Waterloo lift the County Cup after great win over Belmount Celtic

Belmount Celtic 2

Waterloo 4

Waterloo came out on top 4-2 to lift the County Cup after a closely fought cup final against Belmount Celtic at the Munster FA Turner’s Cross stadium.

And getting the nod for the man of the match award was Jack O’Keeffe, who was pivotal in the Loo’s victory.

Already St. Michael’s Cup winners and only needing a point against Los Zarcos to lift the League 1 title in their final game of the season next Saturday, the season could yet turn out to be a special one for Waterloo.

Belmount threatened first when Evan Carroll found Owen Keane to fire narrowly wide from outside the box.

Then, from Jonathon Buckley’s free kick, Keane headed goalwards, into the arms of Conor O’Regan.

The Loo threatened after that – Jack Homan played it square for Liam O’Leary who found Ronan O’Brien to his left – he unleashed a forceful effort that saw Patrick Fitzgibbon parry and when it arrived for Dylan Murphy, his effort came back off a defender and into the path of Liam O’Leary, who drilled wide near goal.

A half-chance fell again for the Loo when Scott Shine collected from Jack Homan before seeing his effort deflect off a defender and into the arms of Fitzgibbon.

Belmount threatened then when Evan Carroll controlled from Jason McDonnell’s pass before skipping past his marker to drill agonisingly over.

Belmount nosed in front when from Evan Carroll’s assist, Owen Keane persevered to force over the line in the 37th minute.

Evan Carroll was then unlucky to see his cracking effort flash narrowly over, but when a cross fell kindly for the Loo’s Ronan O’Brien, he hooked into the corner to restore parity once again on 44.

With the second period just five minutes in, a lovely passage of play from Belmount ensued and ended with Jonathon Buckley lifting his effort over.

This was followed with Patrick Fitzgibbon having to get his body firmly behind a stinging effort from Liam O’Leary.

A terrific run then from Jack O’Keeffe saw him slalom past three defenders before being denied by a solid block from James Kelleher which went out for a corner.

From the corner, Fonn Hall headed straight at Fitzgibbon while unattended near goal.

Then, from another corner, Lorcan Clinton was unlucky to see his looping header bounce off the bar before going over.

But, when Liam O’Leary threaded one on for Jack O’Keeffe, he found the far corner with a good finish to make it 2-1 on 70.

And when Liam O’Leary collected from a short corner, he fired low into the far corner to make it 3-1.

Belmount fought back to reduce the arrears through Colm O’Mahony, but Ronan O’Brien struck late on to clinch it for the Loo with a neat finish – 4-2 to Waterloo.

Belmount Celtic: Patrick Fitzgibbon, Mark Dromey, Eoin Dromey, Donnachadh O’Donovan, James Kelleher, Patrick Barry, Owen Keane, Martin O’Sullivan, Jonathon Buckley, Evan Carroll and Jason McDonnell.

Subs: Colm O’Mahony for Martin O’Sullivan (73), Killian Twomey McCarthy for Jonathon Buckley (76), Liam O’Brien for Jason McDonnell (79).

Waterloo FC: Conor O’Regan, Shane O’Shea, Fionn Hall, Lordan Clinton, Jack Homan, Liam O’Leary, Dylan Murphy, Jack O’Keeffe, Ronan O’Brien, Scott Shine and Alan Shine.

Subs: Sean Hannafin for Alan Shine (62), David Cremin for Dylan Murphy (63), Sane Aherne for Shane O’Shea (82).

Referee: Tony Thompson.

Assistants: Jim Hennessy, Jim Haines and Paul O’Sullivan.