Super Seagulls' soar to brilliant cup final success
Tramore AFC celebrate after winning the WSFL Woolfson Under 15A Cup final with victory over Villa at Ozier Park on Sunday last. Photo: Paul Elliott.
The final Waterford Schoolboy League cup final took place at Ozier Park on Sunday afternoon last as Tramore AFC got the better of Villa in the Woolfson Under 15A decider as a brace from Eddie O’Connor and an opening strike from Charlie Smyth gave the seaside outfit the win.
It was a dream start for the victors as they opened the scoring with five minutes on the clock, which set the tone for the first-half. Jamie Cass laid the ball off into the path of Charlie Smyth 20-yards from goal, and he arrowed a well-struck left-footed shot to the right-hand corner past keeper Rafael Ionescu.
Villa could have levelled the tie on 17 minutes when Joel Osawe turned provider for Jamie Swift inside the penalty area, but the attacker couldn’t keep his effort on target as his shot whistled inches wide of the target.
Tramore doubled their lead with their next attack six minutes later when Darby Sheridan played the ball into the penalty area from the left that saw the ball break to Eddie O’Connor, who swept the ball to the net from close-range.
The post denied the workLAB Connors Park club getting themselves back into the game from a set piece on 27 minutes when Jack Dillon committed a foul on the top of the penalty area, but Jake Holohan’s cracking effort came crashing back off the post with the keeper beaten.
Villa started the second period of the front foot and they had another opportunity on 41 minutes when Louis Corcoran fired in a shot from the top of the penalty area, but Tramore keeper Rob Kearney was equal to the task with a fine save.
Darby Sheridan carved out a shot for himself on 47 minutes when he took a pass from Jamie Cass on the left-side of the area, but Villa keeper Rafael Ionescu got down well to save before the Seagulls ensured their win from the resulting corner-kick.
Sheridan was the man that turned provider when he sent in a brilliant right-wing corner kick that picked out the run of O’Connor inside the six-yard box, and he made no mistake when planting a close-range header to the corner of the net.
There was a chance for Daniel Doyle to get a goal back for Villa on 51 minutes, but once again keeper Rob Kearney came to the rescue for his side. It came as no real surprise that the remainder of the game was played out without really team able to find the net as Tramore saw out the contest to win.
After the game, league chairman Davy Cullen was on hand to present the WSFL Woolfson Under 15A Cup to a delighted Tramore AFC captain Conor Cleary as his side celebrated a cup triumph that they deserved on the day against a Villa side that battled to the end, but just couldn’t find the goals.
As already stated, this brought the curtain down on the WSFL Schoolboy league season and when you consider the weather cost weeks of fixtures, it was a trojan effort from all concern to get the campaign final complete. The new season will begin on Saturday, August 31.
Rafael Ionescu, Joe Barry, Liam O’Grady, Anderson Dube, Daniel Doyle, Louis Corcoran, Lukson Kilonda, Jake Holohan, Jamie Swift, Joel Osawe, Jack Doheny, Harry Hennessy, Hugo Thompson, Hashim Khan, Ezra Iwere.
Rob Kearney, Cormac Simms, Conor Cleary, Jay O’Gorman, Jack Dillon, Darby Sheridan, Charlie Smith, Eddie O’Connor, Ruairi Brennan, Noah Murphy, Hayden Murphy, Geoff Butler, Adam Freyne, Jamie Cass, Mark Daly, Rian O’Donohue, Noah Kent McDonald.
Luke Brennan assisted by Noel Connolly and Damien Kelly.
