Denny Premier B League Final Replay; Mastergeeha Fc 1-0 Fenit Samphires

Denny Premier B League Final Replay
Thursday 11th June 2015
Fenit Samphires 0-1 Mastergeeha FC

Pictures and Report by Tommy Naughton
(Pictures Copyright to KDL & T.Naughton and cannot be used anywhere else without permission)

Mastergeeha Fc were crowned the Denny Premier B Champions after a narrow win over Fenit Samphires on Thursday night in Mounthawk Park. Fenit will be disappointed at losing this final considering the amount of possession they had but in truth they never tested the Mastergeeha keeper enough through out the game. Mastergeeha knew they would have less possession that Fenit and came with a game plan and once they went ahead they defending in numbers showing a great work ethic for one another.

The opening chance of the game came from a Fenit short corner between Jack Savage and Bill Mullins which Paul Lenihan had to head clear with two free Fenit players behind him in the six yard box. Sean Foley was causing Mastergeeha problems early on with his pace and on the ten minute mark he beat two players before pulling a ball back from the end line to Daniel Clinton whose missed timed shot was easily held by Tadhg Aherne in the Mastergeeha goal. A minute later the deadlock was broken after a long ball from defence by Chris Egan. Fenit’s keeper Ciaran Higgins came to the edge of his box to collect the bouncing ball but seemed unsure of his positioning not knowing was his inside or outside the box. As he hesitated he fumbled the ball and Padraig Nagle reacted to disposes him and walk the ball towards the empty net to give Mastergeeha the lead.

Fenit regrouped quickly and had chances go wide from Daniel Clinton, Jack Savage and Daniel Clinton. A solo run by Damien Breen on the right wing saw him cut inside before curling the ball with his left foot just over the bar as Mastergeeha tried to hit Fenit quickly on the counter attack. Ten minutes before the break Fenit nearly grabbed an equaliser when a Jack Savage corner found the head of Ger McCarthy but was cleared of the line in a crowded goal mouth. Fenit were then offered an even better chance to level the game when they were awarded a penalty after a long ball into the box was controlled by the hand of Aidan Kerins. Ger McCarthy stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way but the ball sailed wide of the post . The final chance of the half fell to Mastergeeha who could have doubled their lead before the break . Padraig Nagle took the ball on just inside the half before driving at the Fenit defence, just as he approached the penalty area he square to Damien Breen whose effort was just wide of the near post.

The second half was only a few minutes old when Fenit taught they had claims for another penalty when Daniel Clinton went down under pressure but the Referee quickly waved away the appeals. Ger McCarthy had two more half chances in the opening ten minutes of the half for Fenit but both missed the target. With 25 minutes to go Fenit were now putting more pressure on Mastergeeha and a free kick was awarded to Fenit on the edge of the box. Jack Savage stepped up and clipped the ball into the box which was easily cleared when a shot on goal might have been the better decision. Darren Lynch was next to go close for Fenit when he got on the end of a Jack Savage free but again it missed the target. Both teams began to make changes as players began to tire with the tempo of the game. Derry Aherne nearly got on the end of a long clearance but for Ciaran Higgins was out quickly to deny him as Fenit were pushing more and more men forward in search of the equaliser.

Sean Foley was still causing major problems on the right wing and with fifteen to go he got to the end line and pulled the ball back into the onrushing Ger McCarthy. The goals looked inviting for the striker to curl the ball with his left foot into the bottom corner but he decided to take a touch and bring it on to his right where three Mastergeeha Defenders quickly crowded him out and cleared the danger. Another good passing move by Fenit involving Sean Foley, Kieran O Mahoney and Ger McCarthy ended with the ball being flicked into the path of Bill Mullins whose half volley was wide of the near post with ten minutes remaining. Time was now running out for Fenit with Mastergeeha Defending well in numbers with Colm Lenihan in midfield covering every inch of the field. Daniel Clinton picked out Sean Foley whose cross to the back post was met by the head of Ger McCarthy but again it was wide of the target.

Mastergeeha could now sense they were nearly their and as the game entered injury time a long ball out of defence found Derry Aherne who used his pace to get away from the Fenit Defence . Sensible he waiting for support and was taking down on the right wing by Jack Savage who received his second yellow card and Fenit were now down to ten men. `From the resulting free from the side line Derry Aherne crashed of the crossbar with the keeper beaten. The final action of the game saw Fenit reduced to nine men when Kieran o Mahoney was shown a straight red card and went any chances Fenit had of getting back level.

The final whistle saw great scenes of jubilation from the large Mastergeeha following. Chairman of the KDL Sean O Keefe presented the trophy to the winning captain and complemented both teams on a great final and spoke about how they will make the Denny Premier A stronger next season with performance like was seen in both finals.

Fenit Samphires ; Ciaran Higgins, Darren Lynch, John Maher, John Moore, Sean Foley, Ruairi Kelly, Klaudia Dema, Bill Mullins, Ger McCarthy, Daniel Clinton, Jack Savage. Subs , Kieran O Mahoney fro Klaudia Dema ( 59 mins ).

Mastergeeha Fc ; Tadhg Aherne, Alan O Brien, Paul Lenihan, Aidan Kerins, Alan Moynihan, Chris Egan, Colm Lenihan, Scott o Mahoney, Daniel Clinton, Damien Breen, Padraig Nagle. Subs, Derry Aherne for Scott O Mahoney ( 57 mins), John Devane for Paul Lenihan (58 mins) , Darragh McCarthy for Alan o Brien (65 mins) .

Match Officials;
Referee; Derek o Shea
Assistants ; Adrian o Shea & Kevin Cunningham .