Local Under 12 selection defeat Kildare

Two first half goals was enough to send the talented youngsters of the Cavan-Monaghan Schoolboy League into the All Ireland quarter-finals of this year's SFAI Cashin Cup. Leading their group before the surprise defeat to Wicklow a fortnight earlier either a draw or a win would see Cavan-Monaghan through to the last eight but Kildare had the incentive of a place in the last eight if they could win. The game was played in the magnificent Cavan Box Park in Ballyjamesduff and a large crowd watched a fascinating game of football that was played at an unbelievable pace right from the off. Cavan-Monaghan were pressing the ball high up the pitch right from the start and this unsettled the Kildare team who were hurrying clearances and misplacing passes. With 5 minutes on the clock it was from one such rushed clearance that Cavan-Monaghan took the lead. Conor Smith chased down a back pass that was cleared straight to Thomas Edward Donohoe in the centre of midfield, who calmly played the ball out to Shane "chippy" Finnegan on the right hand side of the penalty box. Chippy beat the left back and unleashed a rocket of a shot from the tightest of angles into the top corner before reeling off to celebrate his wonder strike with all his teammates in front of the large crowd. There was to be no let up in the Cavan-Monaghan pressure. The midfield trio of Thomas Edward Donohoe, Jake Doyle Hayes and Jason McBride strangled the creativity of the Kildare midfield. Kildare's playmaker was largely subdued by the superb handling throughout the game of Jason McBride's discipline in sticking to the game plan and this freed up the impressive Jake Doyle Hayes to launch attack after attack on the Kildare defence and it would only be a matter of time before the lead would be extended. On 20 minutes Darragh Kennedy won the ball on the half way line and played a great through ball for Conor Smith to outpace the Kildare defence and spotting the keeper off his line hit a first time chip over the head of the keeper from 25 yards to make it 2 v 0. Throughout the first half Jason McBride was proving a thorn in the side of Kildare by always being available in central areas to exploit the space and in addition Leonard McDermott was proving a handful for the Kildare defence and after a brilliant piece of skill that left three players flat footed, he sent a brilliant cross to the back post only to be headed narrowly wide by Conor Smith. Most of Kildare pressure came down the right hand side but was superbly dealt with by Sporting Youths FC's Calvin Carlisle, making his debut in this year's Cashin Cup. With two minutes left on the clock before half time, Kildare had their best move of the match that saw their first effort saved superbly by Daniel Cullivan only to fall into the path of their striker whose goal ward bound shot was blocked by an incredible full length block by the Cavan-Monaghan "captain fantastic" Tiarnan Reilly to block a certain goal. HT Cavan/Monaghan 2 v 0 Kildare Five minutes into the second half and a strong wind started to range against the Cavan/Monaghan team and made it hard to out jump the physically bigger Kildare team and strong defence was required throughout. Luke Fortune and Darragh Kennedy were crunching into tackles with great support from Tiarnan Reilly and Shane McMahon on as a halftime substitute for Calvin Carlisle. When the defence was beaten Daniel Cuillivan in goal was equal to every challenge thrown his way. A goal did look on the cards for Kildare and it duly arrived with 12 minutes left when the Kildare left winger beat to players before crashing an unstoppable shot into the bottom right corner from just inside the penalty area. Rather than a setback to the Cavan/Monaghan players, the Kildare goal seemed to inspire the team to see out the remainder of the game with Kildare unable to get another shot in goal. Instead the introduction of fresh legs in Karl Cosgrove and Cormac Cullen for Jason McBride and Shane Finnegan brought fresh momentum to the Cavan/Monaghan attack with both going close in the later stages. In the dying minutes of the game Aaron McNally made his debut in this year's Cashin Cup when he replaced Leonard McDermott and he too had a half chance at the end that went wide of the post. The final whistle was met with jubilant scenes as the entire squad spilled out on the pitch to celebrate not only a victory but a home tie in the all Ireland quarter final against Kilkenny Schoolboy League in April. It is a well deserved place for all the players commitment this season and following impressive victories against not only Kildare but Carlow and the North Dublin Schoolboy League earlier in the campaign. Squad: Daniel Cullivan, Darragh Kennedy, Luke Fortune, Tiarnan Reilly, Calvin Carlisle, Jake Doyle Hayes, Thomas Edward Donohoe, Jason McBride, Shane Finnegan, Leonard McDermott, Conor Smith, Shane McMahon, Karl Cosgrove, Cormac Cullen, Aaron McNally, John Flood, Dillon Kelly, Eoin Smith, Dylan Quinn, Eoin Hannick, Conor Leonard, Adam Quirke, Stephen Smith.