Old Guns Go For It!

The lads…

nce again, our roving reporter Nick Andrews gives Greystones the lowdown on the latest football action…

And Saturday, it was Greystones United AFC’s Over 35s battling Cherry Orchard for The Clifford Cup.

Take it away, young Andrews…

As previously reported, the second string of the GUAFC Over 35s were in cup final action on Saturday, arriving in some style on their bright yellow Darby O’Gill bus to the bemusement of the locals training on the neighbouring pitch.

It wasn’t a pot of gold the lads were in search of though, rather the Peter Clifford Cup, a competition that features all the teams from Divisions 1, 2 & 3 south of The Amateur League. To reach the final, the Greystonians had defeated the glamorous sounding FC Lazio before 3 wins against Division 1 and 2 opposition – all without conceding a goal – had led them to The Oscar Traynor Centre, where they met Dublin soccer stalwarts, Cherry Orchard.

The game quickly settled into a pattern of Orchard probing for gaps against the well-organised Greystones rearguard and the hoops trying to catch out the Division 1 side on the counter attack.
There was a shout for a Cherry Orchard penalty when yours truly went to ground, but the referee deemed the Orchard forward to have fallen over the strewn defender as opposed to a foul. There was pressure on the Greystones right where Eoin Lynch was being turned inside-out by some spellbinding wing play, but Roger Conroy was on hand to help ease the beleagured player’s dizzy spells.

As the first injuries of the day accounted for one on each side, Diarmuid Shanley almost gave Greystones the lead after a sliderule pass from Iain Duncan – the Orchard keeper making a save.

Thirty five minutes in, Cherry Orchard took the lead when Utd couldn’t clear their lines and a delicate lobbed ball to the far post was met by a sublime diving header that looped back over English and into the net.
Greystones closed ranks and remained relatively untroubled until half-time, despite Orchard enjoying the majority of posession.

The second half proved more open and, with the wind at their backs, Greystones pushed further up the pitch causing some uncertainty at the back which almost led to David Healy getting through on goal.
Duncan went close before good play from Julian Lyons created another chance for Shanley, once again saved.
Cherry Orchard were now playing more on the break themselves and English had to be alert to make a fine save as the stripes looked to kill the game off.

With ten minutes remaining, Greystones were level. Chris Blake had enjoyed plenty of space in this half and another exchange of passes with Shanley resulted in an attack only thwarted at the expense of a corner. Duncan gave the signal for a back post corner and promptly delivered to the near where Shanley, ignoring the signals, had moved in and flicked the ball over to where it should have been heading for the ever-obedient, eh, me, who had positioned himself as instructed, to rise highest and head home the equaliser to the obvious delight of Lynch who, no longer dizzy or inside-out, ran the length of the pitch to join the celebration.

It was now anyone’s game, and both teams wrestled with whether to go for it or chance a penalty shoot-out. Orchard clearly didn’t fancy that, and pushed Greystones back, creating a couple of chances that perhaps should have been taken better but, a minute into stoppage time, Greystones’ hearts were to be broken when a neat turn and spin just inside the box ended with a left-foot strike that evaded English’s right hand and settled into the net giving Cherry Orchard the cup.

Awarding the trophy, the league officials noted the competitive but good-natured way in which the game was played and it’s fair to say the two sides gave the spectators a game to enjoy, right up to the final minute of the competition.

Credit to both sides for that and for GUAFC, another chapter, if not another trophy, in what has been a very successful 3 years.

Congrats to all the men for a sterling effort. Pictured above, it’s back row, from left to right, Gerry Doyle (Manager), Barry Maher, Iain Duncan, Nick Andrews, Chris Blake, Joe Martin,Paul Doherty, Julian Lyons, Ken Carey, Rory Campbell and John Quinn (Asst Mgr). Front row, it’s Declan Fortune, Roger Conroy, Eoin Lynch, Eoin English (GK), Diarmuid Shanley, Dom Joyce, Paul Cleary and David Healy.