Midleton 4 Tullamore Town 0

MIDLETON stormed into the SFAI U13 National Cup final with a 4-0 thumping of Tullamore in the semi-final at Knockgriffin Park, thanks to three goals in a 10-minute spell halfway through the second half.

Played in front of a large crowd, Tullamore certainly made a game of it, holding Midleton to one goal in the first half, and they hit the woodwork no less than three times. The scoreline doesn’t do them justice as they served up an entertaining and competitive game against their Cork hosts.

Midleton took the lead after only six minutes when a pass from the near side went straight across the Tullamore goal line only to be met by team captain Ronan Mackessy on the edge of the area who sent the ball back goalward and into the far corner of the net.

Midleton continued to press, Alfie Hennessy’s 35-yard effort going just wide of the posts as they kept Tullamore in their own half for some time.

However, Tullamore started to come forward themselves, winning their first corner in the 13th minute and came close from the resulting corner only to be tipped away by the Midleton keeper Caleb Murray and cleared by his defence.

In the 23rd minute, Midleton’s Alex Wilson raced down the wing and was tackled while inside the area at the expense of a corner as the home side looked for a second.

The final five minutes of the half was played from end to end with chances falling to both sides, with Midleton’s Shay Forde weaving past no less than five players from the halfway line but couldn’t get his shot on goal in what would have been a contender for the Goal of the Season had he scored.

Tullamore’s Mark Monaghan pressed forward only to see his effort come off the post as the half-finished with the hosts 1-0 up.

Tullamore came more into the game in the second half and hit the crossbar twice in a space of a minute as Midleton were living dangerously.

Midleton hit a purple patch in the 39th minute with chances falling to Wilson and Stephen Comerford, but in the 42nd minute, Wilson met a long ball in and neatly slotted the ball home from 15 yards to double Midleton’s tally.

Midleton added two more goals in the space of three minutes to put the result beyond doubt — the first from Ben Dumigan who headed the ball into the net from Comerford’s corner followed by Wilson who left two defenders in his wake and managed to slot the ball past Tullamore keeper Ben Boland when his initial shot came off the keeper and scored at the near post.

MIDLETON: Caleb Murray, Ronan Mackessy, Stephen Comerford, Ciaran Kelly, Artan Iliukovic, Charlie McCarthy, Alex Wilson, Ben Dumigan, Eduard Piboyma, Alfie Hennessy, Shay Forde, Eoin McCarthy, Alex Mulumby, Ryan Cremin, Brayan Niecek, Cillian Galvin.

TULLAMORE: Ben Boland, Thomas Carroll, Cillian Kinnarney, Adam Malone, Adam Martin, Rowan Guinan, Stephen Murrihy, Jamie Harvey, Mark Monaghan, Scott Halloran, Dara Waldron, Odhran Kilmartin, Adam Keegan, Fionn Kane.

Referee: Bryan Forde