St Joseph's young guns come close to glory in Danone Cup

St Joseph's under-11s had almost a perfect day in Sligo last Sunday when they were only defeated in the final of the Regional Section of the Danone Nations Cup Qualifiers. This was an outstanding achievement for St Joseph's, as 16 teams from eight different Schoolboy Leagues competed, with two qualifiers from each of the Galway, Mayo, Sligo/Leitrim, Donegal, Inishowen, Longford and Roscommon Leagues. The ADSL were represented by our qualifiers, St Joseph's and Ballinasloe Town. St Joseph's started with a 1-0 win over Manulla from Mayo. The decisive goal arrived in the second half when Sean Henry picked out Conor Farrell with a superb crossfield pass and Farrell fired to the top corner of the net. St Joseph's followed that up with a 0-0 draw against Carndonagh from Donegal in a game in which they did everything but score. This meant qualification to the semi-finals came down to the last group game against Corofin from Galway. Joseph's played some great passing football to win this game 3-0. They took the lead through Conor Farrell's penalty, with Ruairi Lenehan scoring two fantastic goals in the second half. In the semi-final, St Joseph's were 1-0 winners over Caffrey (from Ballybofey in Donegal). Again, St Joseph's were excellent and won this tie more emphatically than the scoreline suggests. Robert Hardiman scored the crucial goal in the first half to secure a place in the final against Castlebar Celtic. Castlebar won all their games on the way to the final, and like St Joseph's, had not conceded a goal. Joseph's trailed to a first half goal but were still well in the contest. They were playing the better football and might have had a penalty for a high challenge on the impressive David Fortune. St Joseph's luck was all out when, in the second half, a mishit Castlebar shot fortunately looped into the net for 2-0. Castlebar were then awarded a penalty but Michael Hanley pulled off a magnificent save. Thereafter, St Joseph's laid siege to the Mayo goal, hitting the crossbar and the post, and also having another effort cleared off the line. Ballinasloe Town can also be very proud of their efforts in this under-11 competition. They were drawn in a very tough group and got off to a terrible start with a harsh penalty award in the first minute of their first game against Galway's Salthill Devon. They soon got on level terms through Conor Layng goal, and by half-time Ballinasloe were 2-1 up with another Layng goal. However, Salthill equalised in the second half and the game finished 2-2. Ballinasloe needed a win in their next game, against Moville from Donegal, and they achieved it on a 2-1 scoreline. Qualification to the semi-finals came down to the last game against Castlebar Celtic, but the Mayo side proved too strong and claimed a 2-0 win. Domestic season draws to a close The ADSL season is drawing to a close with a number of league titles decided in the past week. In a great finish to the Under-11 Premier 11-a-side competition, with three sides still in contention going into the last round of games, it was Ballinasloe Town who came out on top with a great away win against Temple Villa. Meanwhile, the Under-11 Premier 7-a-side also went down to the wire with a play-off between St Francis and Connaught Celtic, which was only decided in a penalty shoot-out with Francis lifting the title. St Coman's collected the single point they needed to win the Under-13 Division One Title, with a 0-0 draw in the last game with Connaught Celtic. There was high drama in the last game of the Under-14 League in the encounter between Willow Park (needing just a draw to be crowned champions), and St Joseph's (who had to win). St Joseph's went 2-0 up only to be pegged back at 2-2, before Colin Cotton grabbed a quite brilliant late goal to win the league for Joseph's. In the Under-16 League, a 2-1 win for St Francis over Temple Villa paved the way for Willow Park, who took full advantage, and their 2-0 win over St Peter's wrapped up the title for Willow. All that remains is the last round of the Under-13 Premier Division, with three teams still in contention for the title. Willow Park and St Joseph's are tied at the top, with St Francis just one point back. The last games will all be played this Sunday (all at 3pm), with Willow Park away to Temple Villa, St Joseph's playing cup winners Hodson Bay Celtic, and St Francis at home to Ballinasloe. Meanwhile, the ADSL Kennedy Cup squad continued preparations during the past week with a solid 6-2 friendly win over the Roscommon Schoolboy League, with goals from Cathal Stacey, Eoin McCormack, Stephen Connolly, Habib Sanusi, Brian Stack and Aaron O'Neill. Ipswich come to town Coaches from the Ipswich Town Football Academy are guests of the ADSL in Athlone this coming weekend. The Ipswich coaches will conduct sessions with each of the four ADSL Age Group Development Academies over Friday and Saturday, with all ADSL club managers and coaches very welcome to attend The ADSL and the Ipswich Town Academy will also be discussing areas of possible mutual co-operation in the future. Full details of the schedule for the weekend will be furnished to clubs, and will be set out on the ADSL Website (www.athlonesl.ie). Church gate collection The ADSL will hold its annual Church Gate Collection this coming weekend at the various Athlone churches. The ADSL would urge and encourage your support.