JACK Punch and Darragh Lynch were the heroes for St Francis, Rochestown as they scored to give their side a 2-1 victory over Tralee CBS in the final of the Munster U14 FAI Schools Soccer First Year Cup at Mercy Mounthawk.

The school from Kerry, experiencing their first-ever final, dominated the start of the game. This led to Tralee CBS swarming their Cork counterparts and catching them out with a high press in the fourth minute. The ball was sent to Calvin O'Sullivan and he made it 1-0, and they followed this up with a number of half chances.

Rochestown dealt with this pressure with some excellent defending from Conor Stack, Darragh O'Flaherty, Luke Mullins, and Morgan Kelleher. This allowed their school to relax into the final and wrestle control of the game from Tralee CBS.

They couldn’t turn their possession into a goal and the Kerry school went into half-time leading.

There was only so much they could withhold, and Rochestown’s pressure paid off when a ball from midfield found Punch. He slotted in the equaliser, midway through the second half, and this totally rejuvenated his team. They started pushing up in numbers, sensing a winner was close given their control and momentum.

Everything paid off when a free-kick was cleared to Lynch and he squeezed the ball in with a half-volley. Rochestown then pulled everyone back to stop Tralee CBS from getting an equaliser with the time that was left. They hung on to get the victory and celebrated with their travelling fans in Tralee.

The Rochestown manager, Stephen Bermingham, said that he was ‘delighted’ by the performance of his players after their come-from-behind win over Tralee CBS in the Munster final.

Tralee CBS Squad: 

Jack Collins, Alan O'Connor, Daniel Gazi, Cody Shanahan, Aaron Crean, Fionn Hannon, Marcus Conway, Danny Kingston, Calvin O'Sullivan, Shane Griffin, Shay Barret, Sam Keane, Darragh O'Callaghan, Tom Lenihan, Cillian O'Brien, David O'Donnell, Cian Fitzgerald, Rhys O'Connor, Adrian O'Connor, Krzysztof Karpowicz, Dylan Galloway, Cayden Roche, Darragh Field, Fionan Barry, Jakub Drzymala, Luke Donavan, Luke Hannafin O'Meara, Erion Neziri, Yasser Ramadan, Blend Sopjani.

Management: Brian Horgan, Cian MacEoin 

St Francis, Rochestown Squad: 

Alex McEvoy, Conor Stack, Darragh O'Flaherty, Luke Mullins, Morgan Kelleher, Finn Doyle, Cillian Ross, John Dollard Young, Jack Punch, Adam Kirwan, Darragh Lynch, Callum Hanna, Daniel Collier, Colm Tynan, Rhys Looney, Thomas Kiernan, Patrick Murphy, Ethan O'Leary, Alex Jenkins, Sebastian Dubkiewicz, Ollie O Neill, Cillian Farrell, Jack McMahon, Daniel Mooney.

Management: Managers: Stephen Bermingham, Graham Cummins; Coaches: Jamie O'Brien, Oscar McCarthy, Ronan Dooley.

Referee: Adrian Quirke