The Macron Galway Cup - Day 4 Round-up

After sunny spells and no rain over the past two days, Day Four of the Macron Galway Cup returned to the traditional wet and windy weather as suspenseful finals and playoffs were played out under the clouds.

There were two semi-finals played in the first round of matches of the day, with Northern Ireland through to the Shield Final after beating West Waterford-East Cork one goal to nil. They will face Clare there, who roundly beat Salthill Devon by a scoreline of six goals to one.

In the other 2002 Elite Boys matches, Kildare won the Bowl Playoff as they put four past Galway without reply while Carlow won out two-one winners in the Place Playoff against North Tipperary.

The next set of 2002 Boys games saw very close results with Kildrum Tigers beating Carlow 1-0 in the Plate Final while North Tipperary won two-one against Galway in the Playoff. There was another 1-0 scoreline as Colga edged past Kerry in the Cup Playoff.

In the Cup Final, Colorado took the lead early on against Belvedere through a long freekick and then, after a great, disciplined team performance, doubled their advantage before the final whistle.

The 11.50am kick-offs saw the last of the 2002 Boys play with Roscommon finding the back of Salthill Devon’s net five times in the Bowl Playoff as Athlone won the Bowl Final thanks to a 1-0 win over Clare.

The first of the 2000 Boys games were played with both games finishing in penalties. After a nil-all draw, Galway overcame Aisling Annacotty after the Limerick side’s third penalty was saved.  In the Plate Final, Finn Harps lead after a counter-attacking goal before Ipswich equalized late in the game. Spotkicks ensued and a miss and then a save by the Ipswich goalkeeper saw the young Tractor Boys win 4-2 on penalties.

The remaining 2000 Boys games were all high scoring with Mervue United seeing off Ballymoor in the Shield Final by a three goal margin. Kyoto also won their first game of the tournament by the same scoreline as they beat Salthill Devon’s 01’s in the Shield Playoff. While the Cup Playoff saw Roscommon prevail 3-2 against Cavan/Monaghan, Kerry utilised their corner kicks to go two-nil just after half time before adding another late on as they defeated Edenderry in the Cup Final.

Leeds United and Belvedere were involved in a thrilling match in the 2002 Elite Boys Cup Final, with chances for both sides throughout the game. Leeds were the side that lifted the trophy as their striker tapped home after the goalkeeper parried a dangerous cross. In the Cup Playoff, Kerry beat Donegal thanks to a solitary goal while the NDSL put four past Athlone in the Plate Final. In the other match of that round, Cavan/Monaghan triumphed against the NEC in the Plate Playoff.

In the last 2000 Boys games, Wicklow beat Avenue United by one goal in the Bowl Playoff while in the Bowl Final, Salthill Devon defeated St Malachy’s on penalties after a stalemate during normal time. In the 1998 Boys matches that were on at the same time, Foyle Harps once again beat Manulla, this time by a three goal margin in the Cup Final, while Longford Town won six-five on penalties against Salthill Devon in the Plate Final.

In the last round of matches, the teams that had played earlier returned to play in the lashings of rain. Northern Ireland lost to Clare by two goals to one in the Shield Final while Salthill Devon beat West Waterford-East Cork in the playoff. And finally, in the Elite Bowl Final, Mayo ran out 3-0 winners over Roscommon.

2002 ELITE BOYS CUP FINAL

Belvedere 0-1 Leeds United

2002 ELITE BOYS CUP PLAYOFF

Donegal 0-1 Kerry

2002 ELITE BOYS PLATE FINAL

Athlone 0-4 NDSL

2002 ELITE BOYS PLATE PLAYOFF

Cavan/Monaghan 0-1 NEC

2002 ELITE BOYS BOWL FINAL

Mayo 3-0 Roscommon

2002 ELITE BOYS BOWL PLAYOFF

Kildare 4-0 Galway

2002 ELITE BOYS SHIELD SEMI-FINALS

Clare 6-1 SDFC

Northern Ireland 1-0 WWEC

2002 ELITE BOYS SHIELD FINAL

Northern Ireland 0-2 Clare

2002 ELITE BOYS SHIELD PLAYOFF

WWEC 1-3 SDFC

2002 ELITE BOYS PLACE PLAYOFF

Carlow 2-1 North Tipperary

2002 BOYS CUP FINAL

Colorado Rapids 2-0 Belvedere

2002 BOYS CUP PLAYOFF

Colga 1-0 Kerry

2002 BOYS PLATE FINAL

Kildrum Tigers 1-0 Carlow

2002 BOYS PLATE PLAYOFF

North Tipperary 2-1 Galway

2002 BOYS BOWL FINAL

Clare 0-1 Athlone

2002 BOYS BOWL PLAYOFF

Roscommon 5-0 SDFC 03

2000 BOYS CUP FINAL

Kerry 3-0 Edenderry

2000 BOYS CUP PLAYOFF

Cavan/Monaghan 2-3 Roscommon

2000 BOYS PLATE FINAL

Ipswich Town 1-1 Finn Harps (Ipswich won 4-2 on penalties)

2000 BOYS PLATE PLAYOFF

Galway 0-0 Aisling Annacotty (Galway won 5-4 on penalties)

2000 BOYS BOWL FINAL

St Malachy’s 0-0 SDFC 00 (Salthill won 4-3 on penalties)

2000 BOYS BOWL PLAYOFF

Wicklow 1-0 Avenue United

2002 BOYS SHIELD FINAL

Ballymoor 0-3 Mervue United

2000 BOYS SHIELD PLAYOFF

Kyoto 3-0 SDFC 01

1998 BOYS CUP FINAL

Foyle Harps 3-0 Manulla

1998 BOYS PLATE FINAL

SDFC 0-0 Longford Town (Longford won 6-5 on penalties)