A goal in each half sees St Anthony's Youths lift Premier Division Cup
St Anthony's Youths celebrate winning the Georgina Donnelly Premier Division Cup with a 2-0 win over Kildare Town. Photos: Michael Anderson
A season of high drama in the KDFL reached its showpiece finale on Sunday afternoon in Castledermot, where a win over Kildare Town saw St Anthony’s Youths lift the Georgina Donnelly Premier Division Cup.
There has been very little to separate the sides this season, with Kildare winning their home encounter by two goals to nil, while St Anthony’s were 3-2 winners in the return fixture in Kilcullen.
This final was no different and although St Anthony’s won by two clear goals, the game truly could have gone either way.
Strikes from Ross Dowling Connor and Ross Cahill sent the trophy home with St Anthony’s in their first season in the Premier Division and in dong so denied the already-crowned league champions, Kildare, from completing a remarkable domestic double.
Both sides had tricky routes to the final, with St Anthony’s getting the better of Ballycane Celtic and Caragh, while Kildare overcame Mavida and Clonmullion to reach the decider.
There were premature celebrations in the second minute when St Anthony’s thought they had taken the lead I'm style, but the ball had gone just the wrong side of the woodwork.
It was all Kildare after that as they bombarded the St Anthony’s box for the next ten minutes. They were limited to corner kicks and hopeful crosses, however, with Anthony’s looking comfortable in defence and happy to play on the counter attack.
Youths gained a foothold in the game and took the lead with 20 minutes on the clock. Kildare failed to clear the ball out of their box and were punished when Ross Dowling Connor swung a powerful left foot at the ball, drilling it beyond goalkeeper Ian McDonnell.
St Anthony’s went up a gear after that and really took the game to Kildare, desperate to add a second goal while momentum was on their side.
Kildare won a free on the edge of the box in the 34th minute and won yet another corner, with a glancing header from Adam O’Keeffe drawing a fine save from St Anthony’s goalkeeper Cormac Barker.
A brilliant header moments later from Dean Hill forced an even better save out of Barker; Anthony Durney turned in the rebound, but the offside flag was up.
Kildare piled on the pressure for the rest of the half, but could not manufacture an equaliser as St Anthony’s held their 1-0 lead at the interval.
Kildare dominated possession after the restart and almost hit the target through Adam O’Keeffe, only to be denied by a sensational block from Shane Quirke. The St Anthony’s left back was a real contender for Man of the Match, impressing throughout the game, in attack as much as defence.
Both sides deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation, which led to the teams cancelling each other out at times, particularly in the second half.
There were half chances at each end midway through the half, but neither goalkeeper was overly troubled.
But there was rapturous celebrations with 20 minutes remaining when Eoin Doyle's shot was well saved by McDonnell only for Ross Cahill to run onto the ball and meet it with a rocket of shot that rippled the Kildare net for a second time.
There was a real bite to the whole game and that went up a level in the closing stages, with fully-deserved yellow cards dotted across both teams.
A great run from Kildare's Robert Burke created a late chance for Anthony Durney, but his effort came back off the crossbar.
The game ended with a red card on either side six minutes into stoppage time, but it could not hamper the wild celebrations from St Anthony’s that greeted the final whistle.
Cormac Barker; Jordan Martella, Matthew Drewitt (C), Tony Pearson, Shane Quirke; Aaron Ngai, Sam Kelly; Ross Cahill, Ross Dowling-Connor, Robert Kelly-Ryan; Eoin Doyle.
Stephen Coyne for Martella (inj, 64) Eimhin O’Sullivan and Tom Healy for Doyle and Dowling-Connor (both 72), Jack Broe for Pearson (83).
Ian McDonnell; Dean Hill, Anthony Durney, Ryan Farrell (C), Aaron Mullins; Ross Lyons, Kieran Sheedy; Robert Burke, Brandon O’Keeffe, Adam O’Keeffe; Dean Conroy.
Jack Downes for A. O’Keeffe (61), Nathan Gahan, Sam Murphy and Leon Tsang for Lyons, B. O’Keeffe and Conroy (all 72), Lorcan Wickham for Mullins (81).
