Avenue chase cup glory on the double

THERE were no surprises when four third-round games in the Clare Junior Cup title race were played on Sunday. Avenue United A and B, Newmarket Celtic A and Ennis Town Rock will all be in the hat when the quarter-final draw takes place next week. The remaining four quarter-finalists will be known after this weekend’s schedule of games.

Avenue United A   5
Lifford                      0
THERE was a fine attendance at the all-Ennis cup clash at Lees Road on Sunday when holders Avenue United A justified favouritism by booking a place in the quarter-final. Apart from a brief spell before half-time, when Lifford applied a lot of pressure, the winners dominated the tie.
A Dave McCarthy goal, scored after 16 minutes, separated the teams at the end of the opening half. Early in the game McCarthy forced Jan Da Silva into a good save, while the Lifford net-minder also saved from David Smith and Mikey Mahoney.
In the final 10 minutes of the half, Lifford enjoyed their best spell but they could not break down the Avenue defence and at half-time it was 1-0 to the winners.
Disaster struck for Lifford early in the second half when they failed to clear their lines and Dave McCarthy pounced. His cross was met by Mikey Mahoney, who found the net. Soon after this, a McCarthy free caused problems for Lifford and, again, it was Mahoney who applied the finish to put his team three clear.
Substitute Barry Nugent made his presence felt and he scored twice in the final quarter to send the cup holders comfortably through to the last eight.
Avenue United A: John Healy; Mattie Nugent, David Russell, Con Collins, Simon Cuddy; David Smith, Colin Smith, Alan Roche, David Herlihy; Mikey Mahoney, Dave McCarthy.
Subs: Barry Nugent for M Nugent (inj), Pa Wilson for D Smith and Gary Flynn for McCarthy.
Lifford A: Jan Da Silva; Eoin Murphy, Rúairí Norrby, Joe Lynch, Michael J Sullivan, Paul Cantillon, Ryan Boyle, TJ Ajisomo, Liam Keane, Lunga Ballman, Killian Malone.
Subs: Julies Leke for Cantillon and Eric Murphy for Da Silva.

Ennis Town Rock           2
Mountshannon Celtic     1
ENNIS Town Rock booked a quarter-final place when they overcame Mountshannon Celtic by the minimum at Lees Road.
The winners came close on a number of occasions before Shane Daniels headed them into the lead following a Ritchie Neylon delivery. This goal separated the sides at the break.
The home side doubled their advantage soon after the resumption of play, when Ritchie Neylon’s free kick was deflected by a Mountshannon defender to the net.
The visitors piled on the pressure in the final quarter and a Martin McNamara free caused problems for the winners, before Raymond Cahill managed to finish the ball to the net.
Try as they did for the remaining time, they failed to get an equaliser.
Ennis Town Rock: Sean Kennedy; Ethan Considine, Ronan Judge, Jason White, Shane Daniels, Adrian Walsh, Francis Daniels, Ritchie Neylon, Dean Gardiner, Eoin Glynn, Marty McLoughlin.
Subs: Niall McNevin for McLoughlin.
Mountshannon Celtic: Colm Kavanagh; Joe Underwood, Michael Scanlon,
Martin McNamara, Padraig Brody, John Moloney, Cathal Moloney, Eoin Keane, Raymond Cahill, Andrew McNamara, Cillian McNamara.
Subs: John O’Brien for A McNamara and Micheál Quigley for Keane.

Avenue United B   0
Hermitage B           0 (AET)
(Avenue won 5-4 on penalities)
BEFORE a big crowd at the Fairgreen, Ennis rivals Avenue United B and Hermitage B played out an exciting cup tie with a penalty shoot-out required to decide who would progress.
It was a most entertaining town derby, with both sides creating plenty of chances. Both were denied by the woodwork, while both goalkeepers produced excellent saves.
Avenue’s Darren O’Meara saw his effort rebound off the crossbar, while Francis Franks for the ’Tage was denied by the post before he forced Killian Culligan to make a fine save. Hermitage’s goalie Eoin Slattery produced an excellent save from Eoghan O’Loughlin. It was the same in extra time and all agreed that a draw was a fair result.
In the penalty shoot-out, Avenue scored all five through Eamonn O’Reilly, Eoghan O’Loughlin, Dara Kerins, Cian Darcy and John Waters.
For Hermitage, Brian McMahon, Chris Riordan, Cathal Keane, and Kenneth Kelly scored but Noel Frawley saw his effort saved by Culligan and this proved decisive.
Avenue United B: Killian Culligan; Shane Brown, Eamonn O’Reilly, Cian Darcy, Pa Sherlock; Neil Slattery, Ian Lyons, Eoghan O’Loughlin, Craig McNamara; Dara Kerins, Darren O’Meara.
Subs: Conor O’Brien for Lyons, Simon McDonagh for O’Meara and John Waters for Slattery.
Hermitage B: Eoin Slattery; Cyril Casey, Robert Ford, Cathal Keane, Eoin Cahill; Francis Franks, Danny Russell, Noel Frawley, Brian McMahon, Kenneth Kelly, Robert Downes.
Subs: Chris Riordan for Casey and Ethan McCarthy for Franks.

Connolly Celtic             2
Newmarket Celtic A   3 (AET)
CONNOLLY conceded home advantage and travelled to Newmarket for their match. Newmarket Celtic was installed as favourites when the draw was made and the odds on them progressing to the last eight increased when the game was switched to McDonogh Park.
It proved to be a cracking game and Newmarket were the first to admit they were a little fortunate to emerge as winners at the end of what was their toughest game so far this season.
After a scoreless first half, Connolly took the lead through Mickey Byrnes five minutes into the second period. Fifteen minutes later, they were level following a Stephen Kelly strike and this was still the position at full-time.
In extra time, Connolly went ahead again when Kenneth Kennedy scored but just before the end of the first period, Darren Cullinan cracked a free kick to the net to tie up the scores again.
The game was entering the final minute of extra time and everything pointed to a penalty shoot-out when Eoin O’Brien cracked a left-footed effort from the edge of the box to the net to send his side through to the last eight.
Connolly Celtic: Darren Sexton; Alan Markham, Kieran Dillon, Keith O’Looney, Barry Lynch, Bernard Field, Brian Connellan, Ken Kennedy, Brendan Dillon, Mickey Byrnes, Jan Feck.
Subs: John Kelly for Field and Pat Hogan for Byrnes.
Newmarket Celtic A: Jason Casey; Darren Cullinan, Seamus Lawlor, Eoin O’Brien, David O’Grady; Seamus Considine, Paudie Hayes, Alan Kelly, Ronan McCormack; Kieran Devitt, Gary Collins.
Subs: Colm Treacy for Devitt, Stephen Kelly for Considine, Ronan McCauley for Collins and Neil Ryan for Hayes.