Culligan the hero as Avenue B reach cup final

Avenue B 1   Ennis Town Rock 1
Avenue won 4-3 on penalties

ENNIS Town Rock caused somewhat of a surprise when they defeated holders and three-in-a-row chasing Avenue United A in the quarter-final of the Clare Junior Cup a few weeks ago.

It was a result that added to the interest in Friday’s semi-final, which saw Avenue United B pitted against their Ennis neighbours. This time the favourites’ tag was with Ennis Town Rock but when the final whistle sounded, it was the Avenue fans who were cheering loudest.

A penalty shoot-out was required to produce a winner and this went to sudden death before there was a result. Avenue United goalkeeper Killian Culligan emerged as the hero and his save from Shane Daniels in the sudden death shoot-out started the celebrations. This was his second save in the shoot out, while he also produced a couple of outstanding stops during the game.

For much of the tie, defences dominated and this was particularly true of the opening half, which had just gone into injury time when the breakthrough came. A Dean Gardiner cross caused problems for the Avenue defence and Culligan’s punched clearance fell to Shane Daniels, who drilled the ball low to the net to send his side to the break leading 1-0.

The favourites dominated the early exchanges in the second half and came close to doubling their lead when substitute Eoin Glynn saw his powerful left-foot strike go inches over the bar.
As the half wore on, Avenue made a number of changes, bringing in Cian Darcy, Darren O’Meara and Gary Seery. This saw them up their challenge and they were rewarded as the game passed the midpoint of the half. A cross from team captain Neil Slattery caused problems for the Ennis Town Rock defence and David Considine pounced with an overhead kick to the roof of the net.

Ennis Town came close to regaining the lead with 15 minutes remaining. A powerful Ethan Considine strike looked to be heading for the net but Cian Darcy managed to head over the bar, conceding a corner. Seconds later, David Considine took the ball off the line with Culligan beaten.

They created a few more chances but Killian Culligan in the Avenue goal produced a couple of outstanding saves, one in particular from Stephen Hickey. In the first period of extra time, both Eoin Glynn and Stephen Hickey came close but their efforts went narrowly wide of the target. Hickey also forced a tremendous save from Culligan.

In the penalty shoot-out, Avenue were first to go and few gave them a chance of getting to the final when they failed to score from their first two kicks, as Ennis Town goalie Sean Kennedy superbly saved from Eamonn O’Reilly and Cian Darcy.

Ennis Town went ahead when Gary Browne scored their first penalty but Avenue goalie Culligan helped his side back into contention when he saved from Daryl Eade. David Considine for Avenue and Niall McNevin for Ennis Town Rock both converted, leaving Ennis Town 2-1 in front with three penalties taken by each side.

Darragh Kerins was next up for Avenue and he scored but the result was back in the melting pot seconds later when Francis Daniels saw his effort for Ennis Town rebound off the crossbar.

Both sides converted their fifth penalties, through Darren O’Meara and Eoin Glynn, resulting in the outcome going to sudden death. Jack Walsh converted for Avenue, which meant Shane Daniels had to score for Ennis Town Rock but his effort was saved by Culligan and the Avenue celebrations commenced.

For some of the players involved, it was their third meeting inside a week. Avenue United beat Ennis Town Rock in the Michael O’Gorman Youths Cup final last Saturday and they repeated that result on Thursday night when the sides met in the Clare area final of the Munster Youths Cup.

In addition to goalkeeper Culligan, the winners had impressive performances from David Considine, Pa Sherlock and Darragh Kerins, while Ennis Town Rock’s best were Sean Kennedy, Ronan Judge and Daryl Eade.

Avenue United B: Killian Culligan; David Considine, Shane Browne, Eamonn O’Reilly, Keith Dormer; Pa Sherlock, Neil Slattery, Craig McNamara, Eoghan O’Loughlin, Darragh Kerins, Ian Lyons.
Subs: Darren O’Meara for McNamara, Cian Darcy for Dormer, Gary Seery for Lyons, Conor O’Brien for Slattery and Jack Walsh for O’Loughlin.

Ennis Town Rock: Sean Kennedy; Ethan Considine, Ronan Judge, Gary Walsh, Shane Daniels, Gary Browne, Adrian Walsh, Daryl Eade, Dean Gardiner, David Reidy, Stephen Hickey.
Subs: Eoin Glynn for A Walsh, Niall McNevin for Gardiner, Jason White for G Walsh and Francis Daniels for E Considine.

Referee: John Murray. Linesmen: Dave McCarthy and Terry Kennedy.