DB Sports Summer Cup Tournament A Massive Success

26 Nov DB Sports Summer Cup Tournament A Massive Success

THE future looks bright after 48 small-sided games teams from across Leinster put on a spectacular show at the inaugural DB Sports Tours Summer Cup at the weekend.
VEC Football Club in Terenure hosted the debuting first tournament of its kind in Ireland – and the 600 young footballers on show certainly impressed the huge crowds that turned out to cheer them on.
Despite the off-field entertainment on offer at the venue creating a festival-like atmosphere, there was no doubt that the real fun came on the pitch over two action-packed days on Saturday and Sunday.



With four sections up for decision – Under-9, Under-10, Under-11 and Under-12 – spectators were treated to some scintillating skills in five-a-side and seven-a-side formats.
In the youngest age group Belvedere started what turned out to be a very successful weekend for the famous Dublin club by claiming the Under-9 cup with a 5-1 win over St Francis in the final.

Every one of the nine players in the squad scored over a weekends that also saw St Kevin’s Boys teams beaten in the semi and quarter-finals.
St Kevin’s also had two teams in the Under-10 section and their Saturday team claimed overall glory with an incredible eight-goal second-half performance against Belvedere in their final.



After coming through a group that included Knocklyon United, Freebooters and Drogheda Boys, the Saints also saw off their Sunday club-mates 2-0 in the semi-finals.

Despite being 1-0 down against Belvedere in the showpiece, they stormed back with eight unanswered goals – Adam Coyle grabbing a hat-trick.
Belvedere completed a double on Sunday with a 3-1 victory over St Malachys securing the Under-11 cup.
Toby Jimadu’s penalty save proved crucial as Belvedere came from behind to win thanks to a hat-trick from Anthony Hanney.

The Under-12 section featured the winners of the DB Sports Manchester Easter Cup, St Francis, and they made it a double with a penalty-shootout win over Crumlin United in this final.
Malahide United were also seen off on penalties in the semi-final as goalkeeper Luke Lacey-Coakley starred.
DB Sports Tours were particularly delighted to see so many clubs that from outside the capital make the long journey up to the tournament like Freebooters, Naas AFC and Rock Celtic.

THE Under-10s at Freebooters made a big impression on their first big outing to the capital.
Belvedere ended an incredible run from Freebooters at the semi-final stage and they eventually finished fourth.



Cillian Hacket scored two in their opening game as they defeated Drogheda Town 2-0, before Thomas Dillon and Kian Farrell got the goals in a 2-1 win over Dubliners Knocklyon United.
Dublin giants St Kevin’s Boys were too strong and secured a 2-0 win but Freebooters still qualified for the quarter-finals, where goalkeeper CJ Tynz stole the show.

Hacket and Harry Maher were on the scoresheet in a 2-2 draw with St Francis, leaving Tynz to send his side through with penalty-shootout saves and a score of his own from the spot.



Cian Dunne’s penalty looked to have sent his side beyond Belvedere in the semi-final, but a last-minute equalizer led to the Dubliners going through after another penalty shootout.
We were also delighted to lesser known names from Dublin really make their mark in the company of some of the big boys.

Tallaght’s Mark Celtic were in the Under-12 competition and despite defeats to Malahide United (3-2, Andy O’Connor and Opa Abdul scored) and Naas (2-0), Daniel Akinbade’s goal was enough to give them a 1-0 win over Knocklyon United and secured a place in the Cup quarter-finals.



Eventual winners St Francis ended their progress in the last eight with an emphatic win and Kevin’s proved to be too strong in the play-offs, but all involved with Marks were delighted with the experience.
Manager James O’Neill insisted: “We are already looking to bring all our small-sided teams from the club to this tournament next year as it was an incredible experience for the kids.”

Knocklyon United had one of the largest participations of any club across the sections in the Summer Cup but had to settle for a day of near misses on Sunday.
Despite an impressive 0-0 draw with giants St Kevin’s Boys – goalkeeper Matthew Donnegan was excellent – and a 1-1 draw with Enfield thanks to Jamie McCarthy’s goal, a 2-1 defeat to Crumlin was costly.
Conor Kennedy’s consolation goal was not enough to see them progress in the cup and they were eliminated in the semi-finals of the Shield by Malahide United.

Malahide went on to win the Shield, beating Knocklyon’s second team 1-0 in the final after they have dispatched Enfield in their own final-four clash.
Knocklyon sides in the Under-10 and Under-11 sections also reached their respective Shield finals.



The Under-10s were narrowly seen off 2-0 in their decider, while the Under-11s came from 3-0 down back to 3-2 but could not complete their comeback.
Malahide United’s Under-12 2nd team stole the show at the weekend by claiming the Shield title.
Following their 1st team’s semi-final defeat to eventual winners St Francis on penalties – after Max Kelly scored in a 1-1 draw – the Saturday lads made their mark.

Unlike their 1st team counterparts, who won all three of their group games on day one against Mark Celtic, Knocklyon and Naas, the 2nd team had little success in the group stages.
However, they made up for it by edging out Knocklyon themselves 1-0 in the decider thanks to an Alan Doyle goal.
In fact, Doyle was the only goalscorer in a semi-final win over Knocklyon’s first team also.

At Under-9 level, Malahide’s 2nd team reached the quarter-finals of the cup only be beaten 2-1 by St Kevin’s Boys.
That followed group stages wins over Kevin’s (2-1) and St Francis (4-2), either side of a defeat to Crumlin United. (2-0)
The 1st team also progressed to the cup quarters after they lost to both Crumlin and Belvedere after beating Naas 2-1.
However, a narrow 1-0 loss to St Francis in the last-eight halted their progress.



BELVEDERE – U9 CUP WINNERS: Charles McGee; Faruk Aloba, James Byrne, Brian Cooney, Danny Jael, Bahn Delemere, Adam Murphy, Cameron Caffrey, Billy Gilmore.
ST KEVIN’S BOYS – U10 CUP WINNERS: Adam Coyle, David O’Kergbuu, Taigh Walsh, Evan Ferguson, Keith Ross, Callum Warren, Eric Marku, Jamie Mullens.
BELVEDERE – U11 CUP WINNERS: Gareth Lynch, Anthony Hanney, Ben McCormack, Cameron Walker, Evan Kavanagh, Lewis Franzoni, Lee Franzoni, Toby Jimadu, Alex Wilders, Jamie Jamid.
ST FRANCIS – U12 CUP WINNERS: Luke Lacey Coakley; Aaron Connolly, Calvin Adigun, Scott O’Brien, Max Larkin, Andrew Mhondiou, O’Neill Ali, Dylan Stack, Emmanuel Martins, Mazeed O’Gungbo, Nathan O’Reilly, Lee McEvoy.



FREEBOOTERS U10s: CJ Tynz; James O’Shea, Kian Dunne, Cian Farrell, Thomas Dillon, Ben Peterson, Killian Hackett, Harry Maher, Darragh Butler, Conor Hayes.
MARK CELTIC U12’s: Gavin Brennan; Emmanuel Ovion, Daniel Akinbade, Brandon Norton, Jordan White , Daniel Sheehan, Ope Abdul, Andrew O’Connor, Daryl Sallinger, Troy Kavanagh, Evan Cheevers.
KNOCKLYON UNITED U12 1st TEAM: Matthew Donnegan, Jack Andrews, Kai Anderson, Joe Moran, David Keegan, Harry Colclough, Conor Kennedy, Jack Culliton, Andrew Morgan, Colm Maguire, Jamie McCarthy.
MALAHIDE UNITED U12 1st TEAM: Ciaran O’Connor, Ross Fitzpatrick, Ross Hampson, Ronan Carbury, Adam Stenson, Jack Kavanagh, Max Kelly, Mark Moris, Reese Courtney-Roche.



MALAHIDE UNTIED U12 2ND TEAM: Padraig Burke; Darragh Timmons, Jay Walsh, Matthew Dolphin, Dylan Cowman, Brendan Crean, Alan Doyle, Josh Hayes, Seamus Carey, Eric Jerkland.
*A big thanks to the Irish Daily Star’s Target, the Echo, the Northside People and the Kilkenny People – who all covered our event last weekend and have fantastic reports in this week’s editions – for providing the text above.*