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.

Man-of-the-match Joey Byrne rolled back the years with a brilliant display as VEC literally weathered the dreadful conditions to thump unbeaten Premier Division leaders South William Street Celtic in Terenure.

He set VEC on the way as early as the 6th minute with a great strike, only for the visitors to score from the penalty spot 10 minutes later. However, goals from Oisin Kinsella and Jordan Howard gave VEC a commanding 3-1 lead at the break.

Oisin’s second strike 2 minutes into the second half after some magic play from Joey effectively wrapped up matters as VEC raced into a 4-1 lead. Then Tom Wrynne with two goals in 3 minutes put the icing on the cake for VEC despite a 2nd goal from South William St.

Result: a resounding 6-2 win for VEC. Pic. above: 4 x VEC goalscorers.

Meanwhile in Division 2, a late Karl Reck strike gave VEC 2nds a deserved share of the spoils against Booterstown Utd. in a game that finished 2-2. Andy Stansell – with his first for VEC – scored VEC’s first goal.

2 goals a-piece from Eoin Sweeney and Neil Murtagh, and a further one from Richie Burke secured all 3 points for VEC FC 2nds against Swords Manor in the 5-2 win in Terenure.

Unfortunately VEC 1sts couldn’t make it a double for the Club, going down 1-2 to Beech Park FC in the Premier Division. James McGauran scored VEC’s only goal.

All VEC players who took part in the 4th Round FAI Junior Cup tie against Rosemount Mulvey FC should be very proud of their efforts. In very tough conditions of rain and high gusts, VEC battled from start to finish, playing some lovely football under the lights in Pearse Park, Crumlin.

There was really nothing between the teams as Rosemount scored with a great strike frfom Sam Meegan after 30 minutes, only for Conall O’Shaughnessy to equalize for VEC with an equally good strike after 65 minutes. With no further goals for the remainder of the game including extra time, the outcome was decided by a ‘dreaded’ penalty shoot-out where VEC scored 4 from 5 but the opposition scored all 5!

Goals from Jordan Howard, Oisin Kinsella and Joey Byrne in the 10th, 20th and 28th minutes put VEC FC well on the way to all 3 points in their Premier Division clash against previous champions Harding IF FC in Terenure.

The visitors pulled one back in the 40th minute but with no further goals, VEC won comfortably 3-1.

Meanwhile 30 minutes later, VEC FC 2nds beat AGP 2nds 2-0 to move up two places in Division 2. Adam Flynn and Jack McKnight scored the goals while stand-in keeper Manager Sean O’Shea kept the clean sheet! In truth, this 2-0 result could have been more!

It was nice to get two good league wins as we head into the Christmas break.