Our U16 Premier side booked their place in the next round of the SFAI Barry Cup with a hard fought 1-0 win over Drogheda Boys on the Clubhouse pitch recently.
The Saints started the game brightly and within 10 minutes could have been a goal up with a header from Chris Byrne and a volley from James Clarke that troubled the Drogheda keeper.
Drogheda soaked up the early pressure and began to make some inroads themselves and as the half wore on could have got themselves on the scoresheet.
The game continued to flow from end to end with both Aaron Harding making a good run on the edge of the area only to see the keeper make a good save and James Clarke, who was impressive throughout the game, see his shot from a difficult angle hit the crossbar.
At the other end Drogheda created an excellent scoring chance that the Saints cleared off the line and keeper, Jake Rossiter, made a terrific one handed save from the resultant corner.
On the stroke of half time, the Saints made the breakthrough. A well worked move saw Harding play the ball to Karl Young who laid it off to Graham Quinn on the left. Quinn beat his man and played a terrific ball across the 6 yard line where Chris McMahon’s strike gave the keeper no chance.
The second half saw Drogheda try to get back into the game but the Saints rearguard, with captain Jason Dwayne in fine form, stood firm against all they threw at them. The Saints could have made the scoreline bigger with Clarke unlucky following a great move seeing his 20 yard strike sailing over. Byrne and substitute, Daragh Wade both had scoring opportunities as Drogheda pushed forward and the Saints counter attacked. Balls played over the top saw them in a chase with the keeper. Both times they beat the keeper only to see the ball go narrowly wide.
With the game entering the final minutes Clarke picked up an injury and with all the outfield players already on, reserve keeper, Richard O’Donovan went on to play upfront. It would have made it an interesting game to see him score but it wasn’t to be.
Team: Jake Rossiter, Eoin Hegarty, Graham Quinn, Jason Dwayne, Darren Jones, Ben Donohue, Aaron Harding, Chris McMahon, Chris Byrne, Karl Young, James Clarke, Sean Gannon, Daragh Wade, Ryan Byrne, Richard O’Donovan
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