Boys U13 (2013) Premier - Clane United
On yet another perfect evening for football on pitch 1 in Naas Sports Centre Naas AFC took on Clane United in the semi final of the KDUL Cup. Clane got the upper hand when the sides met just six days ago in the premier division, winning 4-1.
Naas were nervous early on but settled into the game with wingers Frankie O’Leary and Kellum Finnegan stretching the Clane defence with Hin Ngo and Mikey Danu supporting centrally. With just 5 minutes gone Peter McBride was fouled on the edge of the Clane box. Christopher Sheridan stepped up and hit a low drive that the Clane keeper could only parry and following up was Kellum Finnegan to bury the rebound to make it 1-0. The perfect start.
Naas continued to boss the game with Jason Gleeson and Peter McBride controlling the midfield. Clane did have some chances though the best of which brought a great low diving save from Kian Shanaghy. On 25 mins Peter McBride released Kellum Finnegan down the left wing. Finnegan hit a slide rule pass through the middle of the Clane defence for Mikey Danu’s run. The Clane centre back clipped Danu’s legs, penalty to Naas. Up stepped Jamie Dunphy but he saw his low drive stopped by the Clane keeper. Dunphy recovered from that disappointment to resume his rock solid defensive duties though.
Into the second half and Clane came out with a high tempo and hunger. A whipped corner caused chaos in the Naas defence in the third minute of the half and as Kian Shanaghy tried to punch clear the ball bounced off a Clane attacker and into the net. Naas were rattled but they steadied the ship and stayed well in the game. Both sides battled well, with Jason Gleeson a real strong presence in the Naas midfield. Sergiu Serbu and Steven Zhang came into the game replacing the injured Max Kennedy and Mikey Danu. The two u12 players borrowed for the day to help strengthen the squad slotted right in and player really well. It was Clane though who had the best chance before full time with Kian Shanaghy making a brilliant 1v1 save with practically the last kick of the game.
The game went to penalties where Jamie Dunphy, Chris Sheridan, Frankie O’Leary, Peter McBride and Kian Shanaghy all found the net with Clane also netting all of their first 5 pens. On to sudden death and Kian Shanaghy managed to save the 6th Clane spot kick, tipping low driven shot onto the post. Next on the list for Naas was the brave Sergiu Serbu who drove his penalty into the net.
A great story to finish the game and the U13s march into the KDUL Cup Final where they’ll face their old foe Kill Celtic in Kilcock next Saturday.
