Martin O’Sullivan’s goal wins the President's Cup  for Belmount Celtic

Belmount Celtic 2 

Coachford B (aet) 1

Martin O’Sullivan’s goal in extra time helped Belmount Celtic lift the President’s Cup after a 2-1 victory over Coachford B in an entertaining final at St Colman’s Park.

It was a real tight affair and it was no surprise to see it going all the way to extra time with just the one goal separating the two teams in the end.

Getting the nod for the man-of-match-accolade was Belmount’s left midfielder James Kelleher.

He used the flanks throughout the contest very effectively and was always a menace to the Coachford rear-guard whenever in possession of the ball.

After early Coachford B pressure, Belmount turned defence into attack as James Kelleher found a way through, but he skewed wide with his effort.

A gilt-edge chance though fell for Coachford when failure by Donnacha O’Donovan to clear his lines, left Billy Barrett through to bear down on goal, but with only the keeper to beat he went for power which resulted in Patrick Fitzgibbon parrying to safety.

When play shifted to the other end, David O’Halloran lifted a cross diagonally for James Kelleher, who headed invitingly into the box, but no support was forthcoming and a possible opportunity evaporated before Paul Dilworth drilled wide with his low effort.

And from Evan Carroll’s cross, James Kelleher got himself into a good position, but failed to get his foot properly ‘round the ball near the edge of the box.

James Kelleher got the better of his marker before finding Jonathon Buckley with a low cross, but he scooped over from inside the box.

And after a first-time effort was gathered by Michael Brennan from Martin O’Sullivan’s strike, a sweeping Coachford B move ensued that saw Leigh Devlin exchange passes with Billy Barret, before Jason McDonell had to intervene in the nick of time to prevent Devlin’s cross reaching the supporting Barrett.

The second period opened up with Tony Nolan’s pass just going too strong for the well-positioned Paul Dilworth, but it was Belmount, who broke the ice when superb work from James Kelleher on the left ended with a lovely cross for Evan Carroll who powered his header into the back of the Coachford net with just three minutes into the second period.

A terrific opportunity arrived for Coachford B minutes later to grab the equaliser, but when Billy Barrett played in Daniel O’Leary, he rifled his effort straight at Patrick Fitzgibbon and when it broke for Barrett, he skewed wide from inside the box.

But, when Coachford turned defence into attack, Cian Herlihy played it promptly on for Daniel O’Leary, who worked it into space for the in-rushing Billy Barrett to slip past Fitzgibbon on the hour.

A response from Belmount saw Martin O’Sullivan forcing Michael Brennan to stretch and collect from his 25-yard effort.

This was followed by a cracking effort from Paul Dilworth that whistled agonisingly wide.

A magnificent ball from Tony Nolan reached Daniel O’Leary and when his low cross came off a defender, it wrong-footed the available Billy Barrett who was free inside the box.

The final action over the 90 minutes saw Jason McDonell heading into the arms of Michael Brennan.

So, the tie was now forced into extra time and when the first period failed to produce a winner, Belmount’s followers erupted with delight when after Evan Carroll’s effort was blocked, Martin O’Sullivan followed through to help the ball over the line in the 108th minute – 2-1 to Belmount.

Belmount Celtic: Patrick Fitzgibbon, Patrick O’Sullivan, Eoin Dromey, Donnacha O’Donovan, David O’Halloran, Jason McDonnell, James Kelleher, Mark Dromey, Martin O’Sullivan, Jonathon Buckley and Evan Carroll.

Subs: Owen Keane for Patrick O’Sullivan (48), Killian Twomey McCarthy for Eoin Dromey (58).

Coachford B: Michael Brennan, Darragh Moynihan, Brendan Harrington, Joshua Martin, Patrick Walsh, Andrew MacLean, Daniel O’Leary, Paul Dilworth, Cian Herlihy, Leight Devlin and Billy Barrett.

Subs: Tony Nolan for Andrew MacLean (half-time), Daniel Herlihy for Daniel O’Leary (half-time), Nathan Martin for Leigh Devlin (64), John McMahon for Billy Barrett (87).

Referee: Tony Thompson.

Assistants: PJ Ahern, Stephen Moore and Jim Hennessy.