Brave Carlow effort just comes up short in Bowl bid
Carlow captain Conor Whelan and DDSL captain Conor O'Sullivan with match officials Mark Kennedy, David Seawright, John Fitzgerald and Eugene Nunan ahead of the game.
Two goals in the space of three second-half minutes broke the hearts of the Carlow and District Juveniles League as schoolboy kingpins, the Dublin & District Schoolboy League, came from behind to win this SFAI Subway Kennedy Cup Bowl quarterfinal.
It was once again rough justice on this young Carlow side, who gave their all throughout the course of the hour, but were undone by two golden moments from Conor O’Sullivan and Jack Williams, who followed up after keeper Jamie Maher had made a stunning stop.
After the DDSL lost out on a place in the cup quarters on goal-difference, they had the first chance of this affair with Conor O’Sullivan firing over the bar on four minutes, but slowly Carlow started to get into the game.
Cailean MacMullan fired a left-footed shot wide for his side on 11 minutes before O’Sullivan had a big chance for the DDSL, only to fire over the top. The Carlow breakthrough arrived on 24 minutes. Alan Lawlor’s sublime ball from midfield sent Patrick Cranny clear down the right, and he beat keeper Joseph Byrne at his near post.
Carlow could’ve had a second goal a minute into the second-half, but goalscorer Cranny was denied by a fine save. The equaliser arrived for Conor O’Sullivan on 37 minutes when he latched onto a long ball from midfield, and he clinically finished over the head of the advancing Jamie Maher.
It was double whammy for Carlow just three minutes later when a sweeping move saw Leon Revencu lay the ball back to Andy Bourg, and after his shot was saved by Maher, Jack Williams was on hand to plant the close-range rebound to the back of the net.
That goal took the sting out of the game as the DDSL shut up shop with Carlow failing to produce that golden moment that could have brought the game to a penalty shootout.
