Gordon Walker fires Rochestown boys to All-Ireland glory
It looked like 10-man Rice College of Westport, who had Cian McAllister sent off for a second yellow card early in the second-half, had sufficiently repelled the Rebels at Whitehall to force extra-time until Gordon Walker seized upon the space afforded to him with three minutes left and calmly stroked home the winning goal from the edge of the box.
Similar to the semi-final success over Dublin side St Aidan’s, patience paid off for St Francis. They’d been frustrated in their efforts to kill off a Mayo side, operating with a man less for almost all of the second-half and eventually made full use of the numerical superiority.
The player who spotted the pass for Walker’s clincher, substitute Ross Slevin, along with Rory Doyle will be back at Home Farm FC next Wednesday determined to pocket another national title for St Francis. They take on St Eunan’s in the U17 decider.
“Our players always come alive in the last 10 or 15 minutes,” admitted victorious boss Eoin O’Flaherty afterwards.
“They just don’t know when they’re beaten. In the end, though, tiredness won the final for us. The sending-off ruined the game a bit and we eventually tired them out and got the goal.”
A first senior title in five years for a Cork school was all the more challenging to secure given the damp and windy conditions.
The Saints took time to settle, spending much of the early stages chasing the ball but limiting the westerners to half-chances. When they finally found their range, either Matt Collins repelled them or in the case of Paul Doyle, accuracy let him down and the effort drifted off- target.
Losing McAllister when they did was a disaster. Having been booked for a handball in the first-half, the midfielder then got himself into trouble immediately after the turnaround for tripping Walker when in free-flow.
That left the Mayo men prone to getting exposed on the counterattack, a factor which eventually undid them.
Before that crucial and late goal, Cobh Ramblers midfielder Walker should have had the Leesiders ahead. On the hour, slack marking from a corner enabled him rise unattended and glance his header wide when a more firm connection would likely have found the net.
It wasn’t the first time Walker slipped his marker and he would have felt relief in supplying the decisive contribution of the final.
Ross Slevin, one of two brothers in the Cork team, looked up and found Walker with a pinpoint crossfield pass. Time and space was plentiful for the midfielder to pick his spot with a low drive beyond Pat O’Malley.
Rice College, for all their possession, seldom caused Collins problems in the second-half. With the game scoreless, Jack Murphy curled his effort a yard wide of the near post while, after conceding late on, Paul Doyle couldn’t force extra-time which a shot which carried the power but not accuracy to breach Collins.
Not even sending O’Malley up for an injury-time corner unnerved the victors, who celebrated their first-ever title with gusto on the pitch accompanied by their loyal band of supporters.
They may have more reason for jubilation next week too.
FAI Schools Tony O’Neill Senior Cup final: St Francis Rochestown 1 Rice College Westport 0
M Collins; G O’Mahoney, D Nason, Rob Slevin, J Sheehan; R Doyle, S Hilliard, G Walker, P Hickey (Ross Slevin 52); M O’Connell, D O’Sullivan.
P O’Malley; M O’Brien, P Lambert, B O’Malley, E Conway; J Murphy, K Kilkelly, C McAllister, P Corcoran; E Rowley (L Tunney 79), P Doyle.
Mark Whelan (Dublin).
