A dogged Shannon Town Utd came up short in their historic U16 National Cup semi-final.
Carrigaline United AFC 2
Shannon Town Utd 1
Venue: Lynch Park, Shannon
Horrendous conditions clouded the tie as Carrigaline United booked their place in the SFAI Sketchers National Cup U16 Final despite being pushed to the limit by Shannon Town on Saturday afternoon.
Shannon Town played into a gale and driving rain in the opening half so it was Carrigaline who settled better and they came close to breaking the deadlock but a free kick went narrowly wide of Colin Riordan’s post.
More pressure was applied on the Shannon defence with a Carrigaline corner causing chaos but the hosts settled led by Riordan.
They appeared to be given a new lease of life after taking the lead. Cian Johnson played in Charlie Morrison who beat two defenders and calmly slotted the ball into the corner of the net. Stephen Dolan’s side would then dominate the tie up until half-time.
Photograph: Joe Buckley 
Kevin Kelly takes a throw. Photograph: Joe Buckley 
Charlie Morrison puts Shannon Town in front. Photograph: Joe Buckley 
Kevin Kelly controls the ball. Photograph: Joe Buckley 
Craig Riordan looks up. Photograph: Joe Buckley 
Gavin Carrig. Photograph: Joe Buckley
Passing the ball became even more difficult on the resumption as the weather conditions continued to deteriorate.
Carrigaline came out of the blocks in the second half, their message at the break appeared to be very effective as Shannon Town had to play with their backs to the walls from here on. The pressure paid off when the Cork side drew level with a Jamie Moore header from a Ciaran Crotty cross on forty four minutes.
Five minutes later, the visitors took the lead. A mix up in the Shannon Town defence following another Crotty long ball was punished by the danger man, Jamie Moore.
Shannon Town threw everything at Carrigaline in the final minutes but the visitors held out to secure their place in the final.
Credit is due to Shannon Town for reaching the last four in Ireland, their efforts in the clash were commendable, the Cork side just shaded it and it was unfortunate that an error would prove to be the difference.
Charlie Morrison, Craig Riordan, Colin Riordan, Cian Johnson and Colin Curran impressed for the Shannon side.
Shannon Town: Colin Riordan, Aaron Kelly, Darragh O’Callaghan, Gavin Carrig, Craig Riordan, Kevin Kelly, Colin Curran, Charlie Morrison, Alex Meaney, Jamie Doyle.
