Navan Town take Leinster title in dramatic fashion

It's never over until it's over. The truth of that old saying was forcefully demonstrated by 10-man Navan Town when they defeated Ballymun Utd in the Leinster Football Association u-19 Cup final on Saturday. The priceless goal came in the dying seconds with substitute Cathal Smyth getting the vital touch to ensure that Navan Town became the first Meath team to win this relatively new competition. The excellent main pitch at the Oscar Traynor Coaching and Development Centre in Coolock was the venue for the latest triumph by a side who have turned the winning of trophies into an art form. Last season the Navan side won the double in the North Dublin League where they operate out of these days. They are in contention for four trophies this season with the first picked up on Saturday. Undefeated all season Navan Town have surely never won a final in more dramatic circumstances. With the 90 minutes just up and extra-time looking like it would be needed to find a winner up popped Smyth with his dramatic and decisive intervention. Navan Town are well able to zip the ball around a pitch with neat and precise passes, but Smith's winner came straight out of the Jack Charlton route one manual. The Meath side won a free almost on the half-way line out to the right. John Davis floated the ball into the Ballymun Utd box. It was the last throw of the dice and few in the decent-sized crowd could have expected that the move would produce the winning goal. And it wouldn't have had if a Ballymun Utd defender had not lost sight of the ball as it came down from the clouds. Instead of clearing the danger zone the defender back-headed the ball across his own goalmouth. It fell perfectly for Smith who slotted it into the corner from about 10 metres. The shell-shocked Ballymun Utd players only had time for one more attack which came to nothing. Then the final whistle sounded and the over-joyed Navan contingent were left to mark yet another notch to their bow. And it wasn't just the lateness of the winning goal that made it so dramatic. It was also the fact that for the last nine minutes Navan Town operated with just 10 men after Nicky O'Brien picked up a second yellow card for a tackle. There were no complaints from the Navan Town camp about the decision, but it looked at that stage as if the former NECSL side would be happy to dig in and take their chance in the lottery of a penalty shoot-out. Instead manager Robbie Wogan continued to play with two men up front and the adventurous approach ultimately paid off. On the overall balance of play Navan Town deserved their victory. They created more openings in a game where clear-cut chances were few and far between. Considering they are a Meath side the Navan Town players were appropriately decked out in their traditional green and gold colours. As befitting a team who have claimed a bagful of trophies in the last two or three seasons Navan Town played with plenty of confidence and spirit. There was ample evidence to support the argument that Navan Town were the better team over the 90 minutes. There was the incident early on when O'Brien and Donal Callan combined to play Ryan Lang in, but the ball ran away from him just as he was about to pull the trigger. There was the moment midway through the opening half when Karl Reilly shot just over after a Rian Wogan header was blocked. The most noteworthy chance of all came on the stroke of half-time. An incisive run through the middle by Gareth Byrne caused consternation in the Ballymun backline. Byrne slipped the ball to Reilly who unleashed an exocet. The ball looked destined for the net only for Ballymun Utd netminder Stephen Robinson to leap upwards and turn it over the bar. The impressive Byrne also curled a superbly-struck free from outside the box just over shortly before the referee put the whistle to his lips to blow for half-time. Navan Town spent much of the second-half absorbing pressure which they did with relative comfort. They also continued to create half-chances with Byrne again going close from a free and Reilly missing with a glancing header. Not that it was all about Navan Town. Ballymun Utd dug out their own openings too. Moments into the second-half Vadim Cucojov shot inches wide and Navan Town netminder Ben Clarke had to be alert to get to the ball ahead of Ballymun attacker Jonathan Kearns near the end. Despite the attacking panache displayed by both sides it looked like extra-time would be required to find out what team would be going home with the silverware. Until Smith popped up with his dramatic winner. Navan Town - Ben Clarke; Garreth Byrne, Lee Dixon, Brendan Milligan, Nicky O'Brien, Donal Callan, Eamonn Ferris, Ryan Lang, Karl Reilly, Rian Wogan, John Davis. Subs - Nathan O'Brien for Ferris 67 mins, Aaron Fitzsimons for Reilly 72m, Cathal Smyth for Lang 75m. Ballymun Utd - S Robinson; W Delaney, D Cruise, S O'Keeffe, D Hayden, S Dodd, C Doolan, S Meehan, V Cucojov, J Fleming, S Smith. Sub - K McMahon for Smith 59mins. Referee - Craig Heavey (Dublin).