PAWC Ireland World Cup Champions 2011

Ireland was crowned the 2011 PAWC Perth Amateur World Cup Champions on Sunday 28th November after defeating Macedonia  3-2 in front of 1200 strong crowd.

The game set of at a frenetic pace and Macedonia should have taken the lead after 5 minutes. However with the Macedonian striker clear through on goal, some how he managed to spray the ball wide and way past the post.

This was a wake up call to the Ireland team and they soon kicked into gear with some nice football being played and soon started to dominate proceedings. Nick Carrol was his usual busy self holding the ball up well and feeding players. With strike partners Sean Taylor out with a foot injury (9 goals) & Ian Stack (8 goals) away due to work commitments.Carroll was combining well with CM Darren O'Riordan who was working hard to back him up, the ball was played to David Murphy out wide who swung in a delightful ball from the left for O'Riordan to meet with his head and put Ireland up 1-0 after 15mins.

Ireland continued to press for most of the first half, as Macedonia seemed to have lost their composure and failed to keep the ball. It wasn't until the 40th minute though that Ireland doubled their lead after Will Pender was brought down just out side the penalty box. Ross Cosgrave stepped up to take the resulting free-kick which he dispatched superbly, curling the ball around the Maccies wall and into the bottom right corner away from the keeper. 2-0 HT

The second half started in similiar fashion as the first half ended. With the Bhoys in Green enjoying themselves and knocking the ball around freely. On 55 minutes Alan O'Mahony made his presence felt again, as the CB who scored the winning goal in the semi-final against El Salvador snuck forward as he likes to do and snatched a 3rd for the Irish team from inside the area.

On 65 minutes Macedonia hit back with a goal against the run of play. This lifted the Macedonian team and their 350 supporters as the drums started to bang and the "Ma-ce-donia" chants began. The Irish however were not going to be out sang and started their own chants of "Ole Ole Ole Ole Ireland". 10 minutes later Macedonia was awarded a penalty which I personally thought was a bit dubious. After consulting with Phiel Sheils (Ireland GK) in Carnegies after the match he confirmed he thought it was. 

With Macedonia's belief back in their side and having the momentum and their supporters behind them, It made for a rather intense last 15 minutes. Phil sheils was called into action after a great strike from outside the area which some how he manged to push around the post. Sheils would be called on again shortly after to punch(slap) a cross away. Some resolute defending by Steven O'Mahony, David Murphy, Paudie O'connor, Alan O'Mahony & even Ross Cosgrave who was tracking and defending saw Ireland across the line 3-2.

Well done to the whole squad that competed in the competition for Irealnd 7 games, 29 goals, 5 against 3 of which were from the penalty spot. Also a big shout out to the Latin American Association for a great tournament in to its 19th year. Floreat Athena for hosting the games & Liam Miller (Ireland & Perth Glory) for coming down and supporting the Ireland team. Carnegies for their sponsorship of the team and all the Irish supporters that came down on the day. Now we expect to see you all at Shamrock Rovers games next season.