Sean Desmond hits six for Watergrasshill in their 11 goal thriller against Castleview

Castleview 5

Watergrasshill United 6

(aet)

Man of the match Sean Desmond scored all six goals which helped Watergrasshill to a 6-5 victory over Castleview in what was an epic and sensational FAI Junior cup tie at the Mayfield Community School after extra time.

This game had everything with lots of thrills and spills plus some terrific goals as well as witnessing two teams on the pitch that gave it everything, all the way through to the end of extra time.

What a start we saw from Watergrasshill.

With just seven minutes on the clock, the Hill were awarded a corner and from the floated delivery into the box, Sam Dennehy failed to make contact, but Sean Desmond didn’t as he drilled low into the corner.

Five minutes later, Watergrasshill doubled their advantage when Sam Dennehy set Sean Desmond up to slam home his second on just 12 minutes.

The View’s rocky start nearly came back to haunt them for a third time when a fumble from Ryan McCarthy left Dylan Field in with a chance, but he rifled over.

Castleview were quick to re-adjust though and after gathering some composure, Dalian Wall was unlucky to see his effort slam the side-netting from Darren Sullivan’s free kick.

Then, a decent run from Evan Burke saw him drill a forceful effort goalwards which was well saved by Dan Dennehy.

But on 27, a ball broke for Danny O’Donoghue who made a steadying touch before drilling low into the back of the net.

The View were certainly back to a composed state now and in fact were starting to shade the contest with Danny O’Donoghue lifting over from Ciaran Dennehy’s cross before he drilled an effort inches wide following good work from Evan Burke.

But, the Hill were always dangerous on the break and Ryan McCarthy had to be sharp to deal with a low effort from Paddy O’Regan.

The View threatened again minutes later and when Dan Dennehy parried from Darren Sullivan’s firmly struck low cross, Cian White pounced – only to be denied by a decent save from the Hill’s keeper.

Sean Desmond got the second period away with a drilling effort that was collected by McCarthy at the second time of asking.

Then, what a save Ryan McCarthy had to make from Sean Desmond’s rasping effort before Castleview had it all square again when Evan Burke dispossessed Dan Dennehy before setting off to slot into an empty net for the equaliser on 58.

The tie started to ebb and flow now and it was the Hill who nosed in front again when from a corner, Sean Desmond powered home with his header on 65.

With efforts from Jamie Donovan and Evan Burke failing, the Hill extended their lead after Sean Desmond seized onto a ball over the top before hooking over the advancing McCarthy – 4-2 on 75.

James Green was not long introduced to the action when he made his presence felt after knocking home Castleview’s third and just as you thought that victory was heading for Watergrasshill, Green struck again in injury time to force the game into extra time after grabbing the equaliser.

I don’t thing anyone could predict what was to follow.

In the first period of extra time, Green struck again to complete his hat-trick and make it 5-4.

Then, with five minutes left on the clock for the tie to be played out, Sean Desmond pounced to fire home his fifth goal and restore parity once again at 5-5 and when the contest had penalties written all over it, guess what?, Desmond produced another fine finish to send the Hill players and supporters into an ecstatic mode – 6-5 to the Hill in the end.

Castleview: Ryan McCarthy, Ciaran Dennehy, Graham Carroll, Casey Crowley, Dalian Wall, Kelvin Greaney, Evan Burke, Danny O’Donoghue, Cian White, Darren Sullivan and Jamie Donovan.

Subs: James Green for Cian White (65), Dylan McCarthy and Derek Kiely for Dalian Wall and Jamie Donovan (85),

Watergrasshill: Dan Dennehy, Dylan Roche, Chris Healy, Cormac Murphy, Andrew Desmond, Ian O’Callaghan, Dylan McCarthy, Paddy O’Regan, Sean Desmond, Sam Dennehy and Dylan Field.

Subs: Dave Warren for Dylan Field (65), Adam Murphy for Sam Dennehy (79), Anthony Butler for Dylan McCarthy (89).

Referee: Paul O’Sullivan.