De La Salle College, Dundalk added the Under 14 Moore Cup to the Under 16 Flood Cup which they won two weeks ago following this victory over St. Marys in Darver on Wednesday afternoon. The game itself was an end to end battle with both sides playing open football but it was the Dundalk school who got on top in the second half and came away with the silverware.
James Doherty opened the scoring for Dundalk with a point in the first minute with Drogheda opening their account three minutes later with an Eoin O Neill goal. De La Salle took a hold on the middle third at this point and by the 14th minute were all square with a point from Ciaran Byrne while James Doherty added his second. By the 21st minute they were three ahead when Ciaran Byrne goaled. A minute later however the ball was back down the other end of the field and Gideon Lugoye put Roy Kierans through to smash the ball to the net. In the 24th minute the Dundalk school won themselves a penalty but Goalkeeper Mark Farrelly was equal to Jonathan Connollys effort. Connolly made amends a minute later when he expertly fed Daniel Mc Keown who hit his shot into the roof of the net to give his side a three point lead at the break.
De La Salle took a grip of the game in the second half and their physical advantage was beginning to reap rewards. They hit the first three points of the half to take a six point lead. Their opponents responded in the 16th minute and reduced the arrears to three when Gary Keogh expertly dispatched his penalty to the keepers right. This was to be their last score however as the Dundalk lads chipped in another five in the remaining seven minutes with Eugene Murray completing the scoreline with a fisted effort on the stroke of full time.
De La Salle were worthy of their victory and had the edge over their opponents in the second half. A feature of the game was the performance of both goalkeepers Mark Farrelly and Niall Mc Ardle who pulled off some fine saves during the course of the hour. Full credit to St. Marys though as they kept battling against a more physical team and seven of their starters are eligible for next years competition. They will no doubt relish an opportunity to reverse the result in the future.


Scorers:
De La Salle-
Ciaran Byrne 1-3, James Doherty 0-4, Daniel Mc Keown 1-0, James Clerkin 0-2, Patrick Morgan 0-1, Eugene Murray(Captain) 0-1.
St. Marys-
Eoin O Neill 1-0, Roy Kierans 1-0, Gary Keogh 1-0

Ref: Paul Finnegan

De La Salle-
Mentor-H. Carr
Niall Mc Ardle(Roche Emmets)
Patrick Hoey(St. Brides)
Kieran Lenehan(Naomh Fionnbarra)
John Devitt(John Mitchels)
Ryan O Hanlon(Sean O Mahonys)
Chris Kelly(Geraldines)
Sean Mc Cann(Roche Emmets)
Jonathan Connolly(Sean O Mahonys)
Eugene Murray(Roche Emmets)
James Clerkin(O Connells)
Jude Carroll(Clan na Gael)
Ciaran Byrne(St. Mochtas)
Daniel Mc Keown(Kilkerley Emmets)
James Doherty(St. Mochtas)
Patrick Morgan(Dromintee)
James Shields(Dundalk Gaels)
Craig Doherty(St. Josephs)
Barry Mc Carthy(Kilkerley Emmets)
Oroja Olawale(Clan na Gael)
Jason Murphy(Clan na Gael)
Dylan Kresa(Geraldines)
Mark Newell(Clan na Gael)
Sean Watters(Roche Emmets)
Conor Connolly(Stabannon Parnells)
Ciaran O Connor(Clan na Gael)
Shane Mc Quillan(St. Josephs)
Robert Curran(Clan na Gael)