Ratoath College's Glen Armstrong slides in to win possession from St Benildus' Kevin Nolan during Thursday's FAI Schools Leinster Junior Boys Cup final at Leixlip.

One small step for Armstrong, one giant leap for Ratoath

The legendary powers of Royal Meath recovery are alive and well in soccer as Ratoath College recovered from a two-goal deficit to clinch the FAI Schools Leinster Junior Boys title with a stunning victory over St Benildus, Stillorgan at Leixlip on Thursday afternoon. After falling 0-2 behind inside 32 minutes, Ratoath looked down and out, but they managed to pull a goal back six minutes before the break through excellent full-back Joey Wallace and were level 12 minutes after the resumptuion when Jason Tyndall converted a penalty after Stephen Kinsella had been sent-off for the Dublin school. With a numerical advantage Ratoath piled on the pressure in the final 28 minutes and were rewarded when Glen Armstrong nodded the winning goal with 10 minutes remaining and ensured provincial glory for the Meath school. It was a pulsating finish to an outstanding game during which both sides served up some teak tough football combined with excellent passages of silky skills and golden chances. For the majority of the opening period St Benildus looked the superior outfit. Driven by midfielder Adam Zayed, brother of Lybian international and former Drogheda United, Derry City and Bray Wanderers star Eamonn, the Stillorgan school were the more creative side and with the pace of Kaleen Simon on the wing and the steel of Lar Malone and Kinsella in the heart of their defence they looked very solid. During that difficult opening period Ratoath stuck to their game plan and tried to play football around their more composed opponents, but Zayed pulled the strings and the early advantage St Benildus built up was fully deserved. A tetchy opening of few chances quickly cleared after 15 minutes when Malone flicked on Sean Bedford's corner to the far post where Zayed was waiting to steer home a simple header and give St Benildus a lead. Up to that point the reliable Ratoath centre-half pairing of Armstrong and Keith McCabe had dealt with everything that was thrown at them, but eventually incessant pressure told. After soaking up a lot of pressure Ratoath started to find the odd hole in the St Benildus rearguard. Liam Paisley was forced to haul down David Toner and from the outstanding Eoghan Doody's excellent delivery Armstrong got a touch to direct the ball to the net. However, Ratoath's celebrations were cut short when referee Matthew Farrell spotted a push inside the six-yard box and awarded a free out. Seconds later St Benildus were on the front foot again, but this time it was more substance than style as Kinsella's big boot forward saw Kevin Nolan beat the offside trap, but his panicked header was comfortably gathered by Dan O'Sullivan. Jonathan Clarke (pictured) gave an example of his skills with a long range effort which tested Kevin Creasey, but two minutes later Ratoath College found themselves 0-2 down. Simon picked up possession just inside the Ratoath half before running 40 metres through a maze of players and sticking the ball in the back of the net in a goal reminiscent of Maradona's spectacular second against England in the 1986 World Cup. Instead of crumbling Ratoath refused to panic and two minutes later a superb run by Glen O'Reilly was followed by a low cross which was spilled by Creasey and there was Wallace to tap in a simple goal and close the gap to 1-2. Stunned by seeing their lead halved St Benildus dominated the remainder of the first period as Zayed had a shot deflect off McCabe for a corner and then O'Sullivan was called into action twice to deny Bedford and then Simon in a frantic finish to the half. After a subdued opening half, Ratoath College started the second period with more expressive football. Doody began to display his outrageous array of passing talent and with his influence growing ever stronger the Meath side started to steal the upperhand. Doody's dangerous corner resulted in a goalmouth scramble from which Armstrong blazed over, but 12 minutes after the resumption Ratoath were back on level terms when Doody's expertly delivered free was looped goalwards by Tyndall. With his goalkeeper stranded Kinsella raised his hands to block the ball from hitting the net, giving the referee no option but to award the penalty and issue a red card to the St Benildus defender. Tyndall held his nerve from the spot to restore parity and with a numerical advantage Ratoath piled on the pressure in the closing quarter. St Benildus did go close when Simon had a weak half volley cleared off the line by Armstrong and then a superb block by Wallace prevented Zayed from finding the net, but as St Benildus grew more frustrated they started to pick up yellow cards and it was Ratoath who piled on the pressure. Doody struck the crossbar with a wonderful free-kick and Tyndall was denied by a fine save from Creasey, but those misses just delayed the inevitable as Ratoath eventually got their noses in front when Armstrong headed Doody's excellent corner to the net to make it 3-2 with 10 minutes left. St Benildus were out on their feet and Ratoath College could have added to their tally late on as Tyndall forced Creasey into another good save and Doody rattled the crossbar from a free-kick for the second time. However, it didn't matter as Ratoath had proven that Meath team's amazing powers of recovery are alive and well. Ratoath College - Dan O'Sullivan; Joey Wallace, Ben Newe, Glen Armstrong, Keith McCabe, Glen O'Reilly, David Toner, Shane Clayton, Jason Tyndall, Eoghan Doody, Jonathan Clarke. Subs - Mark Meyler for Toner 47 mins, Richard Roberts, Conor Fitzpatrick, Conor McDonnell, Lee Kealy, Daniel Chokinski. St Benildus, Stillorgan - K Creasey; L Paisley, L Naughton, L Malone, S Kinsella, S Fitzachary, L Vaughan, A Zayed, K Nolan, S Bedford, K Simon. Subs - A Peters for Bedford 73mins, J Moore for Vaughan 77m. Referee - Matthew Farrell.