You can read about the match in full here.
Portlaoise AFC 3 Athenry FC 0
Portlaoise AFC under 15s progressed to the last 16 of the National SFAI Cup with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Athenry in extremely windy conditions at the Portlaoise Leisure Centre on Saturday 26th February.
Athenry started the game brightly and dominated possession for the first ten minutes with the aid of a gale force wind. Once Portlaoise got their passing game going, they started to grow in confidence and went close a few times with Conor O’Callaghan hitting the post and Pete Culleton hitting the crossbar. The deadlock was finally broken on the 18-minute mark with a clinical finish from Dylan Mc Carthy. Conor O’Callaghan picked the ball up on the left-hand side of the box and whipped in a good cross where Dylan McCarthy beat the nearest defender with a good header only for the Athenry goalkeeper to make a great save. Dylan reacted first to the rebound and scored from close range to give Portlaoise a decisive lead against the wind. The opening goal really settled Portlaoise and they started to build some good flowing football and passages of play for the remainder of the half and went close to adding to their lead several times.
In the second half, Portlaoise continued to dominate possession with the support of a strong wind and doubled their lead after 10 minutes when Conor O’Callaghan scored with a stunning finish from 25 yards. With 15 mins to go, Portlaoise wrapped things up when Elijah Emmanuel showed some great skill and composure to beat a couple of defenders to make it 3-0 with a tidy finish following some fine build-up play from Daniel Kavanagh and Sean Lalor.
Although the game was beyond Athenry’s grasp in the closing stages, they never let their confidence drop and continued to put in a hardworking performance and played some lovely football throughout the game which augurs well for their future development.
All in all, this was a fantastic squad display from this Portlaoise team with every squad player making a valuable contribution. Special mention must go to Alex Danne and Ryan Carroll for a solid defensive display and Conor O’Callaghan, Elijah Emmanuel, Pete Culleton and Dylan Daly who were a constant attacking threat throughout the game. As always, the boys did the club proud with their positive attitude and upbeat spirit.
This win secures their place in the last 16 of the SFAI National Cup which is scheduled to take place on Saturday 5th March at home to Moyne Villa from Galway.
Finally, special recognition must go to Mark Lee who refereed the game very well, handling the key moments with composure and communicating in a clear and concise manner to the players and coaches when needed.
Portlaoise Under-15 squad:
Cian O’Neill, Eamonn Browne, Alex Danne, Conor O’Callaghan, Elijah Emmanuel, Sean Lalor, Pete Culleton, Daniel Kavanagh, Jamie Gorman, Aidan Byrne, Dylan McCarthy, Ryan Carroll, Peter Ciarkowski, Daniel Sukhanov, Ryan Morrin, Dylan Daly, Daniel Aranisi.
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