Lansdowne Yonkers are through to the Region 1 semifinals of the USASA National Amateur Cup after blanking Massachusetts State champions Loco Gunners 3-0 under floodlights at Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers last weekend.
With both teams battling the elements on a damp spring night, it would take 44 minutes for the Bhoys to end the Gunners' resistance. That’s when big defender Sean Doran tapped in a James Boote free kick delivered from the right wing to the near post.
Lansdowne took that narrow lead into the interval, after which the visitors from the Bay State Soccer League would hold out for another 34 minutes before succumbing to a spell of sustained pressure.
The second goal came when Danú Kinsella Bishop pounced on a rebound after the Gunners goalie had spilled a shot in the 79th minute. Ten minutes later, the shot stopper would atone for his error when he denied Bishop a second goal.
But another mistake by the goalie in stoppage time would gift the Bhoys their third and final goal. It came when he dashed off his line in the 93rd minute to receive a back pass, only to be dispossessed by midfielder Andy Kasza who then walked the ball into an empty net.
USASA winners in 2017 and 2021, Lansdowne had reached the quarterfinals after mauling another New England side, South Coast Union, 4-0 in New Bedford, Mass., last month.
Lansdowne qualified for the National Amateur Cup by reaching the Manning Cup final. They will contest that silverware with Greek side Leros FC this spring.
The National Cup is one of several trophies that Lansdowne, the most successful Irish club States-side, is pursuing this season.
They are also in contention for a fourth National Fricker Cup that they previously bagged in 2017, 2019 and 2021. Then there’s the APSL Metropolitan Conference title and, ultimately, the APSL championship.
MINOR SETBACK
Forty-eight hours earlier at Tibbetts Brook, the Bhoys had slipped 3-2 to Leros in an APSL fixture.
The Bhoys were stunned after 39 seconds by Junior Rosero’s long range effort. They fell deeper into arrears 26 minutes later when Mason Chetti fired in from a tight angle on the right to make it 2-0.
The prolific Danú Kinsella Bishop pulled one back in the 53rd minute when he blasted in Ali Dawha's rebound from a crossbar, but Rosero extended the Leros lead in the 85th minute after a counter attack.
Stoppage time was looming when Bishop got another goal back in the 90th minute -- almost from the same position as his first goal.
The result left Lansdowne [13-2-3, 41] third in the Metropolitan Conference, behind NY Greek Americans [45] and Hoboken FC 1912 [41] on goal difference.
