Impressive victory for Clare soccer team

Clare 5 Galway 1

Clare progressed to the semi-final of the national inter-youths soccer league with an impressive victory over defending champions Galway at the Clare soccer headquarters in Doora on Saturday.
The game was switched from The Cragg in Tulla to the county grounds after heavy rain on Friday rendered the Tulla pitch unplayable.
Clare’s victory has earned them a semi-final date with Kilkenny and they will have to travel to the Leinster side’s venue.
While Clare approached Saturday’s semi-final in a confident mood, few, if any, would have predicted such a comprehensive win over the visitors.
They had come through the same group and when they met in Terryland Park, a 2-2 draw resulted.
Clare were forced into Saturday’s contest without the services of two of their strongest players. Conor Mullin (Avenue United) and Darragh Corry (Tulla United) were both ruled out due to illness and their absence was a huge blow to the home team.
This win highlights the progress made by Clare at youths level in just a year. Last season, Clare conceded a walkover and struggled to field a team but this season it has been a much different story.
The squad has trained regularly over the past four months and this was clearly reflected in their play on Saturday.
At the half-way point they had a two-goal advantage thanks to scores from Darren Sexton and Niall Whelan. Whelan struck after 10 minutes when he dispossessed the Galway centre-back, raced past the full-back and sent a great  shot to the net.
Shortly before half-time, Whelan doubled his side’s advantage when he sent a powerful effort to the net from a tight angle.
It was no less than Clare deserved as they had enjoyed the better of the exchanges throughout the half.
At the start of the second half the home side was rocked when Timmy Molloy pulled one back for the visitors. To their credit, Clare refused to let the score upset their rhythm and they continued to dominate, with Eoin O’Loughlin causing a lot of problems for the Galway defence.
Ten minutes into the half, Clare’s two-goal cushion was restored when O’Loughlin  struck.
Within a matter of minutes, he repeated the feat to put the home side 4-1 clear and on the road to the last four.
Indeed, the Avenue United player was unlucky not to have a hat-trick in the third quarter.
Shortly before the finish, Clare sealed a comfortable win when Connolly native and Avenue player Eoin Fitzgerald scored goal number five.
There was no questioning the merit of Clare’s win and their form reflects the work of team coach Denis Hynes, the FAI’s development officer in Clare, and that of the management team of Mike Moloney (Tulla), Eoin McNulty (Bridge United) and Gary Seery (Avenue Utd).

Clare: Ciaran MacMathuna (Ennis Town); Jack Walsh (Avenue United, capt); Pádraig O’Malley (Tulla), Darragh Murphy (Bridge United), Colin Smith (Avenue United), Niall Whelan (Tulla United), Darragh Fitzgerald (Bridge United), Alan Roche (Avenue United), Eoin O’Loughlin (Avenue United), Darren Sexton (Avenue United), Ruairi Norrby (Lifford).
Subs: Dylan Blake (Lifford) for Fitzgerald; Thomas McKeown (Tulla United) for Whelan; Eoin Fitzgerald (Avenue United) for Norrby; Mark Healy (Kilmaley-Fern Celtic), Mark Roche (Avenue United), Eoin Keenan (Ennis Town) and Shane Collins (Tulla United).

Galway United: Aaron Connolly; Shane Gallagher, James Moran, Ronan Greeny, James Casserly, Barry McEntee, Mark Murphy, Liam Hanrahan, Mike Collins, Conor Murray, Timmy Molloy.