New Oak finally reach Leinster Junior Cup final
New Oak team that beat Leinster Junior Cup semi-final.
After three years, New Oak have finally reached a Leinster final. They've been knocking on the door over the last number of years, in 2022 they were done in by a last minute winner from North End in the semi-final, in 2023, they were struggling with injuries and fell short against Trim in the Quarter-Final, and in 2024, three suspensions saw them get overrun by Wexford Bohs in the semi-final.
After the Last 16 win against North End, there was quiet optimism that perhaps they could get over the line and reach the final this year. Two wins later over Dublin sides, Jobstown and Tallaght they finally made a Leinster final to become just the second team to reach that milestone after Crettyard in 2019. After a tight first half with neither side able to get a proper foothold in the game, it was 0-0 at half-time.
A couple of Jordan Harmon frees went close but were the main highlight of the half. Two minutes into the second half, Lee Walker down the right latched onto a through ball from Dean Kelly and composed himself before slotting in his effort into the bottom right hand corner to open the scoring for New Oak. With about ten minutes to go, Kelly got onto the end of a corner and volleyed home at the back post to double their advantage.
Deep into stoppage time, Tallaght pulled a goal back from a corner to make the final stages of the match tense, but New Oak utilised all their experience to see the game out for a famous win.
Speaking afterwards, manager, Gavin Dowling, said he was delighted for his team. "It’s an unreal feeling, I'm actually so proud of the lads. They've deserved it in the last four years in fairness. I thought it would have been sooner to be honest, but look they've been excellent again this year and thoroughly deserved to be in a Leinster final. Ever since I came in as manager, we've been dealing with a load of injuries and suspensions and I think that this is the only year we've not had to deal with those. We've only got Kyle Foley suspended, that's it."
