Cup final delight for Dunmanway and Kilmichael

DUNMANWAY Town U14s and Kilmichael Rovers U15s claimed Supervalu West Cork Schoolboys and Schoolgirls League cup trophies last weekend.

Dunmanway concluded a productive season by winning the U14 Schoolboys Cup trophy on Saturday. Having finished runners-up behind U14 Schoolboys Premier League champions Lyre Rovers, Dunmanway ended their campaign with some deserved silverware.

Two goals in either half secured the U14 Schoolboys Cup for the Dunmanway club as they saw off Kilgoban Rebels 4-1 in Lyre. Alex Bramoulle, Luke Holland, Shane O’Connell and Daniel Vassallo found the net in a cup final Art O’Leary netted for the Rebels. Best for Town included Luke Holland, Alex Bramoulle, Kalan Murphy and Paddy O’Brien. Shane O’Brien, Ronan Keenan, Jack O’Brien and Sean Wiseman were the pick of Kilgoban Rebels’ top performers.

Dunmanway Town: L Holland, G McCarthy, Shane O’Connell, K Murphy, E Hayes, P O’Brien, A O’Brien, A Bramoulle, Shaun O’Connell, D Vassallo, L Cleary, E O’Connor, S Galvin, C O’Donoghue, L Hall and R Farr.

Kilgoban Rebels: C Hourihan, O O’Connell, S O’Sullivan, C Desmond, S Wiseman, R O’Brien, S O’Brien, R Kennan, P O’Sullivan, D Placzek, A O’Leary, D Coppinger, L Farrelly, B Daly, M Leahy, B Harrington and A Ring.

Kilmichael Rovers in happy mood following their U15 Schoolboys Cup final victory over Kilgoban Celtic last Sunday.

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Kilmichael Rovers were crowned SuperValu U15 Schoolboys Cup winners at the expense of Kilgoban Celtic on Sunday.

First-half goals from top scorer Tim Sweeney and Jack Browne handed the Inchisine club a 2-0 interval lead. Creditably, Kilgoban fought back in the second period. Thomas O’Donoghue halved the deficit but Kilmichael held on for a 2-1 victory.

Sean O’Sullivan, Thomas O’Donoghue, Ryan O’Boy and Patrick Harrington played superbly for Celtic. Tim Sweeney, Jack Browne, Sean Hennigan and Ruadhan Doherty’s combined efforts ensured the U15 Schoolboys Cup returned to Inchisine.

Kilmichael Rovers: A Long, J O’Riordan, O McNulty, C Murphy, R Doherty, J Browne (captain), T Sweeney, D Connolly, B Twomey, S Hennigan, J Prenderville, S Lynch, F Burgoyne, F O’Riordan, S Roche, T McCarthy.

Kilgoban Celtic: L O’Sullivan, F Goggin, F O’Connell, T O’Donoghue, D Dullea, D Murnane, S O’Sullivan, R O’Boy, R O’Sullivan (captain), D O’Neill, P Harrington, C McCarthy, C Swayne, C O’Shea, E Schultz, J Petrov, C Healy, C French, S McCarthy.

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Last weekend’s SuperValu U14 Schoolgirls Cup final between Sullane and Drinagh Rangers had to be postponed. A rescheduled date for the cup decider will see the top two teams in this season’s U14 Schoolgirls Premier League battle it out for another trophy. Rangers saw off Sullane for the league title prior to defeating Skibbereen 6-1 in the Schoolgirls Cup semi-finals. Sullane are hopeful of finishing off the campaign with a trophy following cup wins over Kilgoban Celtic and Clonakilty AFC.

The 2023 SuperValu U13 Schoolboys Shield finalists were confirmed on Saturday.

Castlelack United and Beara United met in an eagerly-anticipated Shield semi-final at Brinny. The Castletownbere side led 1-0 at the interval and added two additional second half strikes to seal a 3-1 victory. Ryan Healy (2) and James O’Driscoll netted for the winners in a semi-final Matthew Grace, Luke Barry and Colm Sexton also stood out for Castlelack. Callum Craig scored Castlelack’s solitary reply.

Beara’s opponents in the SuperValu U13 Schoolboys Shield final will be Premier League side Sullane. The Ballyvourney club will start as favourites following impressive victories over Togher Celtic (4-0) and Dunmanway Town (3-0).

There are two remaining knockout competitions to be completed before the conclusion of the 2023 season.

Bunratty United and Castlelack will face one another in the second leg of the Martin Briscoe U15 Schoolboys Memorial Plate. A newly-introduced knockout competition in memory of one of the West Cork Schoolboys and Schoolgirls League’s most dedicated volunteers, the late Martin Briscoe, saw Bunratty and Castlelack draw the opening leg 3-3.

Castlelack will also contest this season’s SuperValu U15 Schoolboys Shield final. Skibbereen will be the Brinny club’s opponents in the shield decider. The Baltimore Road club received a walkover from Clonakilty AFC and defeated Beara United 4-3 to reach the final. On the other side of the draw, Castlelack proved too strong for Bunratty (4-2) in the Shield’s penultimate round.

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Castlelack Celtic are the last remaining WCCSL schoolboys team involved in SFAI Subway National Schoolboys Trophy competition.The Brinny club is one victory away from reaching the national stages, round of 32, of this season’s SFAI Subway U14 Trophy.

Celtic must overcome the formidable challenge of Cork Schoolboys League side Douglas Hall in Douglas on Sunday. An away win would secure a home tie in the round of 32 against Ardee Celtic from Louth.

Castlelack were unlucky to be knocked out of the second round of this season’s SFAI Subway U14 National Cup following a 3-2 defeat at home to Passage AFC at the end of October. Jack Allen and Harry Bourneman netted for the West Cork side on that occasion.Despite that loss, Celtic were automatically entered into this season’s SFAI Subway U14 National Trophy. There, Celtic proved too strong for Leeside, winning 8-0 to set up this weekend’s clash with Douglas Hall. The WCSSL side will look to previous goal scorers Jack Allen (4), Sean Evans, Eoin Murphy and Gearoid O’Keefe in an effort to reach the national stages of the SFAI competition.