[score]
[team1]Ashton School[/team1][score1]1[/score1]
[team2]Villiers[/team2][score2]0[/score2]
[/score]
Andrew Salter’s power-slap 130 seconds from time saw Ashton win the Munster Schoolboys Senior Cup crown, breaking Villiers hearts right at the death in Dooradoyle.
It came from a superbly worked penalty corner move, star man Kevin O’Dea switching it right where the Ashton skipper found the perfect angle to hit the inside of the left post and in.
It was just about merited for the Cork side who had the clearer chances and the busier goalkeeper in Leon Mulally.
But Villiers hung touch with Sam Lilburn superb at the base of defence with an array of passes to match while Quinten Eacrett was a constant presence on the counter with his powerful runs.
Early on, Ashton made the early moves with O’Dea’s 3D skills and ability to skip out of a tackle a feature despite the close attention from Steven Tutty.
Adam Carry had the biggest chance of an end-to-end first half but could only touch wide of the near post from a right-wing cross.
A couple of corners were also repelled by the Limerick side while John Canny raced off his line superbly to block a speculative aerial ball.
The second half saw Ashton run up a couple of corners to no avail while Jack O’Meara denied Villiers with a pair of excellent last-ditch tackles.
In a close-fought endgame, Lilburn almost created a winner for Villiers but his disguised corner shot we touched wide. Ashton, meanwhile, took their chance for Munster glory.