Pike Rovers Crowned Lawson Cup Champions

Pike Rovers were crowned Lawson Cup champions following a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Fairview Rangers at Jackman Park on Thursday night. It was a game filled with nerves due to what was at stake and was the final outing as the curtain came down on the junior football season. Teams from all eight divisions will now have a chance to regroup for a period of at least 4 weeks before preparations for 2022/2023 begin in earnest.

It was the second meeting in four days between the sides as Pike had secured their first league title in 8 years following a 1-2 comeback victory against the same opposition at the Fairgreen. Robbie Williams and Eoin Hanrahan scored the Pike goals and the latter has began to move further back as he advances in years and was named as part of back 3 with Pat Mullins and Wayne O’Donovan. With Gary Neville marshalling the defence behind them, it was the most experienced area of the field and they dealt with the majority of what Fairview threw at them, which was admittedly very little.

Pike had the first chance of the game as Wayne O’Donovan’s free-kick was headed over by Williams. As mentioned previously, it was a very cagey affair with both sides exceptionally familiar with each other. Pike started with McGann partnering Arron Murphy up front but he quickly dropped into a deeper role in a switch with Colm Walsh O’Loughlen.

Fairview responded with two speculative efforts, one from an AJ O’Connor free-kick and one from Shane Duggan; both of which travelled over the crossbar. As half-time approached, Daragh Rainsford set up his strike partner AJ Moloney whose effort was gathered by Gary Neville.

The game did not see a huge improvement in quality as both sides made a substitution in an effort to turn the game in their favour. James Fitzgerald replaced Russell Quirke for Fairview while Kevin Barry was introduced in place of Arron Murphy for the Hoops. On the hour mark, Robbie Williams and Eddie Hickey’s decision paid off when Barry expertly controlled McGann’s flick on before powerfully volleying past Savage.

Purcell’s substitution created Fairview’s best chance of the half when Fitzgerald cut inside Danny O’Neill before shooting goalwards but Neville was under control of the situation at the front post. Fitzgerald was in the thick of the action once more when he drove infield before passing to Rainsford who rifled the ball over the bar from distance as the Fairgreen outfit became desperate for an equaliser.

With over 5 minutes of normal time remaining, Fairview had their best chance of the game when O’Connor’s free-kick was palmed away by Neville but the ball was recycled by John Mullane who passed to Fitzgerald in the penalty area but his shot was blocked on the line although many in the blue and yellow protested to referee Andrew Keogh that it was blocked by a hand.

As the play broke down and given their predicament, Fairview were caught for numbers in defence and Brendan O’Dwyer received the ball all on his own at the half way line before driving toward goal and forcing a save from Savage but captain McGann was on hand to head the rebound into the empty net to send the Pike crowd into raptures and ensure that the Lawson Cup would reside in Crossagalla next to the Premier League trophy.

Pike Rovers: Gary Neville, Evan Patterson, Wayne O’Donovan, Pat Mullins, Eoin Hanrahan, Paddy O’Malley (Danny O’Neill 68), Robbie Williams, Colin Daly (Brendan O’Dwyer 71), Steven McGann, Colm Walsh-O’Loughlen, Arron Murphy (Kevin Barry 50) (Daragh Carroll 82)

Fairview Rangers: Aaron Savage, Scott Kirwan, AJ O’Connor, John Mullane, Jamie Enright (Cian Fitzgerald 77), Shane Duggan, Steven Bradley, Conor Coughlan, Russell Quirke (James Fitzgerald 62), Daragh Rainsford, AJ Moloney (Eoin Duff 77)