Arklow CBS opened up their Leinster Cup campaign with a match against Firhouse Community College Tallaght. It was a much tougher affair than the final score line suggests, with the CBS overcoming the Dublin side 5 – 2 after extra time. It was a tense first half with the CBS not capitalising on their chances and Firhouse making the most of a bit of indecisiveness in the Arklow backline.
Half time came and went with Arklow still behind by a goal but pushing hard when midway through the half the CBS won the ball back high in midfield with Stephen Byrne who played a ball into Aaron Parle who layed it off to Alex Whyte, he had one thing on his mind after a run up the right wing, and as soon as the ball crossed his path he smashed it top right corner from just outside the box. It was back level at 1-1 but it wouldn’t stay that way. Within minutes Firhouse again took advantage of a lack of concentration and took their chance to go 2 – 1 up. The CBS boys pushed hard and eventually the pressure paid off when James McBride won a free on the edge of the box and Odhran Cullen curled it around the wall into the bottom right corner in the last few minutes of the second half.
The CBS held their nerve and brought the game to extra time. Firhouse who had worked hard all game and absorbed a lot of Arklow pressure began to tire and the CBS finally started to finish off their chances. Within 3 minutes of the first period of extra time Aleks Panic won the ball back outside the box and passed it across to Odhran Cullen who calmly sent the keeper the wrong way and slotted the ball into the opposite side of the net. This was swiftly followed up with the fourth goal of the day, when Donagh McKerr played a superb pass over the top which went straight into the path of James McBride who cut the ball to Odhran Cullen who layed it off to Aaron Parle to tap into the empty net.
The result was sealed with a hattrick from the superb Odhran Cullen, he was fed a clever through ball from the industrious Lucas Reid, got away from his marker and went around the keeper and slotted it in to make it 5-2 and help Arklow advance to the next round of the cup.