Athletic Under 11s suffer cruel fate in extra time

It was heartbreak for Mullingar Athletic in the last sixteen of the SFAI Cup in Gainstown on Sunday when, despite dominating the match for almost its entire duration, they lost to a breakaway goal to Newbridge Town, scored by James Byrne in the first minute of extra time.Despite a brisk start by the visitors it was Athletic who got into their rhythm more quickly with team captain Cormac Dalton and Conor McCrossan establishing a foothold in the middle of the field. The first threat came from Athletic in the fifth minute with a-cross by centre half Ben Treanor which was headed across goal by Dylan McWade to Finbarr Coyne whose excellent effort beat the goalkeeper but was cleared off the line. From the resulting corner Conor McCrossan had a headed effort at goal which was once again cleared. In the 10th a move involving Finbarr Coyne, Dylan McWade and the excellent Ryan O'Connor Norris ended with McCrossan having a first time effort saved by the Newbridge 'keeper David Craddock.Having survived these early threats Newbridge came more into the game. In the fifteenth minute Maher put a ball over the top to Cian Costigan with excellent defensive work by Athletic's Ben Treanor averting the danger.A few minutes later Ken Byrne made a break from mid-ield before being fouled. This resulted in a free kick from Cian Costigan which was comfortably saved by Dylan Behan Matthews in the Athletic goal. Newbridge's Gavin Maher then got on the end of a cross from Ryan Byrne but an excellent challenge from Brian Kavanagh at the centre of the Athletic defence averted the danger.Athletic were to dominate the remainder of the half. In the eighteenth minute Athletic's Luke Lenihan broke down the left hand side and linked up with Robert Stuart who beat a number of defenders before eventually being stopped by the Newbridge defence. The clearance under pressure was picked up by Cormac Dalton whose goal bound shot was blocked by Newbridge's David Shelby. Three minutes later a cross shot from Dalton was narrowly wide of the Newbridge goal. Mullingar looked to have taken the lead in the 22nd minute when Finbarr Coyne linked up with Luke Lenihan who laid the ball off to Ryan O'Connor Norris. His looping shot looked to have caught the top corner of the net but just curled narrowly wide at the last minute.Newbridge then had a brief flurry of attacks when a diagonal ball from Thomas Tobin set up James Byrne but excellent defending from Athletic's Thomas Molloy averted the danger. Athletic finished the half stronger when Ben Treanor joined the attack to test David Craddock in the Newbridge goal who was once again equal to the task.Athletic started the second half with Dave Mimnagh on for Robert Stuart on the left wing. Mimnagh proved to be equally elusive as the player he replaced. He made a great 40 yard run before being fouled just outside the penalty area. The resulting free kick from Coyne drew another excellent save from Craddock. In the 35th minute McWade and Mimnagh linked again but the final pass was slightly overhit allowing Craddock to come off his line to collect the ball ahead of McWade.There followed a series of Mullingar attacks which yielded four corners in the space of five minutes but the Newbridge defence held firm. A rare Newbridge attack in the 44th minute resulted in Cormac O'Mahony getting onto a through ball from Thomas Tobin but Athletic's Brian Kavanagh got in a vital tackle. He immediately turned defence to attack by finding Finbarr Coyne who sprung the Newbridge offside trap and found himself one on one with the Newbridge goalkeeper but once again Craddock was equal to the task making an excellent save.Athletic introduced Ben Walsh for the tiring McWade in the 48th minute and it was once again an effective substitution with Walsh immediately linking with Cormac Dalton whose shot was narrowly wide of target. As the match entered its final stages Athletic were completely on top with Dalton and in particular Ryan O'Connor Norris driving the team forward. McCrossan produced great footwork with eight minutes to go when he beat a number of defenders on the edge of the Newbridge penalty area but his resulting shot was partially blocked by Josh Francis allowing Craddock to make another save.The Athletic pressure looked to have finally paid off in the 51st minute. An excellent run and cross shot by Finbarr Coyne was only parried by Craddock and looked to have crossed the line. The 'keeper reacted well however to scoop the ball forward with his defender Cormac O'Mahony completing the clearance. The well placed referee Ray Matthews correctly adjudged that the ball had not crossed the line and Newbridge survived. As the game entered the final phase O'Connor Norris made a great run from right back with his cross finding Dave Mimnagh whose header was once again saved by Craddock with the referee shortly thereafter signalling the end of normal time. The two critical incidents in the match were to occur at the start and end of extra time. Straight from the kick off Newbridge's Kevin Byrne played a long ball forward.For once there was some hesitancy in the Athletic defence which allowed James Byrne to latch on to the through ball and slot it into the right hand corner of the Athletic goal giving Behan Matthews no chance.Thereafter for the remaining twenty minutes of extra time Athletic attacked the Newbridge goal constantly but were thwarted time and time again by excellent goalkeeping by Craddock and last ditch defending by practically all of the Newbridge players. Athletic substitute Jack Hall, who was introduced at halftime of extra time for Luke Lenihan, was prominent throughout the second half of extra time. He was eventually involved in the move with resulted in a Cormac Dalton cross being handled by a Newbridge defender in the last minute of extra time giving Athletic a penalty opportunity for a late equaliser. Ben Walsh's well hit penalty was saved by the right boot of Craddock who, despite moving in the opposite direction, somehow or other managed to get the ball above the crossbar at the expense of a corner.Athletic were not quite finished yet with O'Connor Norris making a great run through Newbridge's defence before getting off a shot which was once again saved by Craddock. It was appropriate that the last incident in the match involved the two outstanding players of either side.Mullingar Athletic AFC: Dylan Behan Matthews, Ryan O'Connor Norris, Thomas Molloy, Brian Kavanagh, Ben Treanor, Cormac Dalton, Finbarr Coyne, Luke Lenihan, Dylan McWade, Conor McCrossan, Robert Stuart. Subs: David Mimnagh for Stuart, Ben Walsh for McWade, Jack Hall for Lenihan, Robert Smyth, Joseph Kinahan.