Thomastown has become the first local team to book their place in the last eight of the LFA Junior cup.
They welcomed St. Pauls Artane to United Park, who took the lead in the first half. Thomastown equalized just after halftime, with Thomas ‘Tucker’ O’Hanrahan getting himself on the scoresheet. The traveling side took the lead once again before Arron Kehoe drew level with ten minutes of normal time remaining. where the teams couldn’t be separated after extra time.
Arron Kehoe finally managed to put Thomastown in the lead in the first half of extra time. However, the Kilkenny side did not enjoy the lead for too long, with St. Pauls scoring just seven minutes later. Ultimately, just like in the last round against Bangor, Thomastown needed penalties to secure passage to the next round.
The 2015/2016 KCLR McCalmont Cup Champions managed to send the Dublin side home with a loss after a dramatic 4-3 shootout victory.
Woo hoo we advanced to the final 8 of the #LeinsterJuniorCup against @StPaulsArtaneFC after a penalty shootout. 🔵⚪️
— Thomastown United (@ThomastownUtd) March 12, 2023
See also: Evergreen are back in Leinster competition as four local sides go in search of provincial glory
Speaking to Scoreline after the game, Thomastown club man Paul Doyle had special praise for goalkeeper Jack Cullen
“We are absolutely buzzing out in Thomastown. it was a very tough game, in tough conditions in United Park.”
“We went to the dreaded penalties, we never had luck in them before, thankfully it went out of the way in the last game (against Bangor). Thankfully again, with Jack Cullen in goal, who pulled off a fantastic save to save one of their penalties, it came down to their last penalty which was driven over the bar. “
“All hell broke loose in Thomastown then as we go into the final eight of the Leinster Junior Cup.”
