Last minute penalty seals FAI Senior Schools Cup win for St Eunan's

Tiernan Brown's 90th minute penalty saw the Donegal school defeat De La Salle College Waterford in the final

Piaras Ó Mídheach / SPORTSFILE

2022 FAI SENIOR SCHOOLS DR. TONY O’NEILL CUP FINAL 

ST. EUNAN’S, LETTERKENNY 3 (Barrett 21, Plumb 71, Brown pen 90) DE LA SALLE COLLEGE, WATERFORD 2 (Grinius 37, O’Brien 49) 

Tiernan Brown was the match-winner for St. Eunan’s of Letterkenny yesterday afternoon, as his penalty in the 90th minute settled an end-to-end contest with De La Salle of Waterford and crowned the Donegal school as the FAI Schools Senior champions for the eighth time in their history.

A strong wind blew down the ground and into the faces of the St. Eunan’s players in the first half, and they started well but still needed a huge slice of luck to take the lead after 21 minutes.

De la Salle captain Alessandro de Sanctis looked to have given his side the lead when he pounced on a spilled ball to tap in from close range, but it was ruled out for offside. With the Waterford students still visibly annoyed by the call, St. Eunan’s broke upfield and set up Noah Barrett for the opening score.

Matas Grinius met Evan Ryan’s corner with a decisive header to level the game after 37 minutes, and the same combination again came to the fore four minutes into the second half.

This time Grinius’ header crashed off the crossbar, but St. Eunan’s failure to clear left Shane O’Brien with the chance to shoot from eight yards out, and the striker didn’t waste his chance.

From here, St. Eunan’s took control of midfield and gradually ratcheted up the pressure. They too had a goal ruled out for offside, while Dara Kavanagh in the De La Salle goal had to make two excellent saves.

Kavanagh could do nothing as Nathan Plumb latched on to a long ball to chip the ball past him on 71 minutes. In the last minute Kavanagh arrived late charging out at the St. Eunan’s striker, and conceded the penalty that ultimately decided the game.

ST. EUNAN’S, LETTERKENNY: F Doherty; L Doherty, D Boakye, F Bashar, T Brown; A Murphy, R Creevy; D McAteer, J Maguire, N Barrett; N Plumb.

DE LA SALLE COLLEGE, WATERFORD: D Kavanagh; M Elliott, A Ebhonuaye, M Grinius, S Hearne; J Twomey; Z Galvin (C McCabe 74), A de Sanctis, E Ryan; A Adenopo (J Lacey Keane 24); S O’Brien.

Referee: R Conlon.