St. Pat’s show their class to ease past Blues challenge in cup final
13 September 2025; Ifeoluwa Samuel Ogungbe of St Patrick's Athletic in action against Bobby Keohan of Waterford during the EA SPORTS MU17 LOI Mark Farren Cup match between St Patrick’s Athletic and Waterford at Carlisle Grounds in Bray, Wicklow. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
Victories over Treaty United, Cobh Ramblers and UCD took Waterford FC’s Under-17s to the final of the Mark Farren Cup on Saturday in Bray’s Carlisle Grounds, but the challenge of a St Patrick’s Athletic team with ten youth internationals was too much on the day and it was not to be for the young Blues.
They were beaten by the best team in the country, rather than by mistakes or a poor performance, and they can hold their heads up high as the only team from outside of Dublin to reach any of the underage cup finals this year.
St Pat’s dictated the game from the start with relentless movement, intense pressing and an impressive range of passing. Blues centre back Noah O’Brien cleared off the line, goalkeeper Igor Bacela made a good grab and Gavin Mitchell made a vital block in the early stages, but the Blues were showing great discipline while defending deep. Pat’s were in almost total control of possession, but could find no way past a well-marshalled Waterford.
The breakthrough came in the 25th minute when the Dubliners tried something different to unlock the stubborn defence with a sublime ball over the top from Dan Costello and Joe Byrne inching behind the defence to loop a header over Bacela for the opening goal.
Bacela did well to push away a headed effort by Sammy Ogunbe before the Blues created their first chance on the half hour – Jack Garrett surging forward on a terrific run before shooting right-footed at the goalkeeper. The Saints went incredibly close to doubling their lead when Kian Quigley’s shot rocketed off the underside of the bar and it was unclear if the ball had crossed the line.
Waterford breathed a collective sigh of relief, but the reprieve didn’t last long as the crucial second goal came in the 36th minute when Ogunbe flicked in a header from a corner. Cormac Lowry timed a tackle in the box perfectly to prevent another goal, but Ogunbe, again, made it three in the 41st minute when he poked home a cross from Byrne.
The Blues had their best move of the game when Romeo Lapite cut a low cross back for Bobby Keohan, whose shot was saved brilliantly by Darragh Brunton, but they faced an almost impossible task with a three-goal deficit at the break.
The fourth came six minutes into the second half when Ryan Sheridan clipped a ball through for Sam Rooney to finish from a swift counterattack. Bacela made a great stop from a Jason Spellman shot inside the final twenty minutes and substitute Niall Sullivan headed just wide before the same player tapped in the final goal in the 83rd minute from a cutback by Rooney.
Bacela was called into action one more time with a stunning left-handed save from David Ngesi and all that was left was for Man of the Match Quigley to lift the trophy and spark the celebrations for St Pat’s.
Igor Bacela; Gavin Mitchell, Conor Dempsey (Adam Dobbyn 45), Noah O’Brien, Benny Martin; Romeo Lapite; Bobby Keohan (Jay Brophy 57), Peter Byrne, Cormac Lowry (Callum Slattery 45), Jack Garrett (Temmy Gazal, 57); Orion Cala (Mason Murphy 61).
Darragh Brunton; Josh O’Connor (Harry Leonard 69), Brendan O’Connor (Leon Hudson 75), Dan Costello, Sam Steward; Jason Spellman, Kian Quigley; Sammy Ogunbe (Luke Chukwu 69), Ryan Sheridan (Niall Sullivan 61), Joe Byrne (David Ngesi 75), Sam Rooney.
Matthew Moore.
Waterford’s Under-17 girls fell to a 3-2 defeat to Peamount United at SETU Arena on Saturday despite leading at half-time through an Elle Kavanagh goal. The visitors scored three times in the first twenty minutes of the second half to take the points with Lauren Connolly’s 85th minute goal not enough to pull the Blues back into the game.
On Sunday, the Blues Under-15s drew 2-2 away to Klub Kildare in Naas with Temmy Gazal was the two-goal hero for Waterford. His first, in the 17th minute, levelled the game after Beau Byrne’s early goal for the home side. Mark Greene put Kildare back in the lead, but Gazal equalised again in the final ten minutes to keep Waterford’s nine-game unbeaten run alive.
