The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
Avenue United A 2 Lifford 1
Holders Lifford took the lead in this Ennis derby tie when Ryan Boyle cracked a free kick to the net after half an hour.
Shortly before half-time, Avenue levelled courtesy of former Lifford player Scott Hennessy, who converted a penalty awarded after the match official ruled that he was fouled by Michael J Sullivan.
Early in the second half Dean D’Auria scored what proved to be the winning goal when he pounced after a mix-up in the Lifford defence.
Avenue United A: Liam Deasy; Simon Cuddy, Mattie Nugent, Eamonn O’Reilly, Dean D’Auria, David Herlihy, Alan Roche, Alex Zmusko, Mark Roche, Scott Hennessy, Barry Nugent.
Lifford: Gareth Aherne; Paul Cantillon, Ryan Boyle, Michael J. Sullivan, Terry Lenihan, Sean McDonnell, Pat Darcy, Ruairí Norrby, David Ryan, Lunga Balman, Roberto Pinto.
Subs: TJ Ajisomo for Balman, Glen Murray for Norrby.
Ennis Town Rock A 1 Hermitage A 1
Niall McNevin gave Ennis Town Rock the lead in this tie when he converted from the penalty spot in the opening half. They did well in the first half and would not have been flattered had they increased their lead.
They held the lead until 15 minutes from time when Matthew Kearney fired home an equaliser.
Just as Ennis Town could have increased their lead after scoring in the first half, the Tage could have scored again after Kearney’s equaliser.
Ennis Town Rock: Sean Kennedy; Ethan Coote, Dean Gardiner, Francis Daniels Jason White, Adrian Walsh, Joe Collins Michael Dinan; Niall McNevin, Adrian McDonagh, Gary Collins.
Subs: Marty McLoughlin, Ronan Judge, Ritchie Newylon.
Hermitage: David Phillips; Tolá Crowe Rhys Phillips, Robert Forde, Chris O’Riordan, Ritchie Fitzgerald, Sean McGee, Paul Ryan, Matthew Kearney, Robert Dunne, Ritchie O’Grady.
Connolly Celtic 3 Tulla United 0
Last year’s Division 1 winners Connolly Celtic were impressive winners over Tulla United in this tie, with three first-half goals.
John Paul Healy struck twice, the second from a free kick, and Bernard Field had the third for the winners.
Connolly Celtic: Niall Quinn; Greg Howard, Andy Cleary, Luke Coote, Ronnie Meere, Brendan Dillon, Brian Connellan, John P Healy, John Kelly, Bernard Field, Christy O’Loughlin.
Tulla Utd: Dara Kelly; Mark Healy Cheyanne Power, Niall Whelan, Denis Murphy, Aidan Fawl, Shane Mason, Killian Bane, Mark McInerney, Sunny Jay, Martin Floyd.
Bridge United 3 Shannon Olympic 3
This turned out to be the game of the round with the sides sharing six goals at Sixmilebridge.
The home side hit the front three times but Olympic refused to give in. Michael McNamara scored first but
John Keogh struck for the equaliser. McNamara struck again for Bridge before the break. In the second half, Stephen Dolan levelled for the visitors.
Bridge Utd looked to be on the way to victory when Kieran Quinlan struck for their third but Olympic had the last say when Peter Barron pounced.
Bridge United: John Mulready; Jason Whyte, Mark Culbert, Darren Murphy Stephen Stewart, Johnny Hayes, Dara Fitzgerald, Eric Carr, Trevor Maxwell, Jamie O’Gorman, Michael McNamara.
Shannon Olympic: John Doody; Shane Byrne, Mark McGee, Ian Hogan, Darren Duggan, Declan McDonald, Ray Quigley, Peter Barron, Declan O’Meara, Lee Walker, John Keogh.
