Mervue United secured a hat trick of Schoolboy titles at the Connacht Finals held at the Moyne Villa Grounds in Headford last weekend in a memorable day for the club.

CONNACHT U12 FINAL

Mervue United 3-0 Knock-Kiltimagh United

Mervue United made the perfect start to this U12 Connacht final as Ryan Corcoran fired them ahead after just 21 seconds and just nine minutes had elapsed when the midfielder turned provided to set up Charlie Phillipe to make it 2-0 with a low finish past the advancing Canny.

It was the type of dream start that any side would want and while there were some anxious moments thereafter, the Galway League side always had the edge in terms of ability and finishing.

With the Mayo side playing just one up front, it allowed Mervue to build from the back and the likes of Dylan Wall, Lewis Waweru and Corcoran used their ability to play the ball all over the park and continually stretch the visitors.

Knock-Kiltimagh were not without their chances and lone front man Aidan Cosgrove certainly caused problems and indeed it took a Cian Gillespie clearance to rescue Mervue, after the striker had rounded David Gaurilak in the box.

Corcoran went close to a second just before the break, but pulled his effort wide, when through with just Canny to beat.

On the restart, a cracking save by Gavriliak kept out a Jay Johnson shot and he was also tested by efforts from Matthew McCormack and Stephen Gill. The turning point of the game came on 43 minutes, when Josh Buckley fired home a rebound. 

Joey Cosgrove delivered a good corner kick delivery into the box and after an initial Corcoran shot was cleared off the line by Liam Walsh, Buckley was on hand to crash home the loose ball for 3-0.

Joey Cosgrove and Dylan Wall threatened to add to their tally in the closing stages, but with the job almost certainly done, Mervue were content to allow Knock-Kiltimagh some space in the closing stages. Some excellent defence, with Cian Gillespie marshalling the troops, continued to impress as their clean sheet was maintained in impressive fashion.

Mervue United: Gavriliak (O’Brien 58mins), McDonnell, Molloy, Wall, Waweru, Gillespie, Phillipe (Laza 58mins), Corcoran, Neary (Dunleavy 58mins), Buckley, Cosgrove (Rooney 58mins).

CONNACHT U14 FINAL

Mervue United 3-1 Castlebar Celtic

Mervue United collected their third trophy of the season at U14 level when they had to come from behind to see off a very competitive Castlebar Celtic in Saturday morning’s final.

Just for the second time this season they went behind, when Cathal Coyne smashed a 25 yard drive past Cian Mulryan after just 3 minutes and for the remainder of the half they matched the winners in an intense contest. 

However, there was more of a cutting edge about the Mervue side, as Alan Kelly saves denied Adam Kelleher and Ronan Manning. Coyne almost added a second on the stroke of half time as his effort clipped the crossbar.

Held scoreless at the break, Mervue levelled matters six minutes after the restart when an Aaron Connolly shot was saved by Kelly and Ronan Asgari made it 1-1 when firing home the rebound.  

They continued to try and press home their advantage, before been awarded a very fortuitous penalty, when Manning went down in a shoulder to shoulder run with Liam Whyte on 50 minutes. It was nothing more than physical contact and Manning sent Kelly the wrong way from the spot for a 2-1 advantage.

It was a blow from which Castlebar never recovered, as Connolly, Manning and Colin Kelly all went close with shots at goal. Whyte tested Mulryan’s reflexes at the other end, before Kelleher fed Connolly in additional time and after rounding goalkeeper Kelly he tapped into an empty net for a 3-1 advantage.

Mervue United: Mulryan; Brennan, O’Brien (Buckley 62mins), Rooney, Waweru; Broderick, Buckley, Kelleher, Manning; Connolly, Kelly (Gorham 64mins).

CONNACHT YOUTH SHIELD FINAL

Mervue United 4-1 Conn Rangers

Now while it was Mervue United who emerged victorious in the Connacht Youth Shield final, it was one of those days when a Conn Rangers player emerged with glorious tributes and goalkeeper Colm Reape was the star performer with a brilliant display.

Sure, he was beaten on four occasions and there was little he could do about that, but two absolutely fantastic reflex saves in the opening half to deny Andrew Connolly were spell binding, while his denial of Robert Spellman on the resumption again had the crowd on their feet.

Now while they did not have matters all their own way, Mervue generally held sway as Chris Carroll and Eoin Kelly kept probing in midfield, while Connolly and Peter Walsh offered a huge threat up front.

They eventually broke the deadlock on 45 minutes when Connolly bundled a Spellman cross over the line from close range and deeper in additional time, Carroll did a bit of juggling in the box before despatching the second to the net for a 2-0 interval advantage.

They continued to hold the upper hand on the restart and made it 3-0 on 60 minutes when Spellman flicked home a Connolly cross, after the impressive Joe Hynes made the initial burst.

Conn Rangers pulled one back on 63 minutes when John Burke drilled a free kick past Eoin Curry. Indeed Curry had a busy afternoon as he had to produce a number of saves to maintain his sides advantage.

Mervue sealed the win deep in injury time when Michael Fox fed Gary Bailey who had rambled forward from the back and the central defender slid home number four from just inside the box.

Mervue United: Curry, Hynes, McKeon, Bailey, Deyemo, E Kelly, Spellman (Flaherty 71mins), Carroll (Fox 78mins), Connolly (McLoughlin 84mins), Walsh, J Kelly.