U8 Cork Cup Report
Posted: 2010-06-10 08:57:38

Cork Cup Report:

Lakewood sent two strong U-8 squads to the Cork Cup 2010, a two day Festival of Football held over the last weekend of May at CIT Sports Grounds at Curaheen.

Lakewood Reds (Lakewood A):
Joe O'Leary, Josh Cotter, Conor McGoldrick, Jason O'Riordain, Evan Dodd, Peter Corkery, Sean O'Donovan, Eoin O'Shaugnessy, David Murphy, Aaron Guilfoyle

Lakewood Blues (Lakewood B):
Tyreik Wright, Mark Kelleher, Keelan McCarthy, Luke Hannon, Hugh Murphy, Daniel Dineen, Brian Elliott, Colin McSweeney, Ciaran Desmond, Patrick Lenihan.

The format of the competition provided qualification for the top two teams in each group to the overall cup semi-final and final.


The group game results were as follows:

Lakewood Reds 1 Springfield Ramblers 0
Lakewood Reds 3 Temple Utd A 0
Lakewood Reds 1 WFTA 1
Lakewood Reds 6 Ringmahon Rangers 0

Lakewood Blues 2 Kinsale AFC 1
Lakewood Blues 1 Ringmahon Rangers 0
Lakewood Blues 2 Kilreen Celtic 1
Lakewood Blues 1 Temple Utd B 0

After the group stages, both Lakewood teams proudily topped their respective groups and both qualified for the semi-finals.

Group 1 Played Won Drawn Lost Points
Lakewood Reds 4 3 1 0 10
Springfield Ramblers 4 3 0 1 9
WFTA (Dublin) 4 2 1 1 7
Temple United A 4 1 0 3 3
Ringmahon Rangers B 4 0 0 4 0

Group 2 Played Won Drawn Lost Points
Lakewood Blues 4 4 0 0 12
Kinsale AFC 4 1 2 1 5 8 goals
Kilreen Celtic 4 1 2 1 5 6 goals
Ringmahon Rangers A 4 1 2 1 5 3 goals
Temple United B 4 0 0 4 0


In the first semi-final, a gallant Lakewood Reds team fell behind to an early goal from Kinsale AFC, and though they gave everything, they were subsequently unable to break down their opponents who pulled everyone back behind the ball as they held onto their advantage. While Kinsale nabbed a second on the break in the second-half as Lakewood pushed everyone forward in search of an elusive equaliser, there was little between the teams, other than Kinsale having taken the two chances that came their way.

The other semi-final between Lakewood Blues and Springfield Ramblers ended in a tense 1-1 deadlock, after extra-time, and was resolved in a thrilling penalty shoot-out which saw an heroic Lakewood team come out on top in sudden death, after the two teams could not be separated after their first five penalties.
And so to the final which was an equally tense affair where the first goal ultimately proved to be decisive. Once again, it was Kinsale who produced the early goal and they immediately adopted a defensive formation which proved impossible to break-down. Nevertheless, Lakewood Blues fought to the very end and while clearly disappointed at the final whistle, they should cherish the runner-up medals which they deservedly won.


Semi-finals:
Lakewood Reds 0 Kinsale AFC 2
Lakewood Blues 1 Springfield Ramblers 1 (after extra-time). Lakewood win 6-5 in a sudden death penalty shoot-out.
Final:
Lakewood Blues 0 Kinsale AFC 1

Both teams should be very proud of their contribution over the weekend and having provided two strong teams at this level it is clear that there is strength in depth and a bright future for this u-8 squad. Next year, we'll look to go one better!