Brothers score vital goals for Rovers

Avenue Utd 1
Rhine Rovers 3

Lees Road hosted a cracking Munster Junior Cup tie last Sunday morning and it took two goals from the O’Brien brothers, Johnny and David, in the final 15 minutes to finally end the resistance of an experienced Avenue B outfit.

In typical cup fashion, the balance of the tie swung over and back in the initial stages, with Avenue having the better of the early exchanges. Enda Lyons, in particular, caused damage down Avenue’s left flank. Rovers’ midfield duo of Keith Whelan and Cillian Duggan began to exert their physicality on the game and it was Duggan who opened the scoring on 25 minutes when he popped up at the back post to powerfully head home from David O’Brien’s free-kick.
The game exploded into life in the second half as Rovers looked to kill the tie off but Killian Culligan in the Avenue goal was in inspired form, saving brilliantly from Christy and Johnny O’Brien in a matter of minutes. Avenue were struggling to breach the Rovers’ rearguard but when Enda Lyons broke into the area with 25 minutes to go, Rovers full-back Gerry Flaherty made what looked like a good tackle in knocking the ball out for a corner but referee John Murray adjudged it a foul and awarded a penalty, which Neil Slattery tucked away.
Avenue’s tails were up now and Rovers defended manfully for a period of time before the two elder O’Brien’s put the game out of Avenue’s reach. There was a touch of fortune about their second goal when David O’Brien collected the clearance from his own corner and his goal-bound shot deflected off Murphy and into the net with 15 minutes left on the clock. Shortly after, captain Johnny O’Brien beat two Avenue defenders to break into the box, where he was hauled down for a penalty. The skipper scored the penalty that finally secured Rovers’ progress to the next round, where they will face Rock Rovers.
Gerry Flaherty, Paul Johnston and David O’Brien were best for the winners while Avenue’s, Ian Hassett, Neil Slattery and keeper Culligan were their best players.

Avenue United B: Killian Culligan; Barry Cusack, Kieran Murphy, Anthony White, Craig McNamara, Enda Lyons, Neil Slattery, Jan Feck, Stephen McMahon, Ian Hassett, Mickey Burns.
Subs: Darren O’Meara, Alan McNamara, Cian Griffin.
Rhine Rovers: Rory Callinan; Gerry Flaherty, Paul Johnston, Martin McInerney, Kevin Johnston, Sean Heaney, Cillian Duggan, Keith Whelan, David O’Brien, Mark Hanrahan, Johnny O’Brien.
Subs: Ronan Gallagher for Johnston; Christy O’Brien for Heaney; Gavin O’Sullivan for Hanrahan.