THE West Cork Academy U13 schoolboys squad enjoyed another productive Surf Cup International tournament appearance in Salou.
The Surf Cup International is a series of soccer tournaments that involves hundreds of the top youth academies from around the world competing in world-class facilities located in Rome, Italy, Salou, Spain and Tangier, Morocco.
Every November, the Surf Cup International takes place in Salou and the West Cork Academy were back competing once again this year.
Last year, the Academy’s U16 schoolboys squad travelled to Spain and earned a 2-2 draw with La Liga club Valencia, defeated Houston Academy (USA) 3-2 and lost 4-0 to Atletico Madrid.
This time around it was the turn of Shane Hough’s U13 schoolboys squad to travel to Spain and represent their region.
Growing in numbers with each passing year, the 2024 Surf International tournament edition catered for teams from the U10 to U19 schoolboys and schoolgirls’ age-grades.
Famous Spanish and Catalan clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, RCD Mallorca, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Sevilla were present. The English Premier League was also well represented as Arsenal, Manchester City and Leicester City lined out alongside academies from all over the world including PSG, Olympic Lyon, Rangers, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon.
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West Cork’s squad was made of players competing in the SuperValu WCSSL U13 age-grade and representing the Ardfield, Bay Rovers, Bunratty United, Castlelack, Clonakilty AFC, Drinagh Rangers, Dunmanway Town, Riverside Athletic and Skibbereen clubs.
The Salou Cup tournament format saw West Cork play in an initial round-robin group and attempt to qualify for the knockout stages.
A 4-0 loss to Scottish Premier club Hamilton Academicals in their opening game was a disappointing result despite a brave West Cork performance. Next up was world-famous La Liga club Athletic Bilbao who proved too strong despite another valiant West Cork effort.
Shaun Hough’s side were improving as the group stages progressed. West Cork were rewarded for their increased efforts and, despite playing in hot conditions, earned a superb 2-2 draw with South Korean Academy Gyunngi.
Kingsley Crosby Osagie (Skibbereen) would go on to have a superb tournament and netted West Cork’s opener. Patrick Hennigan (Dunmanway Town) converted a penalty, and those efforts were enough to earn the rural academy a deserved share of the points.
Once the group stage concluded, West Cork was drawn against Elite Football Academy from Canada in the quarter-finals of the U13 age-grade’s section.
Very humid conditions, with temperatures reaching 22 degrees, saw West Cork fall behind early on. One-nil down at the break, West Cork hit back in the second period and levelled via a terrific Conor Collins (Drinagh Rangers) effort.
The remainder of a cracking quarter-final tie saw the Canadians counterattack at the earliest opportunity as their opponents were forced to defend for long spells.
The next goal would decide the outcome and West Cork scored it when Kingsley Crosby Osagie found the net to secure a fantastic 2-1 victory.
The Academy’s much-improved performance, despite the humid conditions, saw Shaun Hough’s side deservedly come out on top. Yet, the West Cork Academy had little time to celebrate as their U13 semi-final was scheduled to take place later that same evening.
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Sweden’s Freddie Academy were West Cork’s opponents in a last-four encounter that kicked off amid much cooler temperatures.
A scoreless opening half, in which West Cork dictated much of the pace, saw the deadlock broken early in the second period. Ed Hough and Aodhan O’Mahony were involved in the build-up to a move that released Finbarr O’Mahony. The latter curled a cross into the penalty area for Danny Carroll to fire goalwards. Carroll’s shot deflected off Kingsley Crosby Osagie and into the net.
A controversial penalty award presented the Swedish Academy with an opportunity to equalise shortly after. That converted spot-kick brought parity to the score but West Cork’s response was instant. Having forced a turnover, Kingsley Crosby Osagie got on the end of a Donagh Griffin cross. Crosby Osagie’s deflected shot found the net to make it 2-1.
Dylan O’Brien and Oliver Kiely helped repel a succession of Freddie Academy attacks before the Swedes pressure finally told 30 seconds from the end.
A gut-wrenching equaliser made it 2-2 and penalties were needed to decide the outcome once the final whistle shrilled. Unfortunately, West Cork missed one of their spot-kicks while the Swedes remained perfect from each of their 12-yard attempts. Thanks to a last-minute equaliser, it was the Swedish Academy who progressed to the final.
Despite that disappointing penalty shoot-out loss in their final outing, the West Cork Academy gave a terrific account of themselves throughout their time in Salou. There was much to admire in the way Shaun Hough’s squad bounced back from two early defeats and navigated their way to the last four of the U13 schoolboys section. A bright future awaits the region’s U13s.
The West Cork Academy U13 schoolboys squad is as follows: Jake McAdams, Sean O’Callaghan, Ed Hough, Finbarr O’Mahony (Clonakilty AFC), Jack Drinan, Donnagh Griffin (Bunratty United), Conor Collins, Rory Hurley (Drinagh Rangers), Dylan O’Brien, Johnny O’Loughlin, Aodhan O’Mahony (Ardfield), Oliver Kiely (Castlelack), Kingsley Crosby Osagie (Skibbereen), Daniel O’Sullivan (Bay Rovers), Caden Walsh (Riverside Athletic), Tristan Hayes, Ben Machie, Ryan Healy Crowley, James Duggan, Patrick Hennigan, Danny Carroll (Dunmanway Town).
