Clare still in the hunt for an Oscar

Cork AUL 1   Clare and District League 4

Clare travelled to Cork on Sunday and defeated the local Cork AUL League, booking their place in the quarter-finals of the Oscar Traynor Cup where they will have a home draw against the Dublin AUL.

The Clare outfit fully deserved their victory and won this tussle with some clinical finishing and no nonsense defending when needed. The home outfit were favourites before kick-off but it was the winners who looked the more comfortable throughout.

David Reidy saw his fifth minute effort saved by Cork netminder O’Sullivan while at the other end, three minutes later, Aaron Kearney saw his well struck effort fly just inches wide of the Clare post.

Darren Lynch should then have given the home side the lead when the ball fell kindly to him in the Clare area but his effort flew harmlessly wide.

It was the Banner outfit that secured the all-important lead goal on 18 minutes. A slick break from their own half saw Steven Hickey race forward and shoot past the advancing O’Sullivan, who managed to get a hand to the ball but couldn’t stop it hitting the back of the net.

Two minutes later, the home side thought they were on level terms but following a corner, a Howard Coakley right-foot drive crashed back into play off the Clare side’s right hand post.

The Clare defence enjoyed the supremacy and were beginning to frustrate the efforts of the Cork forwards, who at times enjoyed some good possession but rarely threatened the Clare goal. Just two minutes before the break, Hickey thought he had scored a second Clare goal only to see it ruled out by a linesman’s flag for offside.

The Clare outfit, however, did secure a half-time 2-0 lead and Hickey was again involved, slipping a pass through to the lively David Reidy, who timed his run perfectly to race clear and finish past O’Sullivan.

The home side knew the had to up their game in the second half and, five minutes after the resumption, a well-taken Mark Nolan corner was half cleared by the Clare defence before John Corcoran’s volley flew over the bar.

Nine minutes later, Cork’s chances of getting themselves back into the game were dealt a massive blow when Aaron Kearney was red carded for a second bookable offence. Then, at the mid-point of the half approached, the winners killed this game off as a contest when Steven Hickey scored his second of the afternoon, following another fine run and slick finish from 12 yards.

The losers, to their credit, continued to press forward and following a succession of corners they were rewarded when the referee pointed to the spot for a handball on the goal line by Clare’s Daryl Eade who was subsequently red carded.

Cork’s Darren Lynch stepped up and crashed the ball home past Mulready but this score only proved to be a consolation for the home side and the visitors rubber stamped their dominance with a fourth goal in injury time with right back Colin Smyth tapping the ball to the Cork net from two yards.

Clare’s quarter-final game against Dublin AUL will take place at the county grounds in Doora on February 24.

 

Clare: John Mulready (Bridge United); Colin Smyth (Avenue United), Darren Cullinan (Newmarket Celtic), Darren Murphy (Bridge United), Shane Daniels (Ennis Town Rock); Pat Darcy (Lifford), Eoin Hayes (Newmarket Celtic), David McCarthy (Avenue United), Steven Hickey (Ennis Town Rock); David Reidy (Ennis Town Rock), Daithi O’Connell (Newmarket Celtic).
Subs: David Russell (Avenue United) for Darcy; Daryl Eade (Ennis Town Rock) for McCarthy; Alan Brigdale (Newmarket Celtic) for Daithi O’Connell.
Cork AUL: Steve O’Sullivan; Shane Cahill, Kieran Joyce, Anthony Peelo, Aaron Kearney; Dave Dineen, Howard Coakley, Mark Nolan, John Corcoran; Darren Lynch, Colin Stack.