Rathangan win Division 1 title
The Rathangan Boys Team with their newly won Division 1 Trophy after there win over Scoil Bhride Kill.
Rathangan BNS have been crowned the new Kildare Primary Schools Soccer Boys Division 1 champions after an epic 1-0 win over Scoil Bhride NS Kill on Wednesday in Kerdiffstown Park.
A superb strike in the third quarter from Adam O’Brien proved to be the difference between two sides stacked from top to bottom with several extraordinary, young players.
Scoil Bhride were on the front foot right from the very first whistle, with Byron Kealey hitting the top corner of the net in just the second minute, only for it to be ruled out for offside.
Rathangan got going and almost took the lead themselves in the fifth minute, with Lorcan Broughan’s effort whispering wide of the upright.
The rest of the first quarter followed the same path, with both sides playing well and creating plenty of chances. Scoil Bhride were attacking down the channels, looking to create space out wide to free things up for their striker, Danny Lynch. Rathangan were playing more direct, with their front pair of Broughan and O’Brien looking dangerous. There was also a major battle in midfield, as the two number eights - Eoghan Kearns and Adam Haughan - looked to stamp their authority on proceedings.
Scoil Bhride centre back, Rhys Collier, went close with a free kick from absolutely miles out, with his shot drifting over the crossbar at the very last second.
The Kill school were starting to find more and more chances courtesy of their three attack-minded players operating in behind Lynch in the form of Kealey, Christopher Dunne and Callum Byrne. But they were stopped at every turn by a solid Rathangan defence that was led by the excellent Dylan Dunne as it finished scoreless at half time.
It was all Scoil Bhride at the start of the second half, with Rathangan forced to play on the counter-attack.
Both goalkeepers - Eddie Minchin and Conor Walsh - conducted themselves admirably in the face of some silky attacking at each end.
But there was nothing Walsh could do in the ninth minute of the second half, when Rathangan whipped a free into the Kill box, where O’Brien was on hand to strike an exemplary right-footed volley into the roof of the net.
The boys in green had the chance to close outbthe game moments later when Broughan beat the offside trap and wriggled away from his man, only to send his shot a fraction over the crossbar.
Both sides began to empty their respective benches midway through the half, which caused the game to open up in the final quarter. Christopher Dunne looked to exploit the space with a weaving run through the middle, but he was stopped in his tracks before he could get his shot away by Rathangan’s energetic defender, Daniel Best.
Scoil Bhride kept going and carved out their best chance of the game when Will Farrell went past four players before curling the ball inside to Danny Lynch, who seemed certain to score before a remarkably brave save from Eddie Minchin kept his clean sheet intact.
Eddie Minchin; Daniel Best, Glen Kelly, Odhran Hynes, Dylan Dunne; Joshua McConnell, Olly Cribbon, Adam Haughan, Luje Reynolds; Adam O’Brien, Lorcan Broughan.
Olly Kevin, Remi McCormack, Darcy O’Connell, Olly Murphy, Harry O’Loughlin.
Conor Walsh; Ethan Fox, Will Farrell, Rhys Collier, Toby Maguire; Sean Dunne, Eoghan Kearns; Byron Kealey, Christopher Dunne, Callum Byrne; Danny Lynch.
Evan Gibson, Thomas Brett, Karl Autret Aaron Cunningham, Jordan Fay, Ryan Slattery.
