White’s Cross have been crowned city division Junior B football league champions for the first time since 1992. At that time the club’s first team competed at B level.  White’s Cross  have consistently entered a second team since the promotion to the Junior A ranks following that win in 1992  and while several finals have been reached in that time, we had never entered the winners enclosure. That was until Friday 13^th of August last when the team produced a sterling performance to seal the victory.  

St Michaels, a team that have reached the last three championship finals (winning 2) have been consistently the best team in the Seandún division over the last 4 years. Going into the game unbeaten, they would certainly have been favourites to win among those who follow football at this level.  The favourites label would have been justified early on as they raced into a one point lead within 30 seconds when their corner-back Kieran Green found himself in space and he tapped over the first point. Two minutes later a run from the middle of the field and some nice interplay among the forwards saw St. Michael’s extend their advantage further when their impressive number 9 Eoin De Burca fisted the ball to the back of the net.  The experienced Dale O’Neill at centre-forward scored another point a minute later as the Blackrock men were very much in the ascendency. White’s Cross soon settled at the back. Though Michaels enjoyed plenty of possession and held the ball reasonably well , their third minute goal was the only time that they came near getting the ball past White’s Cross young netminder Ruairi Teehan who has been outstanding in his debut season. For this, the credit must go to the experience trio of Derek O’Connor, Padraig Murnane and Sean O’Gorman in the White’s Cross full-back line. They did not put a foot wrong throughout the game and put fierce pressure on their opponents all-through without giving away any silly frees or easy shots at the target.  

Then the Shane Cahill show started. The White’s Cross corner forward has gotten many crucial scores on the way to this final and he stepped up again with White’s Cross first score. In fact he got all four of his sides opening points. While some were very close to going under the bar, the main thing at this stage was that the score board was ticking-over and Shane and the other inside forwards of James Murphy and Rob Troy were finding gaps in the Michaels rearguard that could be exploited later. And soon-after the Cross would break Michaels resistance. Stephen Whooley, as he has been doing all year, got the ball on the wing and used his pace to cut in through the opponent’s defence to set up his fellow minor star Harry Coughlan to fist the ball the net. Now, after 12 minutes the sides were level and it was White’s Cross that were very much on top. No further scores were added before the first water-break.  

As has been happening in more high-profile games around the country, the water-break has become a momentum breaker. This trend continued here as it was Michaels that added next three scores. They moved the lively Tom Grainger to wing forward to provide a different challenge to White’s Cross wing-back Dan O’Sullivan who was lording kick-out after kick-out and setting up White’s Cross attacks. Grainger got one of the  next three points as Michaels extended the lead with the scoreboard reading 1 -07 to 1-04 after 25 minutes. Edwin Buckley got White’s Cross first point from a free to cut to the lead to two points before a long run from Rob McElhinney saw him fist the ball over the bar to narrow the lead to just one point. Right before the half time whistle it was midfielder Barry Prendergast, who was winning a load of possession in the middle third, turn to run at the heart of the Michaels defence and only a superb save saw him denied a goal that his performance would have deserved. The follow-up effort at a point also went wide. Michaels had survived and the ref blew time on a thrilling first half. 

A thrilling first half was followed by something as good if not better in the second half as both sides used the bench in order to gain the upper hand in this tie. It was White’s Cross though that made the better start and after both sides shared a point each it was second half substitute Paul O’Sullivan who cut inside to finish the ball low under the advancing keeper Max White and White’s Cross lead for the first time in the game by two points after just three second half minutes. This would be the gap between the sides a full thirty minutes later when the ref blew the final whistle. But there was huge drama in between. Though Michaels never lead they did manage to equalise again on scoreline of 2 – 07 to 1-10 before Edwin Buckley and James Murphy showed their composure to extend the lead to two points for a second time. And back came Michael’s again as you would expect of such a decent footballing outfit. This time they were helped by the most contentious refereeing decision of the night. Harry Coughlan was dismissed after 51 minutes for a second yellow card offence. Though there can be few complaints about the second caution, there seemed to be no justification for his first. That said, Cathal Nolan and his officials, in general, had a very good game.   

When Luke Fogarty equalised in the 55^th minute the advantage had swung decisively in Michael’s favour. Or so it seemed. White’s Cross were not done yet. Sean O’Gorman was an inspirational, commanding figure at corner back while outside him others introduced to the fray like Dan Kelleher and Conor Docherty were able to get on the ball and relieve the pressure on the backs. Stephen Whooley showed great leadership for one so young as he got on the ball and carried and held possession when the pressure was it its greatest.  It was left to Edwin Buckley and James Murphy again to get the points to seal out the game. Both players have had played many great games for White’s Cross over many years and it was great to have players to show such composure in such tight tense situations. They kicked the final two points of the game to seal a great win for the club. 

Richie Sherlock was superb all through this campaign and as in ever present in a White’ Cross jersey. As a real team player and club member there are very few people in the club more deserving of the honour of captaining the team. He thanked all the players and management team for the hard work and he expressed his hope that this can be the start of something bigger for the club. 

White’s Cross: Rory Teehan, Sean O’Gorman, Derek O’Connor, Padraig Murnane, Riche Sherlock, Rob McElhinney, Dan O’Sullivan, Cathal Quinlan, Barry Prendergast, Stephen Whooley, Edwin Buckley, Harry Coughlan, Shane Cahill, James Murphy, Rob Troy.  Subs: Cormac Dervan for Richie Sherlock, Fiachra O’Connell for Dan O’Sullivan, Cormac Manning for Padraig Murnane, Daniel Kelleher for Cathal Quinlan, Paul O’Sullivan for Robert Troy, Conor Docherty for Shane Cahill. Alfie McEvoy, Sean Twomey, Fionnan Quinlan, Sean O’Donnell (not used) 

St. Michaels: Max White, Thomas Murphy, Sean Conway, Kiearn Green,  Jack Clarke, Darragh O’Brien, Ciaran Flemming, Pat Doyle, Eoin De Burca, Luke Fogarty, Dale O’Neill, Eoin Tuohy, Eoin O’Sullivan, Dave O’Sullivan, Tom Grainger