Lifford pushed all the way by Newmarket

Lifford A 2   Newmarket Celtic B 1
(after extra time)

Lifford A were pushed all the way in this tie and needed extra-time to dispose of the challenge of visitors to Cassidy Park, Newmarket Celtic B.

Lunga Balman gave the winners the lead in the opening half but the Blues equalised through substitute Danny Conway midway through the second half to force the game into extra-time. 

The winner for Lifford came when Michael Joe Sullivan stuck in the second period of extra-time.

 

Lifford A: Paidí Hickey; TJ Ajisomo, Hamad Kuku, Michael J Sullivan, John Allen, Anthony White, Pat Darcy, Lunga Ballman, Ruairí Norrby, Roberto Pinto, Darren O’Neill.
Subs: Tom Mullen and Ryan Boyle for Norrby and Darcy, Rachman Zequiri for Ballman.
Newmarket Celtic B: Trevor O’Donnell; Derek Moynihan, Jamie Cronin, Christopher Noonan, Conor Cusack, David Barrett, Eoin Kelly, Kieran Crosby, Seamus Considine, Martin Frawley, Cathal Hayes.
Subs: Barry O’Driscoll for Hayes, Shane McMahon for Cusack, Martin O’Neill for Considine, Danny Conway for Frawley.

Ennis Town Rock A  2   Inch Crusaders 1

Ennis Town Rock A got the better of Inch Crusaders with a last-minute strike from Gary Collins ensuring their place in round three of the Junior Cup after an entertaining game at Lees Road on Sunday.

Ennis Town Rock started brightly and Stephen Hickey put them ahead after four minutes with a good turn and finish inside the box.

Inch grew in confidence as the half went on and Eoin Enright had a good effort saved from the edge of the box on 24 minutes. Conor Neylon went very close from a free kick that Ennis Town Rock keeper Stephen Loftus did well to push over the bar on 30 minutes. Padraig Talty went close on 42 minutes when through on goal but Loftus came off his line to make the save.

Gary Collins replaced Hickey on 58 minutes and, with his first touch, he had an effort well saved by Colin Burke two minutes later. Shortly after this James Rynne had a long-range effort for Inch narrowly miss the target.

Eamonn Bracken headed just wide for Inch on 72 minutes from a Sean Talty cross. With 12 minutes to go, Inch got a deserved equaliser when a good ball from Enright found Neylon in some space on the edge of the box and he fired home an unstoppable shot to level the match. With the game looking like it would be going to extra time, Collins pounced to score from a tight angle to put Ennis Town Rock through.

Ennis Town Rock A: Stephen Loftus; Adrian Walsh, Ronan Judge, Joe Lynch, Jason White, Francis Daniels, Daryl Eade, Eoin Glynn, Ritchie Neylon, Stephen Hickey, Niall McNevin.
Subs: Joe Collins for Daniels, Gary Collins for Hickey, Gary Walsh for Lynch.                
Inch Crusaders: Colin Burke; John Earls, Sean Talty, Brendan Talty, Thomas O’Doherty, James Rynne, Brian McDonnell, Conor Neylon, Eoin Enright, Padraig Talty, Liam Murphy.
Sub: Eamonn Bracken for Murphy (inj).

Connolly Celtic A 3   Kilmaley Fern Celtic 0

In wet and cold conditions at Kilmaley school on Sunday, Connolly Celtic justified favoritism when they overcame the challenge of neighbours Kilmaley Fern Celtic in this eagerly awaited cup tie. The goal came from Brian Connellan, who struck before half-time.

Twenty minutes into the second half Jan Fleck was taken down in the area and Greg Howard converted the penalty. Victory was sealed 10 minutes from the end when Ken Kennedy scored.

Connolly Celtic A: Niall Quinn; Greg Howard, Killian McNamara, Ian Hasett, Kieran Dillon John P Healy, Ronnie Meere, Brian Connellan, Ken Kennedy, Jan Fleck, Brendan Dillon.
Subs: Alan Markham for McNamara, Mickey Byrnes for Fleck and Bernard Field for Connellan.
Kilmaley Fern Celtic: Danny Drewsicki; Adam Keane, Noel Healy, Darren Daly, Noel Daly, Dean Healy, Darren McDonagh, Gavin Cording, Kenny Hartigan, Clinton Keane, Pa Sherlock.
Subs: Shane Constable for D Daly and Josh Lynch for Hartigan.

Holders Newmarket Celtic A progressed to round three without kicking a ball at the weekend when they received a walkover from Lifford B.

Draw
The draw for round three of the competition will take place this Thursday at 8.30pm at the West County Hotel, Ennis.