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St. Cronan's Continue Their Winning Streak ……
St Cronan's 6-2 Scoil Chualainn 3-3
In the recent 9-a-side Coughlan Cup Tournament held in Kilcoole on September 10, St Cronan's came out on top once again. Twelve teams from North East Wicklow took part in the competition. There were four groups of three teams, with the top team from each section going forward into the semi-finals.
St Cronan's won Section A and met Rathnew, winners of Section B in one semi-final, while Scoil Chualainn won Section C and met Kilmac, winners of Section D in the other semi-final.
The final ended up as a local derby between the two Bray teams--St Cronan's and Scoil Chualainn. It was a game of two halves--Scoil Chualainn dominated the first half, but we can back strong in the second half and ended up easy winners. The gauntlet was thrown down to our school when Jack Douglas rattled the net with a rasping goal after three minutes. Suddenly, Scoil Chualainn were firing on all pistons, and had our team under severe pressure, allowing them to score only a single point in the first half. There were some great individual battles between Jonathan Kinch and Colm Johnson; Stephen McNicholas and Jack Douglas; the Cunningham brothers, Barry and Paulie, and David Finn and Michael Walsh. Sean Quinn at full back kept the St Cronan's ship afloat with a solid defensive display. The score at half time was Scoil Chualainn 2-1, St Conan's 0-1.
Naill McGraynor, Captain of our team, was moved to mid field and ably assisted by Stephen McNicholas, they began to turn the tide on Scoil Chualainn. Jonathan Kinch now began to get plenty of ball and ended up scoring a hat trick! We ran out comfortable winners, with a final tally of 6-2 to 3-3.
This was a great final, with both teams showing great skills. effort and commitment. St Cronan's, who were inspired by captain Niall McGraynor, dug deep when the pressure was on, lifted the Scoil Chulalainn siege, and then turned the game in our favour. Rory Breslin again brought off some excellent saves, and Sean Quinn was outstanding at centre back. David Finn read the game well, and was always ready to turn defence into attack. Michael Walsh and Fionn Crowley were solid in defence, and marked their players tightly. Stephen McNicholas put in another classy display and Shane Conway ran himself into the ground. "Bootless" Luke Benson was a constant threat to Scoil Chualainn's defence, and "red-hot" Jonathan Kinch ended the blitz with a personal tally of 10 goals!!
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