Cup Heartbreak In Inchicore

It was time for the first taste of cup football for Inchicore this season and not even the looming All Ireland Final was going to get in the way.  There was a change of venue as BCP was left behind and Inchicore took to the field against Bagnelstown from Carlow in the first round of The LFA Junior Cup at The CIE Sports Club.  Could a return to Inchicore spur the home team on to victory?

Sean Blake plays his way out of defence

It looked for the early part that Inchicore would continue their rich vein of form.  Adam Ryan came close to opening the scoring but his shot went inches over the crossbar.  Karl Cogan, captain for the day in the absence of Ger Marshall, then shot narrowly wide as Inchicore sought the opener.  The first goal arrived for the visitors against the run of play as half time approached after an unfortunate defensive mix-up.

It was a cruel blow for the home side but with a whole half of football still to be played you sensed that chances would be created.  There was a sucker punch from Bagnelstown minutes into the second half, however.  Again the visitors had a huge, huge stroke of luck when an Inchicore clearance was deflected into the path of their striker who rolled the ball into an empty net.  It could have been a real horror story at CIE when Bagnelstown were awarded an indirect free kick only 8 yards from goal, thankfully the resultant shot was not on target.

Inchicore survive an indirect free kick

Inchicore sprang back into action and thought they had pulled a goal back when John Byrne got on the end of an in-swinging corner but the referee had blown for a foul on the goalkeeper.  The referee was in the thick of it again waving away an Inchicore shout for a penalty.  It looked like it was just one of those days as the minutes slowly ticked away.

Bagnelstown hung on in the end to scrape through to the next round of the cup to the disappointment of Inchicore and their supporters.  Dublin winning the All Ireland later in the day went some way to making up the disappointment of Inchicores brief appearnace in this seasons LFA Junior Cup.  There is still the league to concentrate on and their is always next year for The LFA Junior Cup.