Limavady United won the Intermediate Cup Final with an astute 3-1 victory over Linfield Swifts at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park tonight.
The more experienced Limavady side just had a little more nous, guile and craft than the young Blues outfit and they ran out worthy winners.
Both teams were gunning for a treble with Limavady hoping to add the trophy to their NIFL Premier Intermediate League and Craig Cup crowns and Linfield Swifts aiming to complement their Steel and Sons Cup and NIFL Premiership Development League successes.
But it was Limavady who completed the treble with two goals from striker Robbie Hume and a third from their captain, Hugh Carlin.
Linfield had the first chance when Ross Clarke shot straight at the Roesiders’ keeper from a free-kick, while a minute later Carlin shot wide from outside the box.
Blues striker Ryan Strain curled an effort wide before United opening the scoring on 15 minutes.
After a passage of play in which a Linfield player appeared to handle the ball on the deck inside the penalty area, Limavady player-manager Paul Owens picked up the loose ball and lifted it to Robbie Hume who nodded the ball past the Linfield keeper from close range.
Two minutes later Strain shot over the top when well placed and then goalscorer Hume hit an effort straight at Linfield keeper Alex Moore after making room for himself with some fancy footwork inside the Blues’ penalty area.
On 35 minutes Limavady’s Joe McCready stung the palms of Moore with a crisp long range effort.
Linfield pulled level in the 39th minute. Ross Clarke got on the end of a long diagonal ball and bamboozled his marker before blasting the ball low into the corner of the net. It was a neat finish.
Limavady grabbed their second in added time at the end of the first half. John Watt’s long throw was flicked on by McCready to Carlin and his header looped over Moore into the top corner.
The Swifts carved out a couple of chances in the early part of the second half, the best of which was an Adam McCallum header from a corner which went just wide of the target.
McCready also had a couple of snapshots for Limavady before he produced a bit of magic on the half-hour which almost led to a third goal for his team. After turning his marker close to the halfway line he raced down the left before producing a super cross with the outside of his right foot to Owens who drilled his shot just wide of the target.
In the 78th minute McCready and Hume combined for Limavady. Hume jinked his way past a couple of defenders before steering his effort past the post.
The Swifts pushed forward in search of an equaliser and they were caught out when Carlin raced clear and fed man of the match Hume who produced a neat finish to make it 3-1 on 81 minutes.
In added time Limavady substitute Mark McLean was unlucky to see a sweet curling effort come back off the bar – and that was the last real action of the game.
Limavady United: Paul Wells, Marcus O’Kane, Declan McKeever, John Watt, Graham Crown, Paul Owens, Lee Harkin, Hugh Carlin (captain), Gary McFadden, Robbie Hume, Joe McCready. Subs: (used) Connor McCloskey, Jordan Thompson, Mark McLean; (not used) Ray Kelly, Bryan McClelland.
Linfield Swifts: Alex Moore, Thomas McComb, Eamon Scannell, Adam McCallum, Reece Neale (captain), Ethan Taggart, Ross Clarke, Reece Glendinning, Ryan Strain, Jake Moore, Pablo Andrade. Subs: (used) Adam Carroll, Jake Corbett, Chris Murray; (not used) Jack Campbell, Tiernan Keenan.
