Monaghan United U-14s kicked off their eighth league game of the season away to a strong Cavan Shamrocks side. It was the away side who started the strongest of the two when they tested goalkeeper Ciaran Doyle in the opening stages, but the Monaghan goalkeeper was on hand to deny them with a strong save. The game soon reserved on its head as Monaghan quickly upped their tempo with a midfield of Patrick Treanor, Cian Brennan and Fionnan O’Braonian starting to dominate possession. It was Monaghans first game without forward Lewis Brady who unfortunately will miss the rest of the season due to injury, but the away side were happy to welcome back last seasons top scorer Dylan O’Reilly back into the starting lineup. And it didnt take long before he had an influence on the game as he latched onto a Cian Brennan through ball, his shot stung the hands of the goalkeeper before his strike partner Cian Bradley-Gillespie followed up with a neat finish into the back of the net. 1-0 to the visitors. A front three of Tomas Galvin, Dylan O’Reilly and Cian Bradley-Gillespie were proving a real pain for the Cavan defence as they stretched them on numerous occasions and the three combined once again for Monaghans second. Dylan received the ball and drove from deep down the centre of the pitch, he slid the ball out wide to Tomas Galvin who cut back and sent in a low cross into the box, finding Cian Bradley-Gillespie, who fired the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the day. Midway through the first half Monaghan were truely dominating the game as Cavan struggled to get in behind a defence of Blake Lees, Robin Pratt-Clarke, Fionan O’Gallachoir and new signing Aodhan McQuaid. In fact at times the home side were struggling to get the ball outside their own half as forward Cian Bradley-Gillespie chased down a backpass to the Cavan goalkeeper, the resulting keeper kick fell to Tomas Galvin who struck from range only to see his effort sail closely over the bar. As Monaghan defended a corner kick, Tomas Galvin cleared the ball, sending Cian Bradley-Gillespie through on goal only this time the Cavan goalkeeper was equal to the resulting shot. The away side kept on pressing and pressing for more goals and near found a third when new signing Aodhan McQuaid headed a Cian Bradley-Gillepsie corner only to see his header cleared off the line. United were desperate to extend their lead, and nearly done so when midfielder Josh Kelly received the ball out wide, his cross found forward Dylan O’Reilly who shot first time, but as the ball was destined for the back of the net the Cavan goalkeeper somehow managed to tap the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick. Dylan was denied once again as he headed in the resulting corner kick only to see his effort just about saved as half the ball crossed the goal line, another great save from the Cavan goalkeeper. 2-0 the halftime scoreline as Monaghan put in a dominating performance.
The second half kicked off at a much lower tempo than the first, but Monaghan still looked the stronger of the two teams as Patrick Treanor, Cian Brennan and Josh Kelly now had a strong hold on the game. Things were dampened for the away side when forward Dylan O’Reilly was taken off through injury, the team and management would like to wish him well and hope for a speedy recovery. The home side were doing everything in their power to try and find a breakthrough, but Captain Patrick Treanor was putting in a defensive exhibition in midfield and was cleaning up anything that came his way. The tempo of the game started to pick up as Monaghan front three of Eoin O’Hanlon, Fionnan O’Braonian and Tomas Galvin were putting huge pressure on the Cavan defence barely giving them time to breath. Their pressure paid off when Tomas Galvin forced a mistake from the Shamrocks goalkeeper and laid the ball off to Josh Kelly who made no mistake in firing the ball into the back of the Cavan net. 3-0 to the visitors. Monaghan were not done just yet, Josh Kelly was again on hand as he read a kickout from the Cavan goalkeeper, he took the ball out of the air and laid it off to midfielder Fionnan O’Braonian who, when everyone thought he would pass it out to the right, reversed the ball to the left finding Cian Bradley-Gillespie in acres of space, allowing him to round off his hat-trick with a bottom corner finish. A wonderful piece of play from the three Monaghan men. Monaghan were unable to keep a clean sheet as the final attack of the game resulted in a Shamrocks goal, but it was the away side who left the pitch the happier after a strong team performance rounded off with some well worked team goals.
Our Man of The Match award goes to forward Cian Bradley-Gillespie, as he put in a fantastic performance, stretching the Cavan defence on a number of occasions and capping off his fine performance with 3 well taken goals.
Next Saturday (3rd February) Monaghan United U-14’s travel to Cavan Astro to play Cavan Celtic in the CMUL Cup. The club & management would like to ask all the parents and family members to come out and support the team.
Man of The Match: Cian Bradley-Gillespie
Goals: Cian Bradley-Gillespie, Josh Kelly
Team: Ciaran Doyle, Blake Lees, Robin Pratt-Clarke, Aodhan McQuaid, Cian Brennan, Fionan O’Gallachoir, Patrick Treanor (C), Tomas Galvin, Josh Kelly, Eoin O’Hanlon, Fionnan O’Braonian, Cian Bradley-Gillespie, Dylan O’Reilly
Managers: Conor Finnegan, Brian Finnegan
Monaghan United U-14's 