Cobh Wanderers land first FAI Intermediate Cup with late Ciaran Griffin winner against St Mary's

Cobh Wanderers 1 St Mary’s 0 

Ciaran Griffin got the late winner as Cobh Wanderers landed their first FAI Intermediate Cup in dramatic fashion at the Munster FA Turner’s Cross Stadium.

A crowd of 3,236 witnessed a classic all-Cork encounter that was decided by a Sean Cummins assist and a neat strike from Griffin into the St Anne’s Stand in the 86th minute.

There was unbridled joy for Wanderers, who were previously beaten in the 2017 decider on penalties by Liffey Wanderers. The memories of that day in the Aviva Stadium are officially banished with Jason Abbott getting the club over the line after taking over on the Great Island during the summer.

For St Mary’s, this is their third loss in a national cup final after defeats in the 1972 FAI Junior Cup and the 2000 Intermediate Cup.

The stakes created a game fraught with tension between two teams operating at different levels of the Munster Senior League pyramid.

Premier Division outfit Mary’s were the first to create something, from a weaving run by Shayne Brown, and it was ended by a David Curran challenge.

Wanderers went on to dominate possession, but rarely threatened Oisin Barry. Evan Cummins did shoot wide in the 10th minute, while a good run from George Keating was met with a stern tackle by Fionn Kelly.

The first real opening for either team came in the 28th minute when Griffin flicked the ball wide at the near post.

The Saints responded with a Bradley Walsh cross turned shot that was knocked out for a corner by Mark Power. The resulting set piece was cleared by Cobh with no fuss in the 35th minute.

The game restarted with a succession of crosses into the box for St. Mary’s and each one was neatly caught by Power.

Bown also collected a ball over the top during the spell. The winger tried to play it across, only to see his pass neatly intercepted by Eoin Hastings.

The Wanderers slowed things down before breaking down the right wing, a charge led by Evan Cummins. The forward chose power over placement and stung the palms of Barry, in what was the best chance of the game up until that point for either team.

A lull followed and the period of détente was broken by a Barry clearance that landed kindly for Walsh. The Cork City Academy graduate tried his luck first time and was denied by an excellent reflex save from Power in the 68th minute.

The Wanderers went on to win a corner off a neat passing move involving Alex Lynch and Griffin in the 78th minute. The Saints broke from this and played Walsh through for a first-time shot that went wide at the far post.

Lynch retaliated with a blistering strike from his right boot in the 81st minute and the midfielder just missed the intended target.

All this did was raise the level of tension inside the ground, at a point when everything felt significant.

This is where the winner came from, a routine header from Sean Cummins off a goal kick. The fullback had enough power to send the ball to an unmarked Griffin, who sprinted through towards the Mary’s goal.

With just the goalkeeper to beat, the forward snuck the ball into the bottom corner in the 85th minute with a shot that had Barry well beaten.

Wanderers were in front. The Saints had to go for it with everything they had through five minutes of added time.

It came down to a shot from Dylan Doherty O’Donovan off a free-out from Barry. The ball went over the bar.

COBH WANDERERS: Mark Power; David Curran, Sean Cummins, Adam O’Sullivan, Eoin Hastings, Alex Lynch, George Keating, Diarmuid Kearney, Ciaran Griffin, Evan Cummins, Oisin Dorgan.

Subs: Kyle Downing for Curran (61); James Stoat for Keating (61).

ST MARY'S: Oisin Barry; Jason Conway, Fionn Kelly, David Dunphy, Daniel Ryan Fortune, Neil Cunningham, Bradley Walsh, Jakub Gaup, Dylan Doherty O’Donovan, James O’Leary, Shayne Brown.

Subs: Colm Murphy for Conway (55); Sean Lennon for Doherty O’Donovan (66), Ronan Murphy for Dunphy (80), Corey Murphy for Brown (80), Craig Mostyn for Kelly (86).

Referee: Robert O’Leary