Sligo-Leitrim Youth & Schoolboys U-18 League Final

Sligo Rovers U-18s bounced back from their recent defeat against Belvedere in the FAI Youth Cup final when they beat Manorhamilton Rangers to reach the final of the Sligo-Leitrim Youth & Schoolboys U-18 League. The Dessie Cawley-managed side were given a real scare by Manor, though, with the final score being 5-3 to Rovers after extra-time.

Rovers looked to be cruising as they led 3-0 at half-time thanks to goals from Gavin O’Dwyer, Oisin Mannion and John Maughan. But Manor, inspired by Ronan McGourty, produced a great comeback in the second-half to level matters at 3-3, with McGourty getting two goals. That took the semi-final into extra-time where Rovers steadied themselves.

John Bellew scored two goals in the second period of extra-time – taking his tally for the season to 24 – to secure Rovers place in the final.

In the decider they will take on Innisfree Celtic, who beat the reigning champions Ballymote Celtic 1-0 in the other semi-final. Both sides had to work against a strong breeze with Innisfree proving adept at mastering the conditions. They created the better chances throughout the game but were denied on a number of occasions by Ballymote goalkeeper Stephen Anderson, who produced a number of important saves.

With extra-time seemingly looming, Innisfree scored their winner in the 87th minute when Colin Harte drilled the ball in from the left to find Dwayne Kelly, who was able to turn and shoot into the corner past Anderson.

The Sligo-Leitrim Youth & Schoolboys U-18 League final is to be played on Saturday (MacSharry Park, 12 noon).

http://www.sligoweekender.com/news/story.asp?j=23198

It's hard to believe Ronan McGourty is still under-18. Excellent player.