St Kevin's Boys top Elite group at UMBRO Galway Cup

St. Kevin's Boys have topped their group in the Elite 1997 section of the Umbro Galway following a hard-fought 1-0 win over Maccabi Haifa.

Kevin's knew that a draw would be enough to see them advance to the semi final and started marginally the brighter; Stephen Confey looking particularly dangerous when raiding down the right wing. However, despite dominating early possession. the Dublin side struggled to create a clear cut chance.

Haifa, who had already qualified for the semis and rested several of their starters from the last game, slowly began to play their way into the match. Yam Cohen''s clean strike was gathered by the Kevin's 'keeper, who also did well to get behind Orli Bohbout's header from corner minutes later,

The game continued at a fast tempo until half time but the sides went in scoreless at the break.

The second half began with a free kick that crashed straight into the wall from Eithan Velblum before a weak effort from Jordan O' Reilly was saved.

Kevin's dominated almost completely for the rest of the game as they searched for a winner, and it finally came from Derek Daly, who hooked a shot over his shoulder into the net.

The Dubliner's nearly shipped one straight back however, with Mahammad Awwed extremely unlucky not to score. Kevin's managed to withstand a barrage of pressure late on to hang on for a 1-0 victory and will now play Dynamo Moscow in the semi final.

Maccabi Haifa take on the Republic of Ireland in the other semi.