A BRILLIANT individual effort proved the difference as Mater Dei Catholic College won a third straight Creed Shield on Wednesday night.
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A superb goal from Ethan Watt 15 minutes into the contest was the only thing that separated Mater Dei and arch-rival Kildare Catholic College in the final at Rawlings Park.
Watt took the ball from just inside his own half right up to the goalmouth and finished to put Mater Dei ahead.
It proved to be the only goal in the 60-minute contest, as both teams created several other opportunities but were unable to find the back of the net.
Playing in their first Creed Shield final, Kildare never gave in and pressed hard right up until the dying seconds but were unable to secure an equaliser.
Watt was awarded the Brian Thomas Medal for the player of the final.
Mater Dei coach Rod Buik was pleased to see the school come out on top for a third consecutive year.
"It's good. We've been lucky. We've got a side here that's not full of all actual football players but we've always had a couple of football players amongst them and that makes a really big difference," Buik said.
"We've been really lucky, young Ethan Watt's a really talented little player, Lukey Stevens leads by example tenfold, even Adam (Stevens) in goals, our keeper, he's done a really, really good job.
"As a game, I think it was pretty close. Kildare are a good side. They had chances to win it, but the good thing about our boys is they just held on, they kept going and played in a really good positive spirit and they wanted to win.
"It's always nice to win schoolboy football and I think because there's not much sport on, they're all really keen."
Mater Dei captain Luke Stevens has been part of the school's three-peat and was glad to get the job done again.
"It's a fantastic feeling to win again. It was a really hard-fought game. Kildare came out firing, we expected that to happen and it was a well-fought victory," Stevens said.
He also praised Watt for his brilliant solo effort that proved the difference.
"That goal was deserving to win any match, really. It was fantastic," he said.
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