Belvedere take Norton Cup

Belvedere claimed the U-12 Norton Cup at Clonshaugh, Co Dublin, yesterday with five All-Ireland finals contested at AUL headquarters.

Richard Ryan played impressively in midfield but towards the end, the pitch took its toll on Ryan and a couple of other players as fatigue set in.

Belvedere's 3-0 win over Cherry Orchard was a testament to some fine finishing with a spectacular effort from Dean Gibbons the icing on the cake for the northside team.

Leeds from Cork where taken to extra time by St Joseph's in the U-13 final with Peter Lithbert performing heroics in goal.

But he then suffered the ignominy in the second period when Brian Allen placed the ball between his legs and Ross Tiedt's third only compounded his misery.

Leeds were restricted to long-range shots on goal but it led directly to their opener, when Ray O'Donovan, on for the injured Micheal Buckley caught out the keeper with a clever lob.

But the Joseph's centre half partnership comprising of John Walsh and John Fitzgerald successfully countered the threat posed by Leeds, with Micheal Buckley's probing runs into the Joseph's half meeting with sturdy resistance from the two.

And by half time, Joseph's struck a crucial blow when Brian Allen levelled the scoring and Leeds for all their endeavour in the second half faced an uphill battle. But Leeds atoned in the next game, the u-15 final, when a header from substitute Alan Leahy wiped out Leicester Celtic's initial two-goal lead, and the two now meet again in a fortnight. In the U-16 final, Cherry Orchard handed Pike Rovers from Limerick a 4-0 drubbing; Des Byrne, a member of Brian Kerr's triumphant European U-16 international side lifted the trophy.

That was to be Cherry Orchard's only win of the day with a double strike from Francis Stuart helping Maris to a 4-2 victory.

Galway United recorded a bit of Irish soccer history at Terryland Park yesterday when they became the first west of Ireland side to win the Snickers sponsored FAI under-17 cup when they defeated St Josephs Boys (Dublin) in the final. Republic of Ireland under 16 international Ian Rossister scored the vital goal.