Letterkenny Rovers showed true character, grit and determination to overcome Blayney Rovers 2-0 in Clones on Saturday afternoon to lift the Ulster Youth Cup and in doing so secure their second trophy on successive weekends after Gorey Curran Cup glory the previous week.
Sometimes pretty football does not always win football matches and sometimes teams have to dig in and play for each other and the jersey to succeed and those qualities were in abundance as the Cathedral Town men deservedly triumphed in extremely difficult conditions at the fabulous Peacelink complex in the border town.
It was the Donegal men who were fast out of the blocks and took the lead on 8 minutes when Tarlach O’Boyle slotted home from close range after a Conor O’Donnell long throw was only cleared as far as Sean Curran and his header picked out O’Boyle who made no mistake firing past Blayney goalkeeper Kian O’Connor.
Despite not being at their most fluent Rovers were still on top for the opening half and they could have had the game out of sight with Shane Doherty going close on 13 minutes before Doherty failed to convert a one-on-one when through on the keeper on 20 minutes.
Frustration seemed to grow amongst Anthony Gormans charges who just couldnt get that all important second goal and further chances came and went from a Sean Curran speculative effort, a Michael Gallagher header just over and a David O’Donnell shot just wide while Tarlach O’Boyle had a headed effort incorrectly ruled out for offside by linesman Xavier Coyle who was busy raising his flag in the opening period.
Blayney created very little in the opening period apart from a Tommy Geehan effort which saw Sean Friel make a comfortable save.
Blayney came out fighting in the second period and had a 15 minute purple patch of sorts with the lively Geehan and Craig Callen posing a number of problems for the Letterkenny defence with Geehan squandering a couple of chances to equalise while Mark O’Connor somehow headed over when it seemed easier to score.
Anthony Gormans men also came close through sub Dylan Laird while O’Boyle, Gallagher and O’Donnell all had good chances although Rovers frustration began to grow with a number of cynical challenges which went unpunished with some strange decisions from the Monaghan based officials also not helping matters as the game threatened to spiral out of control.
The introduction of Laird added a new spark to proceedings though and Rovers should have been awarded a penalty on 84 minutes when David O’Donnell was scythed down in the box and one could only wonder how referee Paul McGeown waved away the appeals and in the ensuing protests O’Donnell was booked for dissent.
That seemed to galvanise Rovers though and O’Donnell was not to be denied as he latched onto a Conor O’Donnell long throw-in to neatly fire home at the back post on 86 minutes to clinch the insurance goal.
Conor O’Donnell then came close to making it 3-0 on 87 minutes as Rovers regained all the composure and played some super football but the game turned ugly when O’Connor lashed out at Laird and again no action was taken by the officials which led to some bewilderment from the Rovers bench who had aimed to seek more protection for their players.
Letterkenny finish their season and can hold their heads high with a second placed finish in the league and two cups secured in what was a rebuilding exercise at Leckview Park in 2015/16.
Blayney Rovers; Kian O’Connor, Ben McNee, Callum Blanche, Tommy Geehan,Stephen McNally,Mark O’Connor,Craig Callan, Charlie McDonnell,Kyle Plummer, Kevin McCooey,Jonas Mikusauskas
Sub; Yanis Kotolovs for Mikusauskas 52 mins
Letterkenny Rovers; Sean Friel,Calvin O’Brien,James Tourish,Eoghan Kelly,Ruairi Friel,Sean Curran, David O’Donnell, michael Gallagher, Shane Doherty, Conor O’Donnell, Tarlach O’Boyle
Subs; Dylan Laird for O’Boyle 65 mins, Darragh morrison for Tourish 78 mins, Daire Crossan for Conor O’Donnell 88 mins
Ref;Paul McGeown
Asst Ref; Frank Gorrell and Xavier Coyle
