CK United boys fall short in two Plate finals

Following on from the success of CK United’s U17’s girls success in the Plate Final on Bank Holiday Monday, there were high hopes for the U17’s and U15’s boys in their Plate Finals on Saturday against Bray at the Carlisle Grounds. However, both fell short, the U17’s lost 3-1 whilst the U15’s lost 1-0.

The U17’s found themselves 2-0 down after 33 minutes. Akachi Ogbulafor rescued a goal back six minutes before half-time to give CK hope of a comeback, getting onto the end of a corner. Just before the break, CK had a chance to level things up from the penalty spot but Ivan Voloshyn missed his effort and CK went into the break 2-1 down. Chasing an equaliser, they let a third goal in with six minutes to go. Head Coach, Kian Murphy said he was frustrated with the early goals.

“It’s like a dagger to your heart going 2-0 down early and you’re panicking, looking around trying to change things,” Murphy told The Nationalist. “So we actually made a substitution not long after that second goal, just changed up players a little bit, brought the centre forward on more of a sort of physical presence and to be fair to him just on 35 minutes there were 10 minutes before half-time and to be fair to him he He nearly single-handedly got us back into it there,” he added.

He said he was impressed with the second half though, as they showed character in trying to get back into the game. “We did show good heart to go and get back into it. We came back out in the second half and, to be completely honest, I personally think we actually battered them in the second half. We were very, very good and we were more comfortable on the ball. We had them pinned back for really long periods and just really couldn't, couldn't get that final product. I know there's probably two opportunities there that Kayne Kenna-Herbert missed. We weren't getting the rub of the green.On final days, you have to have luck, and stuff like that as well, and I suppose we probably just didn't have it and Bray went on. It definitely wasn’t a 3-1 game though.” The U15’s were unlucky, losing just 1-0, conceding in the 78th minute.

 Murphy is one of the coaches for the U15’s as well and said that they were unlucky and one mistake cost them. 

“They were set up well, and they were structured, and they were solid, but again, luck probably wasn't really on our side. We got subs on, and we did, we did a couple of under 14s on the pitch at one stage. Josh McEvoy one the under 14s, he slipped, leading up to a goal and they went and got through. But these are things that happen in finals and for an under-14 player to be stepping up and playing in the final and applying themselves, it's not no mean feat.” 

Whilst it’s disappointing for the young kids to lose the game, Murphy says that their development is what is most important.

 “I understand these lads see this as the end of the world and stuff like that, but it's massive learning, especially for guys at 15's age it's still all about development I suppose at the end of the day. Obviously they all want to win and we're very same when we're on the sideline, we want to win but the bottom line is it's still 100% about development at that level for them, and there's so much development and learning in this for the lads and especially for the younger lads that are playing and all as well.” With three teams having qualified for finals this season, it’s clear to see that the club is progressing in the right direction. The girls won their final and the boys both pushed Bray all the way in their finals. So there’s plenty to be positive about from the season for CK United and going forward too, and getting to the finals can only push the club on. Murphy echoed those thoughts, saying that it’s something to build on and says that it’s about getting their name out there so they can grow and develop.

“It’s brilliant that the League of Ireland are organising all these cup, shield and plate competitions because it allows more teams to compete for a trophy rather than having just the cup and two teams get a medal. It gave us the opportunity to go home with a medal, albeit it's a silver one at the end of the day. It's absolutely brilliant for us to go and get our name out there."

That's something we really need to do and it's something that's definitely going to help us in the future and that silver medal is going to be something that we'll definitely use as fuel going into next season, whether that be at 14’s, 15’s, 17’s or 20’s. We've shown now we can go and compete in finals and we can go and compete with some of the best academies in the country. A bit of silverware on the boys' side, that's 100% what we're on the hunt for next year.”