Burren Utd hold on for victory

There were a number of surprises as seven games in round three of the Clare Junior Cup were played at the weekend.
Premier side, Bridge United A went out to Rineanna Rovers B in what was the shock of the round.
Manus Celtic B’s victory over Hermitage A will also have come as a shock as will the defeats of both Rock Rovers and Newmarket Celtic A by Tulla United A and Lifford respectively.

Burren United     4
Cratloe Forest     3

Burren United took the lead after 10 minutes in Lisdoonvarna when Patrick Darcy headed to the net from a Liam Keane cross.
Cratloe Forset had the better of matters from here to the half-time whistle and scored twice to lead by the odd goal in three at the halfway point. The South East Clare side’s scorers were. A Padraig Chaplin corner went to the net via a deflection off a Burren defender before Michael Hawes put the visitors ahead
On the resumption, Burren piled on the pressure and they levelled when Ian McInerney’s cross from a corner was headed to the net by his Kilmurry-Ibrickane GAA clubmate Enda Coughlan.
Shortly after this substitute Patrick Darcy was fouled in the box and Mark McCarthy converted the resultant penalty. They doubled their advantage with five minutes remaining when Martin McDonagh headed to the net following another corner from McInerney.
Cratloe battled on and just before the full-time whistle Ally McMillan pulled one back but time was not on their side and the home side held on for victory and a place in the quarter-final.

Burren United: Craig Flanagan; Daniel Carey, Enda Coughlan, John McDonagh; Marine Ghat, Ian McInerney, Martin McDonagh, Evan Talty, Patrick Darcy, Mark McCarthy, Liam Keane.
Subs: John McCormack for Darcy; Danny Burke for Keane; Eric Murrihy for Ghat.
Cratloe Forest: Pierce De Loughrey; Philip Counihan, Padraig Chaplin, Thomas O’Connor, Brian McMillan; Damian Browne, Michael Hawes, Ally McMillan, Chris McGrath, Jeremie Courtouis; Martin McMillan.

Bunratty A       2
Avenue United A 3
(after extra time)

Avenue took a 2-0 lead in the opening ten minutes after a very slow start by Bunratty. David Smith and Gary Flynn were the goalscorers for the Ennis side.
Bunratty got 1 back before half-time through and own goal by Con Collins. Evan Glynn finished well with just over five minutes remaining to bring the game to extra time.
Five minutes into the first half Con Collins scored the winner for Avenue. Diarmuid Nash was unlucky to have a goal disallowed in the second period of extra time when he was adjudged to have pushed in the box before finishing his header well.

Bunratty: Fintan Quinn, Chris Griffin, Eoin Nash David Hogan Gearóid O’Connell Tadhg Keogh Ryan Kelly Evan Glynn Daithi O’Connell Diarmuid Nash Sean McDonald.
Subs: Brendan Hughes for Chris Griffin, Jamie Cullen for Tadgh Keogh, John Ryan for Ryan Kelly.
Avenue United A: John Healy; Mattie Nugent, David Russell, Con Collins, Dylan Casey; Gary Flynn, Dave McCarthy, Pa Wilson, David Smith, David Herlihy, Mikey Mahoney.
Subs: Ritchie Lillis, Eamonn O’Reilly, Simon Cuddihy for Mahoney, Flynn and McCarthy.

Hermitage A     0
Manus Celtic B     0
(after extra time Manus
won 4-2 on penalties)

It was a great week for Manus Celtic B. On St Patrick’s Day they defeated Third Division leaders Coole in a top of the table clash in the league and on Sunday they dumped premier league side Hermitage A out of the Junior Cup
Danny Scanlan was the goalscorer in the league tie giving them victory and a great chance of winning the title.
In Sunday’s cup tie, Hermitage made the better start and created the better opportunities but Manus goalie Jason Considine was in excellent form. The ’Tage were unlucky not to go in front but Scott Hennessy’s shot hit the crossbar. Hermitage goalie Joe Burke also impressed bringing off some fine saves on the day.
In the penalty shoot out Declan Frawley, Aaron Considine, Donogh Murphy and Jason Considine scored for the winners. Adrian Walsh and Davy Moloney scored the first two for the Tage before Considine saved from Pa Mannion 
Scott Hennessy’s effort went over the bar and with it went Hermitage’s hopes of progressing in the competition.

Hermitage A: Joe Burke; Eoin Kane, Adrian Walsh, Rhys Phillips, David Moloney, Robert Dunne, Ger Dullaghan, Pa Mannion, Ritchie Fitzgerald, Paul Dullaghan, Scott Hennessy.
Subs: Eddie Killeen, Eoin O’Mara Daly, Seán McGee.
Manus Celtic B: Jason Considine; Michael Malone, Barry Malone, Gary Famer Seanie Moloney; Eamonn Callinan, Conor Plunkett, Declan Frawley, Danny Scanlon, John Pyne, Bernard Scanlon.
Subs: Aaron Considine for Pyne; Donogh Murphy for B Scanlon.

Rock Rovers    2
Tulla United A    3

Rock Rovers took the lead midway through the first half through David Ryan
Tulla United equalised shortly afterwards when Michael McDermott punished a goalkeeper’s mistake. Tulla took the lead shortly before half-time when Niall Whelan scored following a Gearóid O’Doherty corner.
On the resumption, Rock Rovers piled on the pressure but a goal line clearance from Denis Murphy and good goalkeeping by Shane Collins saved the visitors. They scored their third when a shot by substitute Brian Hehir was turned onto the bar before rebounding to Keith Lenihan who duly found the net.
Rock hit back strongly and pulled one back through Stephen Hickey at the end of normal time. Despite their best efforts in injury time, they failed to score again and the visitors progressed to the last eight in the competition.

Rock Rovers: Stephen Loftus; Michael Dinan, Jason White, Ciaran Russell, Shane Daniels, Eoin Glynn, Dean Gardiner, Barry Woods, Francis Daniels, David Ryan, Marty McLoughlin.
Subs: Ronan Judge, Ashley Glynn, Stephen Hickey.
Tulla United A: Shane Collins; Paudge Vaughan, Paraic O’Malley, Denis Murphy, Darragh Corry; Mike McDermott, Gearóid O’Doherty, Shane Mason, Niall Whelan, Keith Lenihan, Alan Brigdale.
Subs: Tommy McKeown for O’Doherty; Brian Hehir for Corry.

Lifford         2
Newmarket Celtic A     1

Lifford booked a place in the last eight of the junior cup race with this victory over premier league leaders, Newmarket Celtic A at Cassidy park on Sunday.
Lifford took the lead through Lunga Balman after ten minutes. By the mid-point of the half, Newmarket Celtic were back on terms when a Davy Wall shot deflected off Eoin Hayes on the way to the net.
What proved to be the winner came ten minutes before half-time when Ryan Boyle scored from the penalty spot after Gary McNaboe was fouled.
The second half was evenly contested but Newmarket Celtic felt they had equalised when Mike O’Malley headed from six yards. Newmarket players and followers argued that the ball crossed the line but the referee didn’t agree.

Lifford: Jan Da Silva; Dylan Blake, Hamad Kuku, Joe Lynch, Michael J Sullivan; Gary McNaboe, TJ Ajisomo, Ryan Boyle, Ruairi Norrby; Lunga Ballman, Roberto Pinto.
Subs: Gary Browne, Ciaran Neenan, Kieran Connolly, Francie Nealon, Conor Donlon.
Newmarket Celtic A: Ciaran McGlynn, Mark O’Malley, Darren Cullinan, Mark Donlon, Eoin O’Brien; Seamus Lawlor, Eoin Hayes, Michael Devitt, Paudie Hayes, Davy Wall, Michael Crosby.
Subs: Gary Collins for Hayes; Kieran Devitt for Michael Devitt; David O’Grady for Mark O’Malley, Neil Ryan for Wall; Mike O’Malley for P Hayes.

Kilmaley Fern Celtic         0
Corofin Harps    1

With all involved preparing for extra time, Corofin Harps struck for what proved to be the winning goal in this tie with Kilmaley-Fern Celtic at Tiermaclane.
There had been little between the teams throughout and the winners thought they had take the lead 15 minutes earlier when John Keane’s header found the net only for the score to disallowed and a free awarded to the home side.
The game was in the fourth minute of injury time when Michael Concannon ran on to a clearance and his volley from 30 yards flew into the net to send the North Clare outfit into the last eight.

Kilmaley-Fern Celtic: Ger Healy; Pat Sherlock, Jamie Meehan, Phil Noonan, Noel Healy; Sean O’Flanagan, Conor Brennan, Eoin McNamara, Jamie Mills, Greg O’Flanagan, Liam Meaney.
Sub: Alan Hehir for McNamara.
Corofin Harps: Mike Heith; Stephen Quinn, Michael Concannon, John Keane, Jason O’Connor; James Keane, Paul Linnane, Ronnie Meere, Brian Halpin; Jason Tierney, Gary Tierney.
Subs: Fergal Neylon for Meere; Damian Ryan for B Halpin.

Bridge United A 0
Rineanna Rovers B 1

Third division outfit Rineanna Rovers B caused a major shock when they accounted for Bridge United A in this cup tie at Sixmilebridge on Sunday.
With the sides scoreless and full-time approaching, everything pointed to extra time. Then, in the final minute, Ronan McCormack struck for the vital goal that ended the home side’s involvement in this year’s title race.
The game was close throughout. Midway through the second half, Bridge United A had an effort rebound off the post while the eventual winners also had the ball cleared off the goal line on two occasions during the 90 minutes.

Bridge United A: Paul Tuohy; Jonathon Hayes, Donald Devanney, Darren Murphy, Adrian White; Shane Devanney, Stephen Stewart, Mark Culbert, Ciaran Quinlan; Trevor Maxwell, Jason White.
Subs: Niall Gilligan, Paul Fitzpatrick, Greg Deegan.
Rineanna Rovers B: Eugene O’Mahoney; Gerard Cahill, Dara McCormack, David Barrett, Paudie O’Looney; Kieran O’Connor, Martin Frawley, Alan Barrett, Ronan McCormack; Enda Barrett, Shane Meehan.
Sub: Declan O’Mahoney for O’Connor.