AUL: Belmount Celtic hold off Castlebridge Celtic comeback to retain President's Cup
The Belmount Celtic side who beat Castlebridge Celtic in the President's Cup final at St Colman's Park. Picture: Barry Peelo.
Belmount Celtic made it two in a row when they lifted the President’s Cup again at St Colman’s Park over the weekend.
All the damage was done in the opening 23 minutes as Belmount raced into a four-goal lead.
Castlebridge Celtic showed a huge amount of courage and resilience to make a game of it after that as they brought themselves right back into the contest, only to find it too much of a hill to climb in the end.
Getting the nod for the man of the match award was Belmount’s Jonathon Buckley, who had a towering performance in midfield as well as grab two goals in the contest.
Belmount made the early impressions as Martin O’Sullivan just failed to make contact inside the box from Jonathon Buckley’s cross, but the West Cork side nosed in front when from Jonathon Buckley’s free kick, Barry Sheehy fumbled the ball into his own net to gift Belmount the lead on six minutes.
Two minutes later, Belmount doubled their advantage when a terrific strike from a free kick by Jonathon Buckley, soared into the top corner.
Belmount’s early ascendancy continued as Evan Carroll tried to reach Martin O’Sullivan with his low cross, but David McCarthy was sharp enough to intervene and close the door on the threat.
But, Castlebridge Celtic’s problems were further compounded when Eoin Dromey controlled from a clearance before finding the bottom corner with a good finish on 15.
Castlebridge did get a half-chance at the other end, but Cian O’Driscoll was denied by a solid block from James Kelleher.
And when Conor Twomey played in Jordan Gordon Harvey, Belmount’s Patrick Fitzgibbon came off his line in time to win the 50-50 challenge.
But, Castlebridge fell further behind when defensive frailties allowed Martin O’Sullivan pounce into space before sliding his effort past a helpless Barry Sheehy to make it 4-0 now after just 23 minutes.
Castlebridge had a mountain to climb now at this point, but they refused to be bowed and it took a solid tackle by Belmount’s James Kelleher to deny Jordan Gordon Harvey a pathway through on goal, following a neat assist from Conor Twomey.
And when Cian O’Driscoll struck an effort that went off a defender for a corner, Kieran Barrett forced it over the line to reduce the arrears on 28 minutes from the resultant set-piece.
Castlebridge showed signs now of weathering that early storm as Conor Twomey’s pass into space for Harvey had just too much on it before Harvey cushioned a ball down for Aaron Fenton to drill one over from just outside the box.
At the other end, Evan Carroll produced a good run before turning inside his marker to fire straight at Sheehy.
With just minutes to the break, Dion McCormack fired narrowly wide from Aaron Fenton’s corner.
Castlebridge started the second period brightly as Ivanovs made Fitzgibbon work to collect from his low effort at the second time of asking.
Evan Carroll did have a chance, but he failed to find an unprotected target while Sheehy was out of position.
Cian O’Driscoll did manage to pull one back for Castlebridge, but it was too little too late as Belmount held on to win the President’s Cup for the second season running.
Patrick Fitzgibbon, Mark Domey, Eoin Dromey, Liam O’Brien, James Kelleher, Patrick Barry, Colm O’Mahoney, Jonathon Buckley, Martin O’Sullivan, Owen Keane, Evan Carroll.
Jason McDonnell for Liam O’Brien (62), Coleton Corkery for Martin O’Sullivan (73), Killian Twomey McCarthy for Colm O’Mahoney (78), Luke Sheehan for Jonathon Buckley (90), James Creedon for Evan Carroll (90).
Barry Sheehy, Aaron Fenton, Padraig Dolan, David Twomey, Colin Shealy, David McCarthy, Cian O’Driscoll, Kieran Barrett, Dion McCormack, Jordan Gordon Harvey, Conor Twomey.
Jack Murray for Aaron Fenton (half-time), Artjoms Ivanovs for David McCarthy (half-time), Gracjan Platek for Conor Twomey (77), Shane Fenton for Kieran Barrett (77), Sean O’Driscoll for Colin Shealy (88).
Patrick O’Herlihy.
Keith Haines, Craig Tillotson and Tony Thompson.
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