Below par Mervue United youths pay price

Fairview Rangers 1Mervue United 0

Mike Rafferty

WHEN Philip Ryan hammered his fist into the roof of the Mervue United dug-out moments after the final whistle in Limerick’s Jackman Park on Sunday, he was really summing up the frustration of a side who left the greatest sporting opportunity of their short lives behind them.

For the vast majority of the Umbro FAI Youth Cup final, the visitors were the dominant side, but it counted for little as Shane Power’s stunning volley on 78 minutes gave the home side the title for the first time in their history.

It was a day when the occasion got to Mervue United. They were highly rated, the favourites and a good experienced side whose players regularly ply their trade in the League of Ireland. However this is a team game and from the early exchanges which they totally dominated, they lacked a cohesion and movement that in previous games had been very much a trait.

They displayed their quality with superb earlier wins over Cork City, Clonmel Town and Newbridge Town and after scoring 30 goals in six rounds there should have been no problem in that department.

From the kick off, Mervue were in control and on the attack as the home side struggled to get a touch of the ball. However despite all the possession, there was a lack of a cutting edge about the visitors as Kevin McCarthy’s goal – while crowded and well populated at times – was never directly threatened.

Certainly, Fairview custodian McCarthy was kept busy, but it was all pretty routine stuff with set pieces providing the visitors’ best options of a breakthrough. On 13 minutes a Dan Cunningham throw in was cleared, but both Pat Huban and Barry McEntee had efforts blocked in a crowded box.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.