Douglas Hall 1 College Corinthians 3

COLLEGE Corinthians earned a huge three points in their bid to win the Daly Industrial Supplies U19 League 1 title as they defeated near-neighbours, Douglas Hall, 3-1, at Moneygourney on Saturday.

A brace from the excellent Keelan Crowley and a header from Malachy Harte earned Corinthians the win against Hall, for whom James Duggan O’Riordan was sent off with the game at 1-1, following Cormac Kelly’s second-half equaliser.

The two rivals came into this fixture sitting joint third in the table, having both won one and drawn one in their opening games of the new season, although Hall had the better goal difference.

Corinthians started better here, with the excellent Keelan Crowley causing the opposition’s defence problems with his pace and trickery.

Crowley was inches away from winning his side a penalty in the fourth minute, but the referee correctly judged that Tom Kelly’s trip on the striker occurred just to the left of the penalty area, rather than inside it.

The number 10 dusted himself down and took the free-kick and he was unfortunate to see his clever, low strike crash against the outside of the near post.

The home side eventually settled into this derby and began to take control, although their only meaningful shots on goal came from distance, with Tyrone Johnson, Cormac Kelly, and Duggan O’Riordan failing to trouble the ’keeper with their ambitious attempts.

Midfielder Jacob Jackson would also try his luck from long range, midway through the half, and his fierce hit looked destined to find the roof of the net, but Corinthians’ goalkeeper, Dylan Ryan, did brilliantly to tip the ball just over his crossbar.

But Corinthians remained a danger going forward and with half an hour on the clock, they took the lead against the run of play, with Crowley getting the goal his performance deserved.

A poor clearance from the Hall rear-guard was immediately pounced upon by the alert Jack Dawson. The Corinthians number nine quickly opted to tee up Crowley on the edge of the box and it proved to be a good decision, as his strike partner cut the ball onto his right foot, before drilling it into the bottom-right corner.

The men from Castletreasure were now in the ascendancy, but they couldn’t double their advantage before the half-time break, as Shawn Brown sent a thunderous half volley just over, while David Connolly dragged a shot wide from a good position.

Douglas regrouped during the interval and almost equalised shortly after the restart, but Kelly just couldn’t rise high enough to head home an inswinging corner from Daragh Cambridge.

Hall would finally grab an equaliser in the 56th minute, thanks to Cormac Kelly, who broke clear on goal and cleverly clipped the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper and into the far bottom-right corner of the net.

And just when it looked as if we would be in for a tight and tense finale, Douglas Hall were dealt three huge blows that turned the game in Corinthians’ favour.

Firstly, Hall’s Jacob Duggan O’Riordan was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident, and, secondly, from the resulting free-kick Crowley’s inswinging delivery squirmed past the goalkeeper to make it 2-1.

And, thirdly, the substitute, Malachy Harte, looped a header inside the far post to seal a significant victory for Corinthians.

DOUGLAS HALL: Antonio Anchetta, Jacob Duggan O’Riordan, Ryan Kelleher, Jake Ryan, Tom Kelly, Conor Hanley, Cormac Kelly, Jacob Jackson, Daragh Cambridge, Eddie Kenneally, Tyrone Johnson.

Subs: Tim McCarthy for Eddie Kenneally (58), Jack Hayes for Daragh Cambridge (87).

COLLEGE CORINTHIANS: Dylan Ryan, Kane Rowlands, Conor Hughes, Rory Barron, Deri Delma Tiendioh, David Connolly, Andrew McElligot, Dean French, Jack Dawson, Keelan Crowley, Shawn Brown.

Subs: Deo Munza for David Connolly (64), Malachy Harte for Jack Dawson (74), Isacc Harte for Keelan Crowley (86).

Referee: John Philpott.