St John Boscos lift the Saxone Cup with victory over Los Zarcos in the final
St John Bosco players and supporters celebrate after being presented with the Saxone Cup following their 2-1 defeat of Los Zarcos at the Cross. Picture: Barry Peelo
GOALS from Barry Fitzgerald and Barry Cahill helped St John Boscos lift the Saxone Cup after a victory over Los Zarcos in an exciting final at the Cross.
It was a tight game between two evenly matched sides and a final that Los Zarcos will be disappointed when they look back and rue some of the chances they missed as Deny Twomey blew his penalty over the bar on 85 while Dave Kelly missed a sitter near the end.
But, credit to Boscos who took their chances as well as defended imperiously when they had to.
Getting the nod for the man of the match award was Boscos’ Fionn Keohane who produced a commendable performance on the right side of midfield all game.
With just minutes in, what a chance fell for Los Zarcos.
Dave Kelly charged down Josh Deady’s attempted clearance and crossed for Alan Murphy who fired wide from the edge of the box.
Then, when Ashton Hanaway fired wide after collecting from Fionn Keohane, Boscos took the lead on 11 minutes.
It developed from neat build-up play when Josh Deady combined with Barry Fitzgerald before playing it on for Fionn Keohane who crossed low for Barry Cahill to slot home near the far post.
Los Zarcos responded quickly and after making progress into the Boscos half, Josh Deady was in the right place to get in the way of Colm O’Leary’s stinging goal-bound effort.
Ashton Hanaway chipped an intended pass on for Barry Cahill, but Liam Cronin defended well enough to clear the danger.
A free kick for Los Zarcos followed and Ciaran Denihan was forced to grab at the second time of asking from Mike Murphy’s forceful effort.
A chance then fell for Los Zarcos when a lovely flick around the corner by Alan Murphy presented Colm O’Leary with a pathway through on goal, but the midfielder somehow dragged his effort wide.
But, Los Zarcos fell further behind when failure by their defence to clear their lines presented Barry Fitzgerald with a chance and he found the far corner with a decent finish on 37.
Minutes later; Noah Daly skipped past two defenders before lifting his effort narrowly over.
Boscos had a chance to get a third when Noah Daly broke through, but Deny Twomey produced a decent block from his low effort.
A lovely delivery from a free kick by Hanaway reached Brian Rogers who headed inches over.
But, on 55, Los Zarcos found a way back into the game when Dave Kelly found Hugh Linehan in space and after taking a steadying touch, Linehan picked his spot to the right of Denihan to make it 2-1.
Boscos came close though after that when Fionn Keohane helped on for Noah Daly who slammed the butt of the upright with a low effort.
Then, Hanaway won possession before forcing Twomey to save from his stinging effort.
On 85, a chance came for Los Zarcos when they were awarded a penalty, but from the spot, Deny Twomey rifled over.
Then, in the dying seconds, Dave Kelly hooked over the advancing Boscos keeper, but it went narrowly wide of the post.
Seconds later, the game was brought to a close and after the presentation, Boscos players and supporters certainly made themselves heard as they rejoiced with plenty of excitement.
Deny Twomey, Liam Cremin, Mark O’Connor, Pa Dineen, Dara Murphy, Hugh Linehan, Mike Murphy, Colm O’Leary, Dave Kelly, Alan Murphy, Alan O’Leary.
Diarmuid Buckley for Alan Murphy (half-time), Shane Dineen for Liam Cronin (83).
Ciaran Denihan, Tomas Laffan, James Wiggins, Josh Deady, Sean Corcoran, Brian Rogers, Ashton Hanaway, Barry Fitzgerald, Fionn Keohane, Barry Cahill, Noah Daly.
Tom Abernethy for Barry Cahill (37), Cillian Lynch for Sean Corcoran (half-time), Paul O’Hanlon for Tom Abernethy (80). Gary McAuliffe for Noah Daly (90).
Grahame Duffy.
Billy Noonan, Tony Thompson and Paul O’Sullivan.
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