Stedfast United 3rds 0 - FNFC 0 (Stedfast won 4-3 on penalties)
Stedfast United third team held their never in a tense penalty shoot-out to
beat FNFC in the Leslie Reynolds Cup Final in Dalymount Park last Tuesday. It
was a brilliant win for the Rathfarnham men who went into the game as complete
underdogs. Stedfast compete in Division 2B of the United Churches League but
they had no problem matching their 2A opponents FNFC. Karl Markey's men can
now focus on the league campaign - seven points from their remaining three games
would guarantee the title for Stedfast. Indeed Stedfast could have wrapped the
game up in normal time but they were denied by the crossbar on no less then four
occasions. In the 20th minute Jason Collins smashed a 20-yarder against the bar
after he was set up by Garvin. And just after the break the bar saved FNFC three
times in the space of a minute.
Rebound
Firstly, Brady saw his header come back off the bar following good work from Grier
and then from the rebound, Hannon volleyed straight against the woodwork. And
when FNFC failed to clear, Stedfast got the ball back into the box and Deasy's shot
crashed against the crossbar. A let-off for FNFC but they created their own
problems at the other end with Damien Beggan twice going close. Both teams showed
great strength and courage to produce such high quality fare after already playing
ninety minutes. But with no goals after extra time it was down to penalties to
decide the destiny of the UCL's first trophy of the year. And it was Stedfast who
held their nerve with goals from O'Leary, Coffey, Meehan and Deasy.
STEDFAST
: W Huston, G Meehan, C Lew, B O'Leary, J Garvin,
J Collins, A Aganama, S Coffey, D Deasy, B Hannon, D Brady.
Subs: N Grier, H Harrison, J Kingston, G Dungan, M Curry.