventually grew into the game and they twice went close to snatching the lead before the half-time break but neither Jake Coveney nor the excellent Ciarán McCarthy could beat the keeper with their efforts.

McCarthy’s, in particular, would surely have been a goal of the season contender but he could only drill the ball wide of the far post after a sensational flick sent him clear on goal.

Riverstown started the second half the better team and they again nearly edged in front but after Horan turned past his marker, he sent his strike narrowly wide of the bottom left corner.

But moments later they would be celebrating as they finally broke the deadlock thanks to a superb goal from Madden.

The midfielder produced a supreme moment of quality to skip past the defender and race through one on one with the shot-stopper. 

And from there he remained calm and coolly slotted the ball into the far bottom left corner of the net.

The home side responded well to that setback and O’Callaghan was desperately unlucky not to grab the equaliser with 17 minutes remaining as he saw his thunderous drive crash against the near upright.

With the match drawing to a close, Riverstown needed their number one Tadgh Lynch to charge from his line and produce a thunderous tackle to prevent O’Callaghan from netting.

They thought that would have been enough to seal the triumph but deep into injury time, Calvin Blake broke their hearts as he made it 1-1 with a neat close-range finish to send the game to extra time.

Neither team could notch another goal in extra time so penalties were required and after Geaney’s fine stop, Harden fired home the winning spot-kick to send St Mary’s through.

ST MARY'S: Cathal Geaney, Jamie Dalton, Jack Burke, Calvin Blake, Jamie O’Driscoll, Jake Coveney, Scott Twomey, Ciarán McCarthy, Rocky O’Callaghan, Tadhg Harden, Jamie Maher, Eoin Hogan.

RIVERSTOWN: Tadgh Lynch, Daniel Murphy, Tom O’Connell, Oliver Yelverton, Ryan Horan, Robert Murphy, Matthew Madden, Joshua Waters, Alex Chambers, Ronan Meaney, Tom O’Sullivan, Cathal Crowley, Adam Byrne, Sam Crowley, Davin McKeown.

Referee: Denis Morley.