Clonkeen dominated normal time, winning battles all over the pitch, and finally forcing an equalizer through the Captain, Ryan Mathews, in the last ten minutes. It was a just reward for all the possession.

In extra time, the effort expended in getting back into the game began to show and all three substitutes were needed as exhausted players started to cramp. Steven Byrne came on for Luke Foy, Carl Wallace came on for Ben McGovern, and Aaron Murphy replaced Seán Toner. But then Chanel College scored their second goal right at the end of the first half of extra time.

However, as we have come to expect of this group of players, this cruel blow merely brought the best out of them. They raised themselves once again to dominate the remainder of the game.

Their character was illustrated through the sight of players like Roy Dunne playing until the final whistle despite a leg that locked with cramp, and Paul Moffatt shrugging off a painful shoulder injury, and Jamie Costello managing to play through some pain and surge forward from centre-half to hit what was probably Clonkeen’s last meaningful shot. But unfortunately it was not to be.

The U16 Soccer Squad has been fantastic all year, training regularly, conducting themselves admirably with regard to each other and the various opposing teams they have faced. It was sad end for many of the squad but for thirteen of the twenty-seven there will be another chance next year.