Cleary double gives New Oak 15th trophy of Gavin Dowling era
New Oak celebrate after defeating St Patrick’s in the Carlow Cup final in Killeshin.
A brace from Cian Cleary and a Dean Kelly goal were enough to secure New Oak Carlow Cup glory for a fifth year in a row as they bounced back from losing the Keating Memorial Premier Cup final to Bagenalstown last week.
New Oak’s dominance in recent years has been well documented; the newly crowned Premier Division champions doing the double to secure their 15th trophy since 2021 when Gavin Dowling took the reins just after Covid.
Alas for Pat’s, it was a sense of Deja Vu as they lost for the third consecutive season at the final hurdle.
It has been a long journey to the final for both sides. New Oak’s path to the showpiece event began with a comfortable 4-0 win over Killeshin in the Last 16. They only just secured their place the semis as they overcame a stubborn Crettyard side in the quarters, beating their old rivals 3-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. They then went on to defeat newly crowned Division 1 champions, Slaney Rovers 2-0 in the final four.
St Pat’s started with a 4-2 win over Division 2 champions, Mill Celtic in the Last 16 where they were missing several key players. In the quarter-final, they edged past Division 2 side, Crettyard B 1-0, but it should have been more comfortable as they missed several chances. They then blew away high flyers Burrin Celtic in the semi-final then to qualify for the finale.
It was all set up nicely, with the last two league champions doing battle in the decider for the third year in a row, with the game taking place on the grass pitch in Killeshin (it is the only cup final that takes place on grass).
There was nothing between the two sides going into the game, with many expecting a tight affair. And for the first half, that’s exactly what they got. It was like a game of chess, neither side wanting to relent and give up an opening, knowing that any mistake would likely be costly. The weather conditions also made it hard to really play football with the wind playing a big part in proceedings.
It was only in the second half that the game really opened up as Pat’s undid all the hard work they’d done in the first half. It was a couple of key moments that sealed the game. New Oak took the lead early in the second half.
It could so easily have been level only for a brilliant save from Craig Kearney who continues to excel in the New Oak goal.
From there, New Oak went and scored the second goal, making any comeback from St. Pat’s highly unlikely. It was a couple of defensive errors from Pat’s that saw them fall to defeat.
There were a number of half chances early on in the game. Callum Warfield found space down the right and played the ball in for Lord Afrifa in the middle and only for a clearance from Cian Dowling it would have been a certain goal and Pat’s would have taken the lead.
Pat’s had a glorious chance through a free on the right on the edge of the box and it was an in-swinger from Dean Kelly to the back post for Jan Flejszar, but the youngster couldn’t get onto the end of it, just missing it.
Just before half-time, Dean Kelly found himself in space down the right but Sean Murphy in the Pat’s goal bravely came out to save at his feet.
Six minutes into the second half, Smithers fired a warning sign to Pat’s, having an effort saved by Murphy.
Three minutes later, he found space down the left and delivered a cross into the middle where Cian Cleary was waiting to slide the ball in to the back of the net to open the scoring as the Pat’s defence failed to deal with the danger.
Just after the hour mark, last season’s Overall Player of the Season, Warfield sent an effort goalwards and everyone thought it was in but somehow Kearney in the goal managed to get something on it and keep it out to keep New Oak’s lead intact.
With 20 minutes to go, a Luke Ramsbottom corner from the right was met by the head of Dean Kelly in the middle who guided it into the back of the net to double the New Oak lead.
Ten minutes later, Cleary latched on to a Ramsbottom ball and fired it in to make it 3-0.
Sean Murphy, Raveli Kilonda, Dean Kelly, Joe Gordon, Dylan Doyle, Brandon Kelly, Jan Flejszar, Tobi Jimoh, Callum Warfield, Joe Sunderland, Lord Afrifa.
Liam Byrne, Luke Fitzpatrick, Ben Cullen, Luca Hutton, Timmy Rilwan Mohammed, Mark Timmons, Daniel Brennan.
Craig Kearney, Cian Dowling, Luke Ramsbottom, David O’Shea, David Keating, Jordan Harmon, David Doyle, Dean Kelly, Sean Smithers, Shane Barnes, Cian Cleary.
Ben Lawler, Lee Murphy, James McGrath, Roy Byrne, Lee Gordon, Dylan Keightley, Corey Harmon.
Mixy Monaghan assisted by Shane Farrell and Nathan Bannon and Fourth Officials, Joe Byrne and Martin Murphy
