In the Final of the CMUL Cup, Monaghan United U-14s squared up against local rivals Monaghan Town in Clara Lane, Cootehill, with both sides entering the match on good form. The game kicked off with the home team gaining the early possession quickly putting a defence of Blake Lees, Robin Pratt-Clarke, Aodhan McQuaid and Fionan O’Gallachoir under pressure but they were struggling to get in behind the United defence as they defended very well under pressure. Monaghan Town were looking the better of the two sides and near went infront when they fired in a shot from long range, but goalkeeper Ciaran Doyle was on hand with a fine save. The tide soon turned an Monaghan United soon began to dominate in the attacking areas. They found the opening goal of the game when forward Cian Bradley-Gillespie sent in a deep corner, Town cleared the ball but Captain Patrick Treanor won the ball back and teed up forward Dylan O’Reilly’s whos shot took a slight deflection and sailed into the roof of the net. Advantage Monaghan United. United soon doubled their advantage when Dylan O’Reilly received the ball in the middle of the pitch and drove straight at the Town defence before unleashing a thunderous long range strike into the top corner of the net. 2-0 to United with one of the goals of the season from the impressive young forward. The next chance of the game came when forward Lewis Brady broke down the left wing and his cross found midfielder Josh Kelly who led off full back Fionan O’Gallachoir, who seen his strike sail narrowly wide. United were desperate to increase their advantage and nearly done so when Dylan O’Reilly slipped through Cian Bradley-Gillespie who was denied by the Town goalkeeper. The pair then combined once again when Cian beat the defender before finding Dylan O’Reilly at the front post, only to see his effort go the wrong side of the post. Advantage was with United but near the end of the first half Monaghan Town began dominating the possession in the middle of the park. They were showing that United had a fight on their hands and soon found a way back into the game when they scored with minutes left on the board. 2-1 the halftime scoreline
The second half kicked off with United looking to restore a two goal advantage. Patrick Treanor slipped a through ball to forward Fionnan O’Braonian who found the bottom corner of the net, only to see his goal disallowed for an offside decision. The next chance also fell Uniteds way when Dylan O’Reilly sent through forward Eoin O’Hanlon, only to see his effort sail wide of the mark. Uniteds early pressure soon prevailed when Dylan O’Reilly drove to the byline and sent a cross to the back post with forward Dara McKenna firing it into the back of the net with a neat header. 3-1 to United. The game was now 50/50 with a midfield of Eoin O’Hanlon, Patrick Treanor and Jake McGeough battling it out for possession with the Town midfield as both teams tried to find the next goal. Monaghan United came close when Dara McKenna broke free down the right hand side only to see his shot equalled by a fine save from the Town goalkeeper. United were throwing everything at their attack and soon nearly found another goal when Eoin O’Hanlon struck close from a corner kick. Dylan O’Reilly was firing in some impressive corners and United nearly used this to their advantage when Aodhan McQuaid struck from inside the box, only to be denied by some brilliant defending as the ball was cleared from the line. As United persisted with attacking, Monaghan Town soon found themselves with a lifeline when the broke on the counter attack and struck the ball into the back of the United net. 3-2 now and game on! The game was now very nervy for United as Town grew in confidence, but Monaghan pushed forward non the less. Dylan O’Reilly struck in a long free kick, and after Town initially cleared the ball, Patrick Treanor went close from long range. Monaghan were set up now defensively with Town increasing the pressure, as Jake McGeough, Patrick Treanor and Eoin O’Hanlon were forced to work tirelessly. However, United broke on the counter as Dylan O’Reilly dribbled forward down the centre, he slipped a through ball to Dara McKenna who made no hesitation and struck the back of the net. 4-2 to Monaghan United. Monaghan were now buzzing and soon increased their lead, center back Robin Pratt-Clarke won the ball deep and cleared it to Dylan O’Reilly, and just like the previous goal, he found Dara McKenna with a through ball who fired home an impressive second half hat-trick! The game looked to be over, but not for a second did Monaghan Town think it was, they soon found the back of the net once again only to see their goal disallowed for an offside decision. They kept the pressure on the Monaghan defence and soon found their third with a very tidy finish. 5-3 now with the game far from over. With just minutes left on the clock there was still plenty of time for some goals as Dylan O’Reilly slipped through Cian Bradley-Gillespie, only to see another goal in the game ruled out for offside. The final goal of the game did fall to Monaghan United when Patrick Treanor got the ball deep in Towns half, he lobbed the ball over their defence finding the impressive Dara McKenna, who volleyed the ball into the roof of the net. 6-3 to Monaghan United as Dara ranked up an impressive 4 second half goals. And thats how it eventually finished, goals galore at both ends as Monaghan United ran out 6-3 winners, progressing as Champions of the CMUL Cup for the second time in three years!
Our Man of The Match award goes to forward Dylan O’Reilly, as he lead his team from the frontline, capping off his amazing performance with two brilliant goals and three assists.
The Managers would like to thank all the parents of the team for their continued support and efforts all season, the club for all their important work throughout the year, but most of all the players who time and time again put in fantastic performances in each and every game, ending the year as runners-up in the league and another impressive Cup Win.
I would like to personally thank Brian Finnegan for all his hard work and dedication to the game and to Monaghan United. He has been a coaching inspiration to myself and to many many people from this club, giving many kids some of the the best opportunities in the game, and Im sure we would all like to wish him the best in his retirement from the game!
Man of The Match: Dylan O’Reilly
Goals: Dylan O’Reilly (2), Darragh McKenna (4)
Team: Ciaran Doyle, Blake Lees, Aodhan Doyle, Robin Pratt-Clarke, Aodhan McQuaid, Fionan O’Gallachoir, Patrick Treanor (C), Jake McGeough, Tomas Galvin, Josh Kelly, Eoin O’Hanlon, Fionnan O’Braonian, Cian Bradley-Gillespie, Dara McKenna, Lewis Brady, Dylan O’Reilly
Managers: Conor Finnegan, Brian Finnegan
Monaghan United U-14's 