Hi °C | Lo °C Kevin Lawlor insists it will take something special to halt Immaculata after his side crushed Enniskillen Town United 3-0 in the Coca-Cola Junior Cup final at Stangmore Park.
Goals from Lawlor’s son Christopher, Gerard O’Rawe and substitute John Boyce ensured the Mac became only the third team in the competition’s recent history to clinch back-to-back Junior Cups.
Immaculata are on course for another historic season after making the final of the Junior Shield which they contest on Thursday night against Ballyvea ahead of a Clarence Cup decider one week later against Wellington Rec.
The west Belfast outfit are also odds on to win Division 2C in their debut campaign in the Amateur League, trailing leaders Suffolk by seven points but with five games in hand.
And Lawlor admits his side hardly have time to draw breath as they hunt an unprecedented sweep of junior football silverware.
“We won the Junior Cup for the first time ever last year, we’ve retained it again this year and we’ll be out to do it again next year.
“And I tell you what, it’s going to take some team to stop us,” said Lawlor.
“I told the players before the game, I said we’re going to make history, this will be the first step and we’ll take our next step on Thursday night (in the Junior Shield final), and we’ll dig in again and then we’ve a week to go before another one (the Clarence Cup final).”
The Mac were ahead after just 30 seconds when Lawlor hooked the ball expertly past Damian Warden in the Enniskillen goal.
Warden saved a penalty from Jonathan McDonnell 10 minutes later before Hughes doubled the Mac’s lead with a well-worked goal on 25 minutes.
Substitute Boyce made it three inside the last 10 minutes but his copy book was blotted as he received his marching orders with a couple of minutes remaining.
That left just enough time for Rory Judge, scorer of the winning goal in Town’s previous two Junior Cup triumphs, to watch his 96th minute penalty saved by man-of-the-match Gerard Smith.
Enniskillen: Warden, Rogers (Connolly 75), Keenan, Judge, Crawford, Shannon, Connor, Oates (McCabe 45), McNern (Gunn 71), Connolly, Leonard. Subs: Fitzpatrick, Corrigan.
Immaculata: Smith, Rowntree, Rooney (Moreland, 83), Rowntree, McGovern, O’Riordan, Collins, O’Rawe, McDonnell (Boyce 82), Lawlor, Hughes (Heron 90). Subs: McGovern, McCaw.
Referee: Gerry Clucas.
