Midleton U18s beat Carrigaline on penalties in League Cup final at the Cross

Midelton 1 Carrigaline United A 1 (Midleton won 4-3 on pens) 

Midleton won the Daly Industrial Supplies U18 League Cup when they defeated Carrigaline United A after a penalty shootout at the MFA Turner's Cross.

The game finished 0-0 in normal time but there were two goals in a three-minute period in extra time. Ben Fitzgerald gave Midleton the lead in the 105th minute, but Carrigaline equalised three minutes later through Ryan O’Connell.

The Magpies then came out on the right side of the penalty shootout 4-3.

Midleton bossed the game in the first half and had a couple of half-chances, however, Carrigaline’s Ronan McGrath had to make a string of fine saves to keep the game scoreless at halftime.

The second half had the same pattern with both defences on top, however, Colm Noonan in the Midleton goal came up with a huge save right at the death which meant the game went to extra time.

In the additional period, Midleton’s big man Ben Fitzgerald came up with the goods for his side in the 105th minute to take the lead with a fine header. 

It looked like the cup was heading to Midleton but three minutes later Carrig substitute Ryan O'Connell found a pocket of space on the edge of the box and struck his effort into the roof of the net to bring the game to a penalty shootout.

Midleton contested big games at the Cross last season and that experience showed in the penalty shootout.

Midleton manager Colm Fitzgerald was a relieved man after the game and praised both sides for putting everything on the line for their sides.

"We are very proud of this group and winning the League Cup this evening is a brilliant achievement and a reward for all the hard work the players have put in throughout the season.

“It shows the character in the group and the ability to keep going even when things haven’t been easy.

"Injuries have been a big issue all year, as we had a lot of players missing at different times, which made it tough to build consistency.

"Our season isn’t over yet with the Murphy Cup still to play for. There’s a real chance to finish the season on another high and the team will be fully focused on that.

"I think Carrigaline put in a fantastic performance and they knew we would be a threat attacking so set up to defend and in fairness, they did that to a man.

“Our lads were excellent and knocked the ball around looking for gaps to exploit, but we had to be patient and we got our reward in extra time. Carrigaline, to their credit, came at us again to score a fine goal a couple of minutes later but thankfully we went on to win on penalties."

Carrigaline manager Eoghan Curtin was just as proud of all his players and congratulated Midleton on their success.

"We have huge pride that the lads did themselves and their club so proud on the night. We couldn’t have asked for anything else as they gave everything to the causeand I want to congratulate Midleton on winning the cup."

MIDLETON: C Noonan, D Birdthistle, L Lynch, M Murphy, L McDonnell, B Fitzgerald, A McSweeney, J O’Meara, S Og Madden, R O’Keeffe, N Nsengivumva.

Subs: C Mooney for Birdthistle (h-t), C Scanlon for Nsengivumva (55), O Noonan for O’Meara (62), G Ebu for O’Keeffe (80), R Murphy for Madden (97).

CARRIGALINE UNITED: R McGrath, L Walsh, S Collins, S O’Neill, J Scannell, A Curtin, T Kelly, M O’Connor, J Murphy, C Murphy, C Moloney.

Subs: R O’Connell for O’Neill (h-t), D Adasko for J Murphy (h-t), S O’Connor for Walsh (80), C Murphy for Curtin (81).

Referee: David Hickey.

Assistant Referees: Jason Creamer, William Wyse.