DEN soccer match v St Anne’s of Ennis

On Friday last, our DEN pupils travelled to Ennis to play their first soccer match against St Anne’s.  In a cracking match our boys eventually ran out winners on a scoreline of 10:9.  Salesian’s raced into a 3-nil lead, thanks to goals by Liam Hennessy and Joe Mc Dermott.  John Henry Shine made it 3 with great control and a fine finish. St Anne’s got back into the game with some well worked goals.  Oran Cantillon-Mann was introduced after 10 minutes and took off like a BMW series 5 (quiet literally), but unlike Limerick junction, he wasn’t letting anything get passed him.  A great defensive display by Oran. Ronan Shelton and Maurice Culhane were also excellent and helped us reach the half-time whistle with a two-goal lead.

Fuelled by their half-time 99’s, the Salesian boys flew out of the traps and fired in two more lovely goals by Joe Mc Dermott (top scorer on the day with 5) and Maurice Culhane.  St Anne’s were up for the fight, however, and came back strongly to level the game.  Liam Hennessy, our captain on the day, stepped up with the goal of the game.  Liam fired into the bottom corner from long range after a fine one-two with Ronan Shelton.  Jack Pasukonis showed great skill to set up Ronan Shelton for another goal.  It was a close finish as St Anne’s put us under a lot of pressure. Rory Harrington was the hero as he pulled off some fantastic saves to keep the DEN boys in the lead. The Salesian boys emerged victorious and played some lovely football throughout. The management team were delighted with the teamwork and sportsmanship of the boys on the day, despite some questionable refereeing from Ed Price.

A big shout out to the Salesian coaches on the day, Lisa and Helen and their excellent back-room staff Conan Casey and Rian Hallinan, who did a fantastic job.  Finally, a big thank-you to the staff of St Anne’s who made us feel very welcome. 

Well done to the Salesian DEN soccer team, you did us proud!