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U11A DDSL Sunday team crowned winners of the Ballyouster Tournament
Our U11A DDSL Sunday team came away from Ballyouster with the privilege of being crowned as winners of the 16 team Ballyouster tournament. Drawn in a group of unfamiliar U11A Saturday sides (Leixlip Utd, Belvedere Boys and Lourdes Celtic) the lads had to be top of their game.
First up was Leixlip Utd and on a tight pitch and a draw was a reasonable start with the goal coming from Max Irwin. Next came Belvedere and having only ever played them once before and on the back of a 6-1 drubbing in a previous tournament, you would worry that it was going to be deja vue, PAFC lost having been 1-0 up until the closing minutes. The goal came from a delighted Rian Rogan breaking into the box placing the ball in the bottom corner. Heading into the third group game, we now had a must win game V Lourdes Celtic to qualify for the cup section of the competition. Lourdes Celtic are a tidy outfit and have given our team tough friendlies in the past, but PAFC stepped up to the challenge and finished strong. Excellent finishes coming from Leon Fitzgerald, Max Irwin and Eoghan Madden.
The quarter final saw us come up against the tournament hosts Ballyouster FC. The home team wanted to progress and would be forgiven for thinking they had been drawn against a team of similar standard, despite them being in a lower league. PAFC stood firm and came away winners with finishes coming from Eoghan Madden and Ronan McNally.
On to the semi-finals and there we met Crumlin Utd. This was a cracking game and on the back of our first clean sheet thanks to a brilliant Ronan Mc Nally, the team came away with a 1-0 win to progress to the final. The winner was scored by Rian Rogan. Special mention has to go Niall Keating here as he was given the task of man marking Crumlin's exceptional central midfielder. Mark him he did and that was possibly the difference between two evenly matched teams.
The final saw PAFC come up against an unbeaten Belvedere FC. Make no mistake PAFC were the underdogs in this contest and a tough game was in store. The next goal was critical, up stepped Eoghan Madden with a near post volley from a corner driven in by Ronan McNally. Game on, the equaliser came from Max Irwin, a header at the far post. Roy of the rovers got many cup final winners and our Roy was Niall Keating side footing in a screamer. The final five minutes were nail biting and Belvedere came at PAFC. The team hung on and thanks to fantastic defending the referee blew the final whistle. Pandemonium ensued and great celebrations followed water chucked around like champagne and parents hugging the players.
Squad:
James Greenhaugh, Eoghan Madden, Rian Rogan, Alfie Thompson, Leon Fitzgerald, Max Irwin, Niall Keating, Danial O'Brien, Cillian McCauley, Alex Jones, Ronan McNally
Goal scorers from the tournament.
PFC v Leixlip (Max Irwin)
PFC v Belvo (Rian Rogan)
PFC v Lourdes (Leon Fitzgerald, Max Irwin, Eoghan Madden
PFC v Ballyouster (Eoghan Madden, Ronan McNally)
PFC v Crumlin (Rian Rogan)
PFC v Belvo (Eoghan Madden, Max Irwin, Niall Keating)
