Published: Wednesday, 24th March, 2010 5:00pm

Cruel own goal knocks Temple Villa out

Temple Villa 2 Arklow Town 3

There was heartbreak for Temple Villa at Villa Park last Saturday when they were knocked out of the U-14 SFAI Cup courtesy of a last-minute own goal by substitute Kenny Egan.

Having been outplayed for the majority of the game and gone two-nil down three minutes into the second-half, things looked bleak for the Mount Temple side. But, after staging a remarkable and unlikely comeback, they were on the verge of extra-time only to by denied at the death by a huge stroke of misfortune.

Villa, though, can be proud of their achievement in reaching the last sixteen of the competition and, with a bit more luck, they could well have found themselves facing into a quarter-final.

The game began at a fast pace with Arklow strikers Shane Walker and Dean Doyle immediately looking like the danger-men for the Wicklow side. On ten minutes, Walker saw his shot deflected just wide while, two minutes later, the same man cut in from the right of the penalty area before shooting straight at Robert Hickey in the Villa goal.

On sixteen minutes, Villa had a rare shot at goal when Conor Marlowe floated a free-kick wide of the mark from 30yards. So far, Arklow were clearly the better team but still they hadn't created any clear-cut chances.

With seven minutes to go before the half, Cormac Breslin tested Hickey again with a long-range effort as Arklow continued to pressurise what was thus far a rock solid Villa defence. And, in fact , Villa almost took the lead on 33 minutes when Arklow 'keeper Ryan Murray had to get down smartly to keep out a snap shot from Dan Ledwith.

But just as it looked as though Villa might hold out until the break, Arklow struck for the opening goal. A corner was flighted in from the left by Breslin. The ball was allowed to bounce in the box before Shane Walker swung his left boot at it, sending the ball to the unguarded corner of the net.

As Villa emerged for the second-half, it already looked like an uphill battle they were facing. And within three minutes of the restart, things got worse. After Alan Nugent was adjudged to have fouled Sean Howley on the edge of the box, a free-kick was awarded in a dangerous position. Again it was Breslin who floated the ball in and again it was Walker who netted the goal, this time heading home at the far post. The hill had become a mountain.

But amazingly, Villa found themselves right back in it just two minutes later. Their high-pressure game finally paid off when Philip Ganley blocked down an Arklow clearance before running on to the ball and, from a difficult angle, drilled it hard and low to the corner of the net. An eventful start to the second-half.

On 54 minutes, Villa carved open another wonderful opportunity when Niall Neary skipped between two challenges on the edge of the box, jinked around a third before, with only the keeper to beat, poking the ball over the bar.

Three minutes later, Villa were unbelievably back on level terms when Conor Marlowe rose highest in the box to thump home an Alan Nugent corner and spark wild celebrations among the Mount Temple camp. It was a turnaround that had looked completely unlikely at 0-2.

Suddenly it was Arklow who were looking shaky at the back but, as the time ticked over into stoppage-time, extra-time looked to be on the cards. But then disaster struck for Villa.

First, a mix up between Sean Bracken and Aaron Farrell allowed Dean Doyle in on goal. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Brian O'Donohoe came thundering in from nowhere to complete a huge challenge. But a corner was still conceded. Cormac Breslin floated the ball in and when Kenny Egan swung at the ball to clear it, he cruelly saw the ball rebound off his leg and into his own net.

TEMPLE VILLA: Robert Hickey, Eoin Fox, Aaron Farrell, Sean Bracken, Brian O'Donohoe, Alan Nugent, Ben Maxwell, Conor Marlowe, Niall Neary, Dan Ledwith, Philip Ganley. SUBS: Kenny Egan for B. Maxwell (41'), Niall Kelly for D. Ledwith (70').

ARKLOW TOWN: Ryan Murray, Sean Byrne, Aaron Bryan, David Tomkins, Michael Walker, Sean Howley, Gary O'Neill, Cormac Breslin, Craig Kinsella, Shane Walker, Dean Doyle. SUBS: Kean O'Hairain for D. Doyle (70').