Kilmore Rec Swifts beat Finaghy 11s in strong performance at Seaview to win the Templeton Cup
The NAFL,
The Templeton Cup final,
Venue: Seaview Belfast, on 23 4 25,
Final Score: Kilmore Rec Swifts 5 0 Finaghy IIs.
Kilmore Rec Swifts captain Niall Walsh opened the scoring for his side in the second minute with a classic well-placed header through the Finaghy II defenders to the right side of the goal giving his side a perfect start to the match writes Jim Masson.
This dream start by Kilmore stunned Finaghy and it was difficult for them to recover as the front line of the Kilmore team started to pound the Finaghy goal area in constant attacks.
Fionn Mulhern sent a powerful volley from the left to the Finaghy goal after chesting down a long ball, his first effort, and it was held by keeper Nathan Clarke.
Kilmore were looking very confident and from early on their short passing was good as they pressed forward.
Then in the 16th minute, Mulhern unleashed a ferocious low strike from a pass from defender Josh Starkey and the ball shot past Clarke to the back post and into the net putting Kilmore two goals ahead early in the match.
Walsh and Caolan Conlon connected well a couple of times building attacks and Conlon got his head to the ball and netted in the 23rd minute sending the Kimore fans into raptures.
Finaghy looked quite muted at this stage wondering how to keep back Koilmore as the game was starting to slip away from them. At this stage Kilmore keeper Laurence McGonagle was relatively untested given that most of the play was in the Finaghy half.
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But eventually Finaghy fought back and mounted several challenges to the Kilmore goal. But as Kilmore pressed ahead again, two Finaghy defenders had an unfortunate clash of heads in their goal mouth and play was held up for a few minutes.
Finaghy winger Ciaran Deeny made a strong run up the side line but he lost possession and Finaghy kept pushing to try and reclaim some ground in the game before half-time.
On two minutes into the second period, Mulhern took a free kick and rocketed the ball left into the Finaghy net past Clarke giving him no chance. Again Kilmore had struck just after the whistle.
Finaghy fought back again and this time midfielder Craig McCarthy almost managed to pop the ball in past McGonigle but the shot was blocked.
Then it was Josh Smyth’s turn to lash a volley at the Kilmore goal sizing up the posts. Kilmore subs Eamonn McKinney and Dan Smyth connected well battled into the back of the Finaghy box and Mulhern hit well but Clarke make an excellent save.
Finaghy seemed to give up the ghost and Kilmore were pressing fairly constantly but Eoin Robinson did made a fine effort of a header and was unlucky to hit the Kilmore top post.
The pace of the Kilmore play, the long balls in, the accurate short passing and sheer determination to win was telling on Finaghy Kilmore sub John Spratt made good run to get into the Finaghy box and his dummy to McKinney in front of the goal showed confidence and almost paid off.
In the final minutes the fizz had gone out of the game as Kilmore kept plodding on at the Finaghy goal. Again a good move by McKinney and Smyth saw Spratt get a shot at the goal but keeper Clarke held it well.
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Then in 90+1 minutes Josh Smyth scored Kilmore’s fifth goal from good support from Dan Smyth.
Kilmore Rec Swifts were certainly the more impressive side dominating the game and showing good strategy in playing long ball, setting a fast pace and using short passes to break down the defence in a relentless attack.
Manager John Young said: ” This is a great achievement for the Kilmore Rec Swifts. They showed fantastic temperament and it’s just brilliant for the club.
“And it’s just great for all in Crossgar and the community. I am absolutely delighted for the players.”
Team captain Niall Walsh added: “We stuck to our plan of sending long balls up field and pressing the defenders hard. I’m really pleased at the team performance. Our team strategy paid off. It was an excellent win and a great team effort.”
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Kilmore Rec Swifts: 1 Laurence McGonagle 2 Jonathan Murray 3 Josh Starkey 4 Tomas Murphy 5 Matthew Stewart 6 Niall Walsh (C) 7 Josh Smyth 8 Caolan Conlon 9 Josh Patterson 10 Harry Smyth 11 Fionn Mulhern. Subs: 12 John Spratt 14 Eamonn McKinney 15 Dan Smyth.
Finaghy FC IIs: 1 Nathan Clarke (GK) 2 Jamie McKittrick 3 Lewis Stewart 4 Eoin Robinson (C) 5 Curtis Hall 6 Craig McCarthy 7 Ciaran Deeny 8 Calum Ashby 9 Adam Close 10 Dylan Murphy 11 Lewis Kennedy. Subs: 12 Colin Manley 14 Fatlum Cakaj 15 Stephen Weir.
