Green Briar FC 5:1 Paddy Barry's
Green Briar Captain and cup final 'Man of the Match' Tom Caldwell broke the deadlock early-on against Paddy Barry's to set his team on the road to their first trophy of the season. Tom was an inspiration to his teammates, leading by example and putting in a typically dominant and tenacious display in midfield.
Green Briar FC: (Back) Altidore, Hennessy, Caldwell, Clarke, Doonan, Coen, De'Pieri
(Front) Sexton, McCarney, O'Connor, McLoughlin, McGuinness, Roux
Mickey Sexton wasn't bad either, securing the match ball with a cup final hatrick, a collectors item in any footballer's career. Leo O'Connor secured the other strike with a superb run and cheeky flick past the on-rushing Paddy Barry's keeper to round off a terrific result for the Greens.
Paddy Barry's
Despite the scoreline on the night, the path to the trophy wasn't an easy one. The Briar seemed to grow into the competition gradually, securing a pair of draws during group play and a narrow 2-1 victory over Kendall A at the semi final stage.
Mark Stokes presents the cup to Briar captain Tom Caldwell
The Briar had a strong team available for selection and with 12 outfield players to choose from Joe Nolan and Michael Graham could afford the luxury of two hockey style lines of players. The team hardly skipped a beat as the talent on the line equalled that of the players on the pitch.
Green Briar FC celebrate with sponsor Dessie Kerins
Assists on the night came from a variety of players. Davey Coen setup Caldwell for the opener, while his midfield partner Brian McGuinness (fresh off of a flight from DC) provided the service for Mickey Sexton's first. The back line were also solid contributors going forward. Fernando De'Pieri sent a long ball over the top for Sexton to grab his brace before Gary Hennessy later turned provider for the hatrick goal.
Managers Joe Nolan and Michael Graham
Colin Roux
Leo O'Connor scored the pick of the goals on the night after he latched onto a through ball from Emmett Doonan and sent a deft flick over the advancing keeper for the silky finish. In fact Leo, along with Michael Graham were the only members of the club on the night that had been involved in the 2009 winning side. Testament to how the club has grown and changed over the years.
Keith McLoughlin
Leading 3-0 at the break, it was looking promising for the Briar. However one had only to look back to the group stage to know that a 3-0 scoreline is nothing in the indoor game. The Briar had managed to relinquish such a lead in their first game versus Bohemians.
Conor Hannick and Yolanda America
The only blotch on the copy book was surrendered just after the break. A Keystone Cops moment in the Briar area resulted in what seemed like a 30 second scramble around the goal mouth before the ball was finally poked home to make the scoreline 3-1. The result on this night would be far different to that from the Bohs tie however.
Peter Miller
Instead of folding or conceding ground and possession, the Briar re-established their foothold in the tie to round out the 5-1 result, and famous victory.
Leo O'Connor
Tastes good from a Waterford Crystal Cup.
Tom Caldwell was charged with raising the coveted crystal trophy and afterwards gave an excellent, all-encompassing speech - Thanking Paddy Barry's for a hard fought match, the Marina Bay Sportsplex facility for the terrific venue, the referee and organizer Mark Stokes for facilitating the event and keeping his cards in his pocket. Above all he thanked our sponsor the Green Briar Pub, represented by General Manager Dessie Kerins who came down to support the side. His managers were so good they didn't require a mention.
Gary Cassidy
The competition was excellent, displaying all the skill the Irish game in Boston has to offer, and the win serves as a terrific platform for the Briar to enter the MSSL season with confidence.
Line Up: De'Pieri, Hennessy, Clarke, Coen, McGuinness, Caldwell, McLoughlin, McCarney, Doonan, Altidore, O'Connor, Roux, Sexton
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