Coachford create club and Cork soccer history with deserved FAI Junior Cup final victory

Coachford 2 Evergreen 1

Coachford A carved their names into the history books after lifting the FAI Junior Cup following a 2-1 victory over Kilkenny side Evergreen FC in what was an epic final at the Munster FA’s Turner’s Cross Stadium last Saturday.

This victory is far more than just a trophy in the cabinet.

For the Cork AUL side, it represents a historic milestone that supports decades of hard work by volunteer committees, local sponsors and generations of families who have kept the club alive.

Driven forward by massive support who emptied the village to fill the stadium stands, Coachford A delivered handsomely on the day.

The game itself took off in earnest and exploded into life as Coachford stormed in front after just two minutes – an assist from Mark Murphy found man of the match Cialan O’Sullivan, who fired low into the corner to hand Coachford a dream start.

Then, Luke Casey got through minutes later and it took a magnificent save from Solobchuk to deny the Coachford striker.

Soon after, Cialan O’Sullivan collected from Adam Murphy, then, exchanged passes with Luke Casey before firing low at Solobchuk.

The first threat from Evergreen was Ethan Phelan’s cross which found Diarmuid Behan, who fired over while unattended.

Coachford started to surrender space now and drifted behind the ball which allowed Evergreen control more of the game and Sam Hickey came so close with a cracking effort from a free kick that whistled inches over.

Coachford continued under pressure as defenders started to throw their bodies on the line to stop strikes from Behan, Keane and Drennan.

And after Diarmuid Behan fluffed another chance, Evergreen were back on level terms when from a cross, Ethan Phelan’s sensational overhead kick flew into the top corner to restore parity once again, just seconds before the break.

Coachford looked much more purposeful as the second half took off and after Solobchuk made a terrific save from Luke Casey’s effort, Cialan O’Sullivan fired wide after getting away from his marker.

Then, Solobchuk produced a brilliant tip-away to deny a sensational effort from Luke Casey.

Coachford continued to raise their game and were certainly more involved with much greater effect now and when Luke Casey set Ryan Leahy up, he skewed over the target before Stephen Murray was called upon to make a fine save with his feet at the other end from Ben Hickey.

Cialan O’Sullivan made effective progress down the right flank before finding Luke Casey, who poked narrowly wide of the far post.

Casey was involved again minutes later – this time looping his header narrowly over.

But, Coachford’s moment of glory arrived when Mark Murphy threaded a neat ball into space for Cialan O’Sullivan, who rifled a magnificent finish into the corner to hand the AUL side the lead once again on 76 minutes.

Evergreen had no choice now, but to throw caution to the wind and go for an equaliser as Coachford setup their bank of five across the centre and with just five minutes remaining, it was absolute kitchen-sink territory as Coachford defended heroically until the final whistle blew and when it did blow, a sea of Coachford fans flooded the pitch to embrace their heroes.

It was an unbelievable victory in a major competition—one that will cement the players' names in history forever.

Coachford: Stephen Murray, Dara Lynch, Matthew Bradley, Mark murphy, Keith Linzell, Adam Murphy, Mark O’Connell, Sean O’Sullivan, Luke Casey, Ryan Leany, Cialan O’Sullivan.

Subs: Jack O’Sullivan for Ryan Leahy (78), Cathal O’Neill for Cialan O’Sullivan (89).

Evergreen: Kostian Solobchuk, Sam Johnston, Sam Hickey, Andrew Wall, Jackson Oyo, Ify Nzeni, Ben Hickey, Michael Drennan, Diarmuid Behan, Dara Keane, Ethan Phelan.

Subs: David Crincell for Diarmuid Behan (46), Mikey Clifford for Ben Hickey, Lee Delaney for Ethan Phelan (72), Xoliswa Stafford for Ify Nzewi (80), Harry Cummins for Sam Johnston (87).

Referee: Brian Higgins.

Assistants: Mark Kennedy, Ryan Jay O’Loughlin and Stephen Rooney.