IT WAS IN keeping with their uneasy passage to this stage, but Letterkenny Rovers won’t mind a jot after booking their place in the quarter-finals of the FAI Youth Cup.
Letterkenny Rovers 2 Ballinroad 0
Anthony Gorman’s team made life unnecessarily difficult for themselves at times and, though Ballinroad will feel aggrieved at making the bus journey back to Waterford no longer in the competition, it was a victory for sheer will power.
Rovers are into the last eight for a fourth successive year after making the most of the limited chances that fell their way.
The goals aren’t the most picturesque that Tarlach O’Boyle and Zach Gorman will ever be credited with, but they were the vital parts of the narrative as Rovers, again after riding their luck, advanced.
Picture caption: Letterkenny Rovers celebrate Zach Gorman’s goal. Picture by Stephen Doherty.
O’Boyle was in for the unavailable Igor Arriel from the side that defeated Mountview Boys last Saturday and it was he who put Rovers in front in the 17th minute.
James Tourish curled in a free kick that wasn’t dealt with and O’Boyle kneed the ball home in a scramble.
Eight minutes from time, Rovers finally made safe the win when Codey Brogan’s shot cannoned off Gorman’s back to deflect it past the Ballinroad goalkeeper, Aaron Beresford.
Before O’Boyle’s opener, Ballinroad had enjoyed the better start, but Sean Friel denied Tony Collins after he’d latched onto a through ball from Micheál O’Neill, exceptional throughout for the visitors.
O’Neill fired at Friel soon after before the goal frame stood in Ballinroad’s way as Ryan O’Neill let fly with a stunning effort from 25 yards. With Friel beaten, the clang of the post brought a relieved air around the Aura Centre.
Amid the counting of the tallies inside for the General Election, the numbers in the early stages of the game favoured Ballinroad, but O’Boyle prodded Rovers in front against the run of play.
O’Neill acrobatically riffled over, Gavin Joyce shot at Friel and Oisin O’Mahoney, somehow, put an attempt over the top from close range as Rovers held firm to their slender advantage.
As the clock ticked, it was looking increasingly likely that Ballinroad would carve a way back into the contest, but they couldn’t get by stubborn Rovers.
Ruairi Friel put his body on the line to block a powerful drive by O’Neill, but Rovers themselves fashioned a chance as Gorman upped the tempo, driving at Ballinroad before feeding David O’Donnell, who was thwarted by a well-timed intervention by Conor Whelan.
The nerves were whistling, but when Brogan’s drive was deflected in off Gorman it was all over bar the shouting, although Friel was still required to race out for a telling block in added time.
Letterkenny Rovers: Sean Friel; Calvin O’Brien, Eoghan Kelly, Ruairi Friel, James Tourish; David O’Donnell (Conor O’Donnell ’69), Sean Curran, Shane Doherty, Tarlach O’Boyle (Michael Gallagher ’69); Zach Gorman; Codey Brogan.
Ballinroad: Aaron Beresford; James Beresford (Sean Whelan-Barrett ’82), Peter Quealy, Conor Whelan, Mark Boland; Gavin Joyce (Mark Allen ’82, Ryan O’Neill, Oisin O’Mahoney, Tony Collins (Tom Loody ’73); Micheál O’Neill, Patrick Power.
Referee: Mick Lagan.
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