What a way to score your first goal for VEC FC!

Calum Gallagher put this cup match to bed when he scored VEC’s 3rd goal in the 106th minute as VEC FC progressed to the quarter-finals of the O’Neills.com Challenge Cup at the expense of Oldbury FC on a very chilly Friday night in Killinarden.

It wasn’t until the 75th minute that the home team took the lead from a very dubious penalty award. Immediately VEC re-jigged the team and put immense pressure on the Oldbury goal – and got their reward by scoring a dramatic equaliser through Rob Newe in the 93rd minute, thus bringing the game into extra time.

Then a first goal of the season from defender Neal Breslin gave VEC the lead in the 12th minute of extra time … before Calum’s strike to give VEC a deserved 3-1 win.

Pic. Bres runs to his best friend Petesy for a hug!

After a number of early chances, a 12th minute goal from Conall O’Shaughnessy gave VEC a deserved lead in the Richard Knight Cup match against Castle Celtic on Bluebell’s Astro. But it was not until the 67th minute when Oisin Kinsella scored the second that the pressure was off VEC, who scored two further goals through Tom Wrynne in the final 10 minutes.

Pic. 1: Gav Murphy. Pic. 2: Oisín Kinsella in tussle for the ball with Jordan Howard in attendance and observed closely by Referee Tom Shannon. and Pic. 3: VEC Captain Séamus Staunton.

VEC FC now advance to the next round with a home game against Beech Park FC.

Goals from Tom Wrynne, Rob Newe, Joey Byrne and a breathtaking 30yd. strike by Jordan Howard ensured that VEC secured the 3 points that were required to put pressure on Premier Division leaders Sth. William St. Celtic against Coolock Village FC at the Oscar Traynor Centre. Final result: 4-1 to VEC.

Pic. shows VEC’s first goal by Tom Wrynne on the 30th minute mark.

Meanwhile in Division 2, a draw was no good for either Castle Celtic 2nds or VEC FC 2nds when the two met on a windswept Stannaway park as we failed to score in our third consecutive game. It ended 0-0 and leaves VEC second in the table trailing Sandford/St Marys by seven points, while Castle will have to be content with their mid-table position. VEC Squad

In a typical cup tie, VEC FC overcame Harding IF FC 2nds in a penalty shoot-out (4-3) to advance to the last 16 of the O’Neills.com Challenge Cup where we will meet Oldbury FC.

VEC’s saviour on the day was Jordan Howard who scored direct from a corner in the 14th minute and then from a free kick in the 32nd minute. In between, Harding scored in the 18th minute and then dramatically equalized with virtually the last kick of the game (95th minute) to bring the game into extra time.

With no further goals, the penalty shoot-out decided the outcome on a 4-3 score! [1 of Richie Hannify’s 2 penalty saves below]

In the Division 2 top-of-the-table clash in Terenure, Sandford St. Mary’s maintained their 5-point lead over second-placed VEC 2nds after the game finished 0-0.

Garry Curran (pic.) had one of VEC’s best chances but unfortunately this effort flew just over the crossbar!

Meanwhile in the Premier Division, three VEC errors in the 40th, 42nd and 45th minutes led to three goals for Oldbury to add to their 28th minute strike from a set piece and gave them a commanding 4-0 lead at half time on Sacred Heart’s all-weather pitch in Killinarden. Joey Byrne’s goal in the 67th minute was VEC’s only consolation on the day!

Glasnaion FC proved a ‘tough nut to crack’ until Joey Byrne broke through and dinked the keeper in the 70th minute to score the only goal of the game.  It could have been more as we had a penalty re-take brilliantly saved by the home keeper in the 27th minute (pics. below).

Once in the lead, we just shut up shop to make sure of the points. Glasnaion were a threat on the break across the 90 minutes, but we secured the 3 points thanks mainly to an excellent defensive performance.