Published: Wednesday, 17th March, 2010 5:00pm

St Finbar's take inaugural Christopher Sheils Cup

From left: Tony Sheils, Tom Reilly, Chairman Cavan Co. Board, Amanda Sheils, Owen Duffy, Shercock captain, runners up, St Finbar's captain Ian Middleton and Philomena Sheils. Photo: Adrian Donohoe
Pic by==: 97

Goal-specialists St Finbarr's became the first side to win the Christopher Sheils Memorial Tournament last Saturday afternoon when they defeated Shercock by 3-8 to 1-8 in the final on the new 3G pitch at Kingspan Breffni Park.

The Drung/Kill amalgamation, managed by Thomas Jackson and Niall McCaffrey, were worthy winners of the tournament organised by the county board to remember the former Cavan and Ramor minor footballer, who tragically lost his life on October 10th of last year.

All in all, 33 Under 16 teams from across the county took part in the 7-a-side competition which ran over two weekends and it was a genuine credit to all the clubs involved, as well as the organisers of the event.

Proceedings got underway for the final day of the tournament on Saturday morning last at 10.30am between four groups of four, where St Finbarr's, Shercock, Cavan Gaels and Killygarry came through Groups One to Four, respectively, to progress to the semi-finals.

Both semi-finals threw-in at 1.00pm, as Cavan Gaels took on Shercock and St Finbar's faced Killygarry.

The former pair played out a thrilling encounter which saw the Gaels leading at half-time and strike three goals between the two ten-minute halves, but in the end it was Shercock's ability to pick off points at will in the second-half from David Harpur and Ryan Clerkin and a well-taken goal from Niall Clerkin that sent them into the decider, as they edged out the hotly fancied Cavan town side by 1-9 to 3-2.

In the other last four clash, goals made all the difference for St Finbarr's, who had came through their group after a winning result against a Ballymachugh side which they finished on level points with, as they saw off Killygarry's challenge to book their place into the final.

Goals from Stephen Jackson and Aaron Watson inside the first three minutes had Finbarr's on their way early on, but Killygarry struck back with points from Paul Smith, Andy O'Brien and Conor Walker to narrow down the gap to three at half-time. The young Crubany men kicked two early scores after the restart to bring the difference to one, before the amalgamated side rediscovered their goal-touch through Damien O'Brien and team captain Ian Middleton. Brian Crowe added a fifth major two minutes from the end to seal the deal and help send the Saints into the final on a comprehensive 5-8 to 0-9 result.

Prior to the final, a minute's silence was observed in memory of Christopher and once the ball was thrown-in by referee Raymond Tynan both teams held nothing in reserve as they served up a superb showdown for those in attendance.

The winners drew first blood with points from Caolan O'Reilly and Ian Middleton, but Shercock responded in emphatic fashion when Niall Clerkin rattled the net from close range.

However, the town side would be rattled themselves when Finbarr's goalkeeper Stephen Jackson belted a kick-out which deceived his opposite number, Colin Clerkin, and bounced into the Shercock net. Moments later, Caolan O'Reilly pulled off some superb work to cross to Ian Middleton, who fisted a second goal in as many minutes, which helped his team into a 2-5 to 1-3 lead at the break.

In the second-half, Niall Clerkin brought the deficit down to four for Sherock with a neat over, but Finbarr's buried in their third goal via Middleton and three points in-a-row from their reliable outlet Damien O'Brien up front made sure their would be no way back for their opponents and that theirs would be the first name on the Christopher Sheils Cup.

After the game, St Finbarr's captain Ian Middleton was presented with the Cup by the Sheils family, who were proud to see such a turn out of support for the tournament over the three days.

Christopher's father, Tony, said afterwards: "On behalf all of the Sheils family, I'd like to thank all the teams that took part. It was a great tribute to Christopher. I'd like to thank all the managers; there were some great games in this tournament. The referees over the three days that gave up their time to make sure these game all came off alright. To Nicholas (Walsh) and all the coaching staff as well, who were a big, big help in getting this tournament off the ground."

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