Pride of place this week goes to Irene Hehir and our WU19 squad and staff who secured a place in the WU19 National Cup final with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Athlone Town in the semi-final. Elsewhere, sadly, the cup journeys for the rest of our Academy teams came to an end as our MU15s and MU20s bowed out at quarter-final stage while our MU14s exited their National Cup at the round of sixteen.
We also had two mid- week games with our MU15s and MU20s both bouncing back from their Cup defeats to record victories in their respective league games.
WU19
Our WU19s hosted Athlone Town in the Markets Field in the semi-final of the WU19 National Cup.
Our lineup for the game was as follows:
Starting 11:
Chloe Widger (C), Kate Jones, Lily-Anne O’Meara, Clodagh Daly, Aibhlinn Cotter, Sadbh Griffin, Suvi Isabella O’Connor, Ellen Goggin, Saoirse Kent, Ciara Breslin, Jayne Ryan
Subs:
Ruby Linnane, Ava Neary, Grace Ehinger, Megan O’Reilly, Abbey Walsh, Emma Meaney, Ella Carey
Match Report:
An emotional day for the WU19s in the Markets Field, which saw them through to the Final of the WU19 Cup after an epic battle with Athlone Town.
Before kick off, both teams, staff and supporters acknowledged an impeccable minute’s silence to remember Mark Wallace R.I.P., father of our WU19 player Chloe who sadly passed away on Thursday.
Within a minute of the start, the youthful Treaty squad, with no less than nine 17 year olds in the team, were ahead. 15 year old Ellen Goggin met a Lily Anne O Meara inch perfect cross to score her first goal for the WU19s. O Meara was outstanding on the right wing on the day and would play a huge part in the final minutes of the game.
The vastly experienced Athlone team who are heading into Champions league football midweek, were level within 6 minutes when they capitalised from a corner. Only 10 minutes later, Athlone went ahead against the run of play when a long ball beat the Treaty defence for the Athlone forward to sneak the ball in at the front post.
Treaty battled back and were unlucky not to level before the halftime whistle but finished the first half strongly.
The second half was a tightly contested game with play going end to end. The introduction of Grace Ehinger had an immediate impact. When Ciara Breslin was fouled 25 metres from goal, Ehinger stepped up to take the resulting free kick. Her beautifully curled effort dropped in just under the post to put Treaty level.
The Treaty defence marshalled by goalkeeper Chloe Widger were superb on the day. Treaty were really pressing hard and with 5 minutes to go, Saoirse Kent met a superb corner kick from Ehinger to put Treaty ahead with what was thought to be the winner. However, Athlone were not to be defeated at this stage and within a minute levelled the game. It looked like it was going to go to extra time until Lily Anne O Meara latched on to a beautifully weighted pass threaded through the heart of the Athlone defence and as cool as a breeze passed the ball into the corner of the net to score Treaty’s winner.
A deserved result for all players involved on the day and who have played their part over the 5 Cup games to get to the Final.
Treaty await the result of Bohemians v Finn Harps game in 2 weeks time to know their opponent in the final.
Player of the Match: Lily Anne O Meara.
The squad return to League action in 2 weeks time when they travel to play Peamount United in Dublin.
MU15
Our MU15s travelled to the AUL Complex in Dublin to take on Shelbourne FC in the quarter-final of the Michael Hayes MU15 National Cup.
Our lineup for the game was as follows:
Starting 11:
Daniel O’Connell, Conor Kennedy, James Palache, Alex Meaney, Conor Brady, Mighty Odudu, Paddy Gubbins, Conor Campbell, Mark Regan (C), Ben Doumbouya, Gavin Scanlan
Subs:
Alex Clancy, Danny Hammond, Evan Hogan, Jordan Brown, Wisdom Amaeze
Match Report:
Our MU15s made their exit from the MU15 National Cup at the hands of a quality Shelbourne FC side. They were a step up versus any side that we have played this season.
We were missing a number of key players for this game including Jordan Brown, Kaylum Matha and Cathal Donnelly which made things really difficult against a quality opponent. We conceded in the first minutes of this game and never recovered after that. The key thing is to learn from the game and to grow from every defeat.
Game 2
We didn’t have long to get back on the pitch again as we hosted Kerry FC on Tuesday night in Hogan Park.
Our lineup for the game was as follows:
Starting 11:
Alex Clancy, Conor Kennedy, James Palache, Alex Meaney, Conor Brady, Mighty Odudu, Kaylum Matha, Mark Regan, Ben Doumbouya (C), Gavin Scanlan, Wisdom Amaeze
Subs:
Daniel O’Connell, Danny Hammond, Paddy Gubbins, Conor Campbell, Jordan Brown
Match Report:
We started this game very well and opened the scoring after 6 minutes when a great passing move through midfield saw James Palache release Wisdom Amaeze and he finished expertly. We doubled our lead three minutes later when Mighty Odudu rose highest in the box from a James Palache corner to power his header to the net.
The difficult playing surface caused problems for our passing game from the back and Kerry took advantage to score twice to get back on level terms. Right on the stroke of half-time we regained the lead when Alex Meaney latched on to a loose ball in the box to power home.
We dominated possession for long periods of the second half but had to wait until the 85th minute to make sure of the points. Another great passing move saw Danny Hammond released on the right and his excellent driven cross was turned into his own net by the outstretched leg of a Kerry defender.
MU20
Our MU20s travelled to the Drogheda Institute of Further Education to take on Drogheda United in the quarter-final of the MU20 National Cup.
Our lineup for the game was as follows:
Starting 11:
Dylan Ashman, Matt Jones (C), Cian Carmody, Scott Murphy, Kyle Foley, Jack Dunleavy, Fintan McNamara, Michael MacSweeney, Darren Nwankwo, Roy Lawlor, Kayden Deegan Herlihy
Subs:
Conor Crofton, Fintan O’Kelly, Ben Lee, Brandon Long, Rhys Barry, Michael Mulcahy
Match Report:
Our MU20s bowed out of the cup after a limp second half display in Drogheda. The hosts opened the scoring on 30 minutes with a well struck free kick and shortly afterwards were 2 up after a quick counter attack. To Treaty’s credit they rallied well and replied twice with two Scott Murphy goals in quick succession to leave the sides level at half time.
Treaty started much the brighter and had penalty claims waved away early in the second half. Drogheda were always dangerous on the counter and punished a sloppy Treaty midfield who continuously coughed up possession. Four second half goals all from quick transitions sealed the game for a classy Drogheda team.
Game 2
Our MU20s had quick return to action with an away trip to Kildare on Tuesday evening.
Our lineup for the game was as follows:
Starting 11:
Conor Crofton, Cian Carmody, Scott Murphy, Darren Nwankwo, Ben Lee, Fintan O’Kelly, Roy Lawlor, Dean Owens, Rhys Barry, Michael Mulcahy, Brandon Long
Subs:
Conor Wall, Kyle Foley, Fintan McNamara, Jack Dunleavy, Michael MacSweeney, Tiernan Adelu, Shane Franklin
Match Report:
Our MU20s banished their cup blues with a comfortable victory away at Klub Kildare. The game was as personal triumph for Dean Owens who grabbed 4 first half goals and an assist. Two of his goals came with his left foot, one with his right and one was a towering header.
The team produced an incredible first half performance. We hit the ground running from the start and Dean Owens had us in front as early as the second minute. It didn’t take Dean long to find the target again as five minutes later he doubled our lead. On 13 minutes, we were 3 up when Scott Murphy grabbed his 13th goal of the season.
And we weren’t finished with our scoring as Dean Owens added two more to his tally with strikes in the 34th and 45th minute to leave us 5-0 to the good at the interval.
We took our foot off the gas somewhat in the second half and Klub Kildare grabbed two late consolation goals, probably as a result of us making 5 substitutions at the same time, but we ran out comfortable winners.
MU14
Our MU14s hosted Bray Wanderers in the last 16 of the Eddie Wallace MU14 National Cup in Hogan Park.
Our lineup for the game was as follows:
Starting 11:
Emmet O’Donnell, Marco Lopez, Fionn Kennedy, Jude Cullen, Yanis Mambouna, Ciaran Irwin, Sean Kelly (C), Jack Sheehy, Morgan Barrett, Liam McCague, Adam Rochford
Subs:
Sean O’Carroll, Gabriel Nseka, Paddy O’Sullivan, Dion Hannon, Harry Millan, Seamus Greene
Match Report:
Our MU14s bowed out of the Eddie Wallace Cup to a physical Bray team. Treaty couldn’t get to grips with the opponent and were 2 nil down at half time.
We couldn’t get on the end of a couple of great corner kick deliveries from Fionn Kennedy and conceded a third on the transition. A good solo goal from Fionn, the goal of the match, saw us get on the scoresheet but Bray ran out winners and advance to the next round.
Our players of the match were Adam Rochford and Morgan Barrett.
We continue Phase 2 of our league with an away trip to Kerry FC in two weeks time.
