North End United 1-2 Liffey Wanderers
The final of this season’s FAI Junior Cup, in association with Aviva and Umbro, will be an all-Dublin affair after Liffey Wanderers booked their place in the 17 May showpiece by seeing off North End United at Ferrycarrig Park on Sunday afternoon.
A brace from man-of-the-match Aidan Roche gave Liffey a commanding advantage in the second half and, though Shane Dempsey’s last-minute free-kick supplied some hope for the Wexford side, it came too late for a comeback to be mounted.
Victory for Liffey earns them a place in the final at the Aviva Stadium in four weeks time against Sheriff YC, 1-0 winners over Clonmel Celtic in Saturday’s first last-four tie.
Backed by a boisterous support at their local venue, North End’s fanbase were silenced inside the opening 60 seconds as Liffey forged ahead.
Gary Young’s long thrown-ins have proven a key weapon in their cup run and, from his first hurtle, Roche was quickest to react by stabbing the ball beyond Lee Walker in the United goal.
Despite Jason Murphy and Adam Beary going close to equalising before the interval and Keith Kearney’s being denied by the post immediately after the restart, North End were hit by a second on 53 minutes.
Just as they thought a scare had been averted when Anthony O’Connor’s penalty was saved by Lee Walker, they were helpless to prevent Roche rising majestically at the near post from the resulting corner to head home the second goal.
After referee David Jameson adjudged that David Andrews had handled on the edge of the box in the 90th minute, Shane Dempsey stepped up to rifle the free-kick through the wall and past Philip O’Connor but it proved a mere consolation.
Meanwhile, John Lester’s penalty proved sufficient for Sheriff to record a 1-0 win over Clonmel Celtic in Saturday evening’s semi-final in Tipperary Town.
The midfielder converted the 12th-minute spot-kick after FAI Junior Player of the Year Darren Dunne was tripped inside the penalty area by Brian Waters.
Clonmel’s best chance of an equaliser fell to Aaron Moroney on 63 minutes but, although the substitute lifted the ball over the advancing McGrane from an acute angle, his effort lacked both the power and accuracy to find the empty net.
Sheriff will be aiming for their third national title in the space of four years.
