Avenue United A 2
Bridge Celtic A 1

AVENUE United A justified favouritism in overcoming the challenge of Bridge Celtic in what was a disappointing semi-final tie at the County Grounds on Sunday morning.
Two goals in a three-minute spell shortly before the end of the opening half proved decisive, as the Ennis side march to yet another final.
Celtic had a dream start to the second half with a goal after just 18 seconds but failed to get through for another.
Avenue is now just one game away from completing the league and cup double, having captured the Premier League title just over a week ago.
The Ennis side played with the aid of a strong breeze in the opening half and created the better chances. Adrian McDonagh came close in the third minute while, 10 minutes later, Celtic’s goalie Adrian Dhuig was smartly off his line to turn a Barry Nugent effort behind for a corner.
McDonagh again had a chance on the half-hour mark but his effort hit the side netting. Avenue didn’t have to wait long for the lead goal, however. The Celtic defence failed to deal with a dangerous ball on 35 minutes and Barry Nugent saw his header cross the line after a David McCarthy corner.
They struck for their second two minutes later when Adrian McDonagh coolly lobbed Dhuig for an excellent score.
As the winners continued to pile on the pressure, Dhuig was called on to make a good save from David Herlihy. Avenue’s dominance in the first half was reflected in the corner’s tally winning eight.
With the advantage of the wind in the second half, the South-East Clare men needed to get a goal quickly. They did so straight from the kick-off when the ball was moved out left to Barry O’Connell, who drilled a powerful shot across John Healy and into the top left-hand corner of the net.
They could hardly have asked for a better start to the half but they failed to build on this and rarely threatened the Avenue keeper for the remainder of the game.
The Ennis side’s defence, without the unavailable David Russell, dominated the exchanges.

Avenue United A: John Healy, Mattie Nugent, Eamonn O’Reilly, Pa Wilson, Simon Cuddy, Gary Flynn, David Herlihy, David McCarthy, Adrian McDonagh, Barry Nugent, David Smith.
Sub: Mikey Mahoney for McDonagh.
Bridge Celtic A: Adrian Dhuig, Trevor Howard, Stephen McCarthy, Rob Seymour, William Slattery, Shane Byrnes, Ricky Mowatt, Barry O’Connell, Paul McEvoy, Ger O’Connell, David Hickey.
Referee: Martin O’Brien.

 

Bridge rock favourites

Bridge United B 3
Rock Rovers 2

FAVOURITES Rock Rovers looked to be on their way to the cup final when they went into a two-goal lead with just half an hour played at the County Grounds on Saturday evening.
Bridge United B never dropped the heads though and when the final whistle sounded they were worthy winners, having had the better of the exchanges for the majority of the tie.
The winners had started well and Eric Murphy in the Rovers’ goal was called on to save from Brendan Murphy. The first goal came after 10 minutes when Daryl Eade rolled the ball to Marty McLoughlin from a free kick, who drilled a low shot past Barry Deasy.
The Ennis side doubled their lead after half an hour when Barry Woods struck a low effort to the net from the edge of the 18-yard area.
Five minutes from half-time, Bridge came charging back when Tadhg Keogh scored to leave it 2-1 in Rovers’ favour at the break.
For the second half, Rock introduced Ashley Glynn for David Considine. The game was soon tied up when Keogh struck for his second. Bridge deserved to be on level terms if not in front at this stage as they were creating the better chances and they were unlucky not to have more when Brendan Murphy’s effort hit the post and Paul Fitzpatrick’s effort rebounded off the crossbar.
Inside the final quarter, Rock had a chance but Dean Gardiner’s effort was well saved by Barry Deasy. It was Bridge, however, who took the honours with Barry Downes firing home the winning goal.

Bridge United B: Barry Deasy, Jonathon Hayes, Kevin Meehan, Albert Finnan, Dominick Murphy, Paul Fitzpatrick, Tadhg Keogh, Barry Downes, Chris Lake, Trevor Kearney, Brendan Murphy.
Rock Rovers: Eric Murphy, Barry Woods, Ronan Judge, Shane Daniels, Jason White, David Considine, Rowan Eade, Daryl Eade, Dean Gardiner, David Ryan, Martin McLoughlin.
Subs: Ashley Glynn for Considine, Niall McNevin for Gardiner, Luke Coote for D Eade.
Referee: Julian Stanford.