Villa u 12 team win Manchester Cup in style
Villa played 5 group games , semi final and final over the Easter weekend, scoring 20 goals conceding only 1 in the final to win the Manchester Cup u 13.
Their opening game against Leeside Knockraha of Cork , pitted them against the first of 7 bigger physical teams but great team work eventually lead to a 4 nil victory. Darren Finn playing very well got injured in this game and we were lucky to have Niall McCabe and Evan O'Donnell with us from the u 11 squad and did they play well up front with Daniel Aherne and Walter Croke
Next came the first of our English opponents, Abraham Moss from the City side of Manchester. A tough game against a very athletic team , but Villa matched them in every aspect , a great save from Brandon O'Callaghan kept us in the game and a goal from Kenny McEvoy sealed victory.
Third game against local side Fallowfield , another very strong side who played good football,but great defensive play from Walter Dunphy , Austin Gleeson, Jamie Cross and Christian Cullen curtailed all opposition attacks ,another great save from Brandon and Kenny scored again to complete win and keep us top of group.
Fourth game versus Droyslden again of Manchester and a team who had beaten us some yearts ago u-10.This was a great team display. Our defence on top, our midfield in control and we played very good football to win 6-0
Final group game against Ballyduff Waterford, local derby !! a big strong game side ,on their first visit to Manchester cup and they made it very hard for us but again a fine team performance saw us win by 4-0 and top the group.
We now face the runners up in group B .. Riverstown from Cork , who were a big team and we had seen them play their last group game, so we knew we were in for a tough game..It started at a very quick pace, they were stronger than us but Gavin O'Donovan , Conor Coad ( Capt) Dave Cooley, Kenny McEvoy took control of midfield, with our defence holding strong ,we had the move of the Tournament , a ball picked up in defence by Jamie Cross, played wide to Christian at full back , up the line to Cooley , beats one player into Gavin O'Donovan to Conor Coad , 1/2 to Daniel out to Kenny who cuts in beats 2 men, tackled hard by defender but rides tackle, lays off to Gavin who sidefoots into net. The next 5 minutes are a battle and then a ball from Austin to Conor to Niall McCabe , drags the ball back , deceives the defender and sticks it into top corner from just inside box , game over , despite the best efforts of a strong Riverstown team our Defence are in total control and we are in the final .
FINAL Versus De La Salle Manchester
Two unbeaten teams , this had all the makings of a great final and it did'nt disappoint the large crowd of neutrals and all the Villa fans who came to watch it. Again we conceded height /size to our opponents but we certainly did not fear them .We started as we had played in semi with Gavin winning every header/tackle , Conor spraying balls right /left , Kenny and Cooley taking on defenders and getting dangerous crosses into our front men , Walter Croke who showed some great skill,Danny Aherne ,Niall and Evan .The break came after 9 mins, following good football from defence ,Kenny beat 2 players played Danny in , and the keeper had no options but to bring him down . penalty ..up stepped Christian Cullen and coolly sent the big keeper the wrong way. We outplayed the opposition from most of the first half but they still had 2 chances but our net minder Brandon O'Callaghan was in fine form. Walter Dunphy tackled and covered every blade of grass , Austin Gleeson kept the big centre forward under control and Jamie Cross was in total control of the defence. The second half was played at frantic pace but we played the better football with Niall and Evan playing well above their age but not their ability. Walter Croke showing lovely touches and Danny showcasing all his skills. With 2 minutes left we gave away a needless corner and following a scramble we conceded an equaliser. At this stage the crowd had grown such was the interest in this very close game. Extra time and Golden goal . Darren Finn was bursting to get on despite the injury and encouraged all the team , as this is a squad that looks after everyone. 2 chances for both teams and we were playing against a strong wind , another move from defence saw the ball changed cross field to Kenny and he drove into the box , his shot was blocked , and in the scramble he reacted first and unleashed a cracker into the roof of the net ...
While we felt sorry for our opponents we were delighted and our supporters went mad!!
Overall a great display from this villa squad , which showed that size is not everything , the will to win and the belief that good football will overcome the odds is what counts ...
Well done to Larry Eddie and Kenny and all supporters
U9 7-a-side
The Villa U9 team started their group games with a match against Greenleas who were from the Wirral in Liverpool. Greenleas were a physically stronger side than than the young Villa team. The Villa Team started slowly but with Stephen Doheny and Roy Butler on top in defence the half time score was 0-0. The Villa started the 2nd half in a more positive manner and were soon ahead after a spectacular strike from Dylan Walsh. Adam McNamara scored late in the game to make the final score 2-0 to the Villa.
The next group match was against Apollo Juniors who were again from England. The Villa team totally dominated this match but had no luck in front of goal with Dylan McGuire, Aaron O' Connor and Robert Ryan all going close. The match ended scoreless with solid displays from Adam Doheny, Dylan Griffin and Calum O' Neill.
The Villa were now finding their feet in the Manchester cup and had a comfortable win over Droylsden who won this competition last year on a scoreline of 3-0 with goals from Aaron O' Connor, Dylan Walsh and Calum O' Neill. Dylan Griffin had another very good game on goal and Stephen Doheny was in control in defence.
The Villa then moved onto their last group match against the other undefeated team Mossley Hill who were from Manchester. This was a fantastic game of football with the ball flowing from end to end. The Villa had a number of chances to win the game and the group but it was Mossley Hill who scored a goal in the last few minutes to secure top position in the group with the Villa team qualifying in 2nd place for the Sunday morning semi finals.
The Manchester cup semi final was against Chaddy End who had won all their games in their group the previous day and had scored 17 goals and conceded none. This was a classic game of football from start to finish which was enjoyed by a large crowd. The Villa came under some early pressure and only the brilliance of Dylan Griffin in goal kept the Villa in the game. The Villa got a free kick in the middle of the pitch and Aaron O' Connor hit a stunning shot into the top corner to give the Villa a 1-0 lead. Just before half time the Villa conceded a soft goal to leave the half time score reading 1-1. A number of changes were made at half time with Roy Butler coming into defence and Adam McNamara coming into midfield. The Villa started brightly in the second half but were caught asleep when a quick free quick was taken allowing a free Chaddy End player to score. The Villa team never gave up and threw everything into attack. They got their reward when a corner from Dylan Walsh was deflected into his own goal by the Chaddy End goalkeeper. The excitement was now reaching fever pitch and the full time whistle sounded shortly after. The match had gone into "golden goal" extra time. The Villa had to play the first half of extra time up the hill and against the wind. Towards the end of the first half of extra time a Chaddy End break resulted in them scoring the winner. The Villa players were very disappointed but can take heart from some very good performances. Chaddy End went onto win the final on a scoreline of 3-0. 4 of the Chaddy End players are currently in premiership academies and the Villa were the only team to score against Chaddy End.
The Villa team finished the tournament with a 3-0 defeat to Mossley Hill in the 3rd/4th place playoff with all the members of the panel getting a game. The Villa panel was Dylan Griffin, Stephen Doheny, Roy Butler, Adam Doheny, Robert Ryan, Dylan McGuire, Aaron O' Connor, Dylan Walsh, Calum O' Neill. Well done to every player who was a credit to their club.
U10 7-A-SIDE
The under 10A team put up a very good show in the recent Manchester Cup Competition. They started the tourament against Droylsden from Manchester and it been their first game in a small sized match they were very lucky to go down by one goal to nil.
Our next three games were versus Newport from Tipperary, Marauders and Urban Sports from England. In these games we put in some very good performances and won all three games comfortably.
In the semi final we faced another team from England called Irlam Athletic and after going into an early lead Irlam Athletic equalized and even the dreaded golden goal could not separate it. We were then defeated 5-4 on penalties, so then we had to settle for the third and fourth place play-off where we played our B team and we won one nil with a goal with practically the last kick off the game.
Overall it was a very good tourament for our lads and our panel for the weekend was Darragh Collopy, Craig Brown, Tommy Power, David Hobbs, Greg Milne, James Coad, Adam Doyle, Colin Barry and our player of the tourament Brian Cunningham.
U14 11-A SIDE TOURNAMENT
The Under 14's found the competition tough on Saturday narrowly going down 1-0 to Killinardish of Cork in the opening game followed by defeats to Manchester sides Eagles and Oswald 2-0 and 4-0 respectively. Credit to the players as we came out strongly on Sunday to draw the final group game against West End from Manchester. That placed us in the shield competition where we drew 0-0 twice against Duckensfield of the UK and Riverstown of Cork. With the other teams in the round robin also drawing 0-0 we played out a three way penalty shoot out for the Shield but were runner up in the shootout. Our successful penalty takers were Kenny Patterson, Robbie Lannon, Mark Hobbs and Karl Byrne with Karl also making a fine stop in the shootout.
The competition will prove a good learning experience for this squad.
Under 14 Squad Karl Byrne, Dean Butler, Ciaran Purcell, Mark Hobbs, Jack Mannix, Ben Cross, Cian O'Hara, Kevin Curran, Kenny Patterson, Barry Power, Jonathan O'Brien, Paul Mates, Kevin Flynn, Ian Keohan and Robbie Lannon.
The club would like to thank Derek Doheny who was the trip organiser for a very well run weekend away - everything went like clockwork and we appreciate the amount of work that went into organising this trip.
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