Laois soccer club cap remarkable season with treble triumph
They added the CCFL Shield to their CCFL Division 3 title and the LFA Junior Shield to cap off a memorable year for the club.
Stradbally Town created history on Saturday afternoon as they sealed a historic treble with a brilliant victory over Gracefield in the CCFL Shield Final at Conor Davis Park.
They cruised to victory as they scored five goals, three in the first half through Benny Lawlor, who grabbed a brace, while Fionn McEvoy got the third. The other two goals in the second half came from Jody Dillon and Conor Buggie.
It wasn't all plain sailing, however, as James Devoy received a straight red card just before half-time, but the champions navigated the second half brilliantly and cruised home.
They got off to a dream start as they scored the opening goal within two minutes. Jody Dillon and Justin Lalor combined brilliantly to play a ball in behind the defence, with Benny Lawlor latching onto it and clinically slotting to the back of the net.
Stradbally were oozing with confidence and dominating possession. They then unlocked the Gracefield defence once more in the 21st minute.
It was Lawlor again who found the net, with Dillon involved once more after he played a brilliant pass to Fionn McEvoy, who slid it into Lawlor and he finished to the back of the net to put Stradbally firmly in control.
Gracefield were stunned by the concession of the first two goals as they tried to settle into the game. They did launch a few attacks, but Cillian Maher and Colin Beale were immense in defence throughout.
It was 3-0 in the 35th minute as Dillon, who was excellent throughout, unlocked the Gracefield defence once more to find McEvoy, who made it 3-0 and it looked like the game was over.
Gracefield were then given a lifeline before the break as James Devoy was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Craig Langford, as Stradbally went in 3-0 up at half-time.
The victors managed the second half superbly with ten men; they never looked like surrendering their lead, as their defence was outstanding, along with Anthony Skelly in goal.
It took 16 minutes for Gracefield to have a shot in the second half and it was a wild effort from Charlie Keogh, whose strike sailed over the crossbar.
The fourth goal for Stradbally came courtesy of Dillon after Lawlor provided the assist this time. After going past two defenders, he found Dillon in space and he made no mistake in finding the bottom corner as the celebrations could begin.
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Gracefield did get a goal through a header from Curtis Lyons as he scrambled the ball home from a corner to breach the Stradbally defence for the first time in the game.
Stradbally then finished the game in style as McEvoy played in Conor Buggie, who rounded the goalkeeper and placed the ball into the back of the net to round off a history-making season for Stradbally Town.
FINAL SCORE
Stradbally Town 5
Gracefield 1
STRADBALLY: Anthony Skelly; John Hayden, Cillian Maher, Colin Beale, Podge Fitzpatrick; Conor Buggie, James Devoy, Justin Lalor, Benny Lawlor; Fionn McEvoy, Jody Dillon. Subs: Ben Dillon for J Dillon, Noah Delaney for Hayden, Jack Langton for McEvoy, Tadhg Mullen for Lawlor, Gavin Langton for Buggie.
GRACEFIELD: Eugene Nolan; Adam O'Sullivan, Stephen Flanagan, Dylan Langford, Johnathan Higgins; Craig Langford, Jose Delaico, Curtis Lyons, Eamon Kelly; Charlie Keogh, Jason Knight.