Finn O'Mahony's hat-trick helps Clonakilty lift the U19 League 1A title with big win over Carrigaline 

Carrigaline United 2 

Clonakilty AFC 7

Finn O’Mahony was the toast of Clonakilty Football Club last Sunday, as his hat-trick helped his side to claim the Daly Industrial Supplies U19 League 1A title when they beat Carrigaline United at a sun-drenched Ballea Park.

The West Cork had very little wiggle room as if they dropped any points Riverstown would have won the title, however, Riverstown had the consolation of lifting the U19 Shield when they beat Kinsale 6-0 at the MFA Turner's Cross Stadium.

Clon raced into a 2-0 lead with goals from Alex O’Regan in the 30th minute and Finn 0’Mahony three minutes before half time.

They increased their lead to 3-0 five minutes after the restart through Charlie McCarthy and O’Mahony grabbed his second goal of the game a minute later to lead 4-0. 

Carrigaline reduced the deficit to 4-1 when Harry O’Donovan hit the back of the net, however, another goal from Alex O’Regan, one from Luke O’Regan and then O’Mahony added his third to lead 7-1 with ten minutes remaining in the game. 

Carrigaline did add another effort two minutes from full time when Hamza Oumorou scored from close range, however, although Edward Pierce did conceded seven goals, he can be very proud of his display between the sticks for Carrigaline, as he made multiple excellent saves during a very entertaining game.

The Clonakilty head coach, Craig Scott was really emotional after the game and he praised his team’s fighting spirit, however, he had a special word for a very special lady, Sam Doherty, who is the heartbeat of their club.

“It’s a massive achievement for the club to win a Cork Youth League U19 title, and I certainly hope it won’t be the last,” Craig said.

“We are the biggest club in west Cork and have over 550 children, boys and girls from U8 to U19 and we are looking for land for a new home, so that we can finally build the facilities which we so greatly need. 

"The talent that is being lost to Cork City teams is to very high, so need to have the best facilities, ie a 5G pitch, dressing rooms, etc, so that we may nuture the talent in Clonakilty before they move on to bigger and better things.

“Unfortunately, this will be the end of the road for these lads as it’s junior soccer from here on in for them. 

"They will finish their leaving certs in June and then will ready themselves for college, where I’m sure they will pursue playing soccer.

“At the end of last season we weren’t sure whether we were going to enter the Cork Youth League again at U19 level. 

"We finished very long U18 season, missing the league title by a single point and also reaching the last 32 of the FAI Youth Cup. 

"Then the new season came around for the question to be asked, if the boys wanted to go at it again, of course they did, and I was ready to commit to them again for another year.

“Working with them was easy, they wanted to learn, they adapted to the style of play very quickly and played some very good football throughout the year. 

"They are a great bunch of lads of which some have been playing together since they were six or seven years of age and here they are now in their last season as youth players champions.

“They have been nothing but a pleasure to be around, they have taught me a lot about myself and I couldn’t be proud of them.

“Finally, the team and myself want to say a huge thank you to a very special lady, as this club simply wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Sam Doherty. 

"She is single handily responsible for making sure all our registrations are done and are correct, and that every team has footballs, bibs, medical bags, and kits, everything we need.

“She is the absolute heartbeat of Clonakilty AFC and we all at the club are very proud and grateful for everything she does for us and the club,” Scott added.