Crumlin United won the Charlie Cahill Cup for the seventh time in their history after an impressive 3-1 win over Bluebell United following a clash of the LSL giants at Whitehall Road on Thursday night.
The match was a repeat of the 2014/15 final and ended in identical fashion as Crumlin also left with the silverware that night after a 3-1 win.
Early on, midfielder James Lee had a shot on target on after Conor Murphy played a one-two with Ciaran Reilly before racing down the right wing and pulling the ball back to Lee whose low shot from 25 yards was easily gathered by Andy McNulty in the Bluebell goal.
Ryan Coombes and Gareth Seery then produced a nice one-two that saw the former get into the box and get away a curling strike that Michael Quinn, unable to see ball, parried into the path of Peter Darcy.
The follow-up from the former St Patrick’s Atheltic midfielder was blocked by a defender before being clear from the danger zone.
Lee gave Crumlin the lead after 30 minutes when a cross towards the back post was headed back by Jake Donnelly into the path of Lee on the edge of the box, who made great contact to half-volley into the top corner. McNulty was rightly upset with himself for not doing better with the shot.
Both sides had a chance to get the second goal of the game but neither was taken and the score stayed at 1-0 going into the break.
Red card
Bluebell were dealt a blow early into the second half when Darcy was sent off for a two-footed lunge after going into a tackle with Gary Murphy that left both players on the ground nursing injuries.
Darcy was making his way to the touchline with help from a physio but was quickly stopped in his tracks by the referee and shown a red card.
Crumlin took advantage and doubled their lead 10 minutes after the restart when Murphy toe poked the ball past McNulty after the keeper dropped a cross into the box.
Karl Russell gave Bluebell hope when he produced an excellent overhead finish into the top of the net with a minute remaining.
Crumlin were not to be denied victory, however, and put the tie to bed three minutes into injury time when Donnelly gave McNulty no chance with a finish into the top corner directly from a free kick just outside the box.
It was more heartbreak for Bluebell United having also missed out on the LSL Senior Sunday title by a single goal, but it was sweet revenge for Crumlin after Bluebell ended their own hopes of landing the same title with a 2-1 win a week prior.
