Magic moment inspires Birdhill past Cloughjordan

SOCCER: North Tipperary and District League - Second Division Nora Kennedy Cup Final

Birdhill 1

Cloughjordan 1

(AET, Birdhill win 4-2 on pens)

Report: Gary Culbert in Birdhill

Birdhill produced the goods just in time to edge out Cloughjordan ‘B’ in the Nora Kennedy Cup final on Sunday.

A goal down with seconds of extra time remaining, it was going to take something special for Birdhill to force a penalty shootout. Cometh the hour cometh the man: substitute Jack Delahunty produced a ridiculous rabona to keep his side alive.

This hotly contested final was played at a technical ability above what the large crowd were expecting. Clough lined out with a mixture of ‘A’ and ‘B’ team players, but it was not enough to overcome the committed Birdhill defence, which boasted new signing from Galway, Matthijs O’Flaherty, who turned in a man of the match performance from centre half.

At the other end, the physically imposing Kevin Quinlan was tasked with marking athletic striker Conor Hickey. The other Clough centre half, Seamus Williams, put in a formidable performance alongside, sliding in on multiple occasions to stop the pacy David Whelton from breaching the defensive line.

Chances in the first half were few and far between. Clough fizzed multiple crosses into dangerous areas, mostly from Kieran Cahill on the right wing, but there was never anyone on the scene to turn the ball into the net.

It was all Birdhill for the opening 25 minutes of the second half, but Micheal Hough in the Clough goal was equal to the best that the home side had - a vicious shot from David Whelton after some industrious work by the 19-year-old former Limerick academy player.

Michael Hennelly was moved forward from full back midway through the half, which meant Clough finally had a bit of pace arriving in to the box. And it was the Youth Cup winning captain from last season that had the best chance with a quarter of an hour remaining, arriving at the back post with the keeper at his mercy and struck clean through the ball, but defender Joey English threw himself in the path of the rasping effort, making a vital interception with the back of his head.

Clough upped the pressure as the clock ticked towards the 90th minute, an extremely nervy period for the home side that O’Flaherty stood up to be counted, making crucial interceptions and headed clearances to keep subs Cian D’Arcy and Lukah Williams at bay.

This evenly contested game burst to life at the start of extra time, as Clough stole in front following the second phase of a corner kick, Martin Harty and Hennelly combining, with the veteran crossing for the youngster to head in at the back post.

From here the message for Clough was simple, clear any sniff of danger long up the field. The visitors looked to have done enough but they had not accounted for a split second of… audacity, genius, brilliance? It’s hard to choose the right words for any player, at this level, who can in the most crucial moment of their season produce a rabona finish.

Substitute Caleb Byrne made first contact on the ball into the box, Sean McHugo snuck in behind from that touch to contest the 50/50 with the onrushing Clough keeper, before finally the ball squirted out to Delahunty who was unmarked on the six-yard box. There were two players on the line and sliding keeper to bend the ball around, but that was no issue for the super-sub, who planted his left foot and brought his right around the back to curl the ball beautifully into the net. The most impressive part of the finish was that it was the exact and only technique that would have worked in that moment.

Clough were understandably in a complete state of shock and their condition wasn’t helped when the final whistle sounded seconds later, and so the dreaded penalty shootout was required.

Kevin Quinlan and Neil O’Lone both missed for Clough, whilst Shane Williams and Michael Hennelly both scored. Jack Delahunty will be excused for missing Birdhill’s first, particularly as Caleb Byrne, Sean McHugo and Matthijs O’Flaherty all converted Birdhill’s next three.

Just as he did in the semi-final, skipper Colin Floyd stepped up to fire the final penalty home, handing Birdhill a shield and cup double, whilst a promotion play-off is still a possibility of other results go their way.

Young referee Cormac Sullivan facilitated what was a hard but fair contest, which saw a moment of magic that will be spoken about for decades to come in the sleepy village overlooking the broad majestic Shannon.

Player of the Match: Matthijs O’Flaherty (Birdhill).

Birdhill: Colin Floyd (Capt); Sean McHugo, Will Murphy, Matthijs O’Flaherty, Joey English; Sean Nolan, Shane Geraghty, Sean Wrynn, Colm Nolan; David Whelton, Conor Hickey.

Subs: Jack Delahunty for Geraghty (68); Caleb Byrne for Hickey (78); Jatinder ‘Raj’ Singh for Whelton (78); Thomas Ryan for C Nolan (HT ET); Conor Treanor for Wrynn (HT, ET).

Cloughjordan ‘B’: Michael Hough; Michael Hennelly, Seamus Williams (Capt), Kevin Quinlan, Bryan Williams; Kieran Cahill, Shane Williams, Neil O’Lone, Dylan Hussey-Sheahan; Andrew Brennan; Martin Harty.

Subs: Richard King for B Williams (39); Cian D’Arcy for Hussey-Sheahan (45); Eoin Hogan for Cahill (59); Lukah Williams for Brennan (59).

Referee: Cormac Sullivan.