Winning start for Avenue and Newmarket

Holders Avenue United A and premier league leaders Newmarket Celtic A made winning starts to their Clare Junior Cup campaigns on Sunday.
Newmarket had a comfortable victory over Shannon Olympic A, while Avenue proved too strong for Tulla United A. Indeed,
it was a disappointing day for Tulla as their B team also made their exit from the competition, going down to Sporting Ennistymon.
In contrast, it was a great day for Newmarket Celtic whose B team caused an upset when accounting for Corofin Harps. The biggest surprise in the first round was the defeat of Turnpike Rovers by Manus Celtic B.

Avenue United A 3
Tulla United A 1

Tulla United A went into this tie with high hopes of upsetting the cup holders and things went well for the opening half, at the end of which the game was scoreless.
Early in the second half Avenue United failed to take the lead when David Russell missed a penalty. Boosted by this, Tulla A broke away and took the lead when Alan Brigdale was on hand to finish after John Healh had parried a Niall Whelan header following a Trevor Corbett free kick.
Tulla were dealt a blow
shortly after this when the ball deflected to the net off one of their defenders and the game was tied at 1-1.
Thirty minutes into the second half, Avenue took the lead when David Herlihy scored and  sealed their place in round two when Pa Wilson scored with five minutes to go.

Avenue United A: John Healy; Simon Cuddy, David Russell, Mattie Nugent, Con Collins; Alan Roche, David Smith, Colin Smith, David Herlihy; Barry Nugent, Dave McCarthy.
Subs: Colm Mullen for B Nugent; Pa Wilson for McCarthy; Gary Flynn for Herlihy.
Tulla United A: Shane Collins; David McInerney, Brian McInerney, Denis Murphy, Niall Whelan, Shane Mason, Noel Collins, Cillian Bane, Trevor Corbett, Seosamh O’Loughlin Alan Brigdale.
Subs: Aidan Fawl for O’Loughlin; Thomas McKeown for N Collins; Colin Nelson for Corbett, Sunny Jay for Brigdale.

Shannon Olympic A 0
Newmarket Celtic A 4

As the scoreline suggests, Newmarket Celtic A had a comfortable victory over Shannon Olympic A in this first round tie.
Stephen Kelly scored a hat trick for the winners, the current Premier League leaders. He opened his account after half an hour following a Colm Treacy cross and this goal separated the teams at the break.
Early in the second half Gary Collins doubled the winners’ lead before Kelly had a second to put them three ahead as the three-quarter stage approached. Kelly completed his hat trick with 15 minutes remaining.
Olympic battled hard
but were unable to break down a strong Newmarket defence.

Newmarket Celtic A: Jason Casey; David O’Grady, Darren Cullinan, Eoin O’Brien, Mark Donlon; Colm Treacy, Stephen Kelly, Seamus Considine, Daithi O’Connell, Gary Collins, Paudie Hayes.
Subs: Kieran Devitt for Treacy; Alan Kelly for Donlon; Neil Ryan for Collins; Ronan McCormack for Considine.
Shannon Olympic A: Gary McGettrick; David Collins, Pat Fahy, Karl Fogarty, Ian Hogan, Ray Quigley, Kieran Lake, Declan McDonald, Jason Regan, Stephen Dolan, Ciaran Keane.
Sub: Darren Duggan for Dolan.

 

Ennis Town Rock 5
Bunratty/Cratloe B 0

Bunratty-Cratloe B put in a determined performance in the first half of this tie but thereafter Ennis Town Rock controlled the game and won convincingly.
A David Reidy goal separated the teams at the break before the teenager went on to add two more and complete a hatrick for the winners. Dean Gardiner scored the other two.

Ennis Town Rock: Stephen Loftus, Greg Howard, Ronan Judge, Shane Daniels, Gary Walsh Adrian Walsh, Francis Daniels, Marty McLoughlin, Dean Gardiner, Stephen Hickey, David Reidy.
Subs: Ritchie Neylon, Ethan Considine, Gary Browne.
Bunratty-Cratloe B: Robert Meehan; John O’Halloran, David O’Brien Cathal Jones, Don Murphy, Colm Ryan; David Quinn, Michael Madden, Conor Earley, John Liddane, Colin Melody.
Subs: David Kerins, James Egan, Danny Hanson, Owen Scully.

Corofin Harps 2
Newmarket Celtic B 3

Newmarket Celtic B travelled to Corofin on Sunday and defeated the home side in this first round cup tie.
Newmarket led at the break thanks to a Ciaran McCoy goal. Chris Lake had a chance to increase their lead but his penalty effort hit the crossbar and went over.
Early in the second half the visitors doubled their lead through Barry O’Driscoll before Darragh Shannon pulled one back for the North Clare side. A second goal from McCoy restored Newmarket’s two-goal cushion but John Keane replied quickly for the home side.
Corofin piled on the pressure in the final period but failed to break down the Newmarket defence.

Corofin Harps: Colin Burke; Mike Concannon, John Keane, Brendan Keane, Stevie Quinn; Fergal Neylon, Ian Hassett, Brian Halpin, Damian Ryan; Paul Linnane, Darragh Shannon.
Subs: Gary Molloy, Jake Hatchfield.
Newmarket Celtic B: Brian Tierney; Conor Cusack, Derek Moynihan, Chris Noonan, Kieran Crosby, Darren Sheedy, Eoin Kelly, Chris Lake, Martin Frawley, Kevin Feehily, Ciaran McCoy.
Subs: Danny Conway for Frawley; Barry O’Driscoll for McCoy.

Manus Celtic B 3
Turnpike Rovers 1

Manus Celtic B caused the shock of the first round when they dumped a fancied Turnike Rovers out of the title race.
The winners got off to a great start when Michael Geraghty scored in the early minutes and they were two up at half time after Donogh Murphy scored. Murphy added a second after the break. Turnpike pulled one back through David Flynn on the hour mark. They piled on the pressure but failed to break down a stubborn Manus defence.

Manus Celtic B: Brian Keogh; Seanie Moloney, Michael Malone; Colin Higgins, Barry Malone; Danny Scanlon, Kevin Clohessy, Declan Frawley, Eamonn Callinan; Donogh Murphy, Michael Geraghty.
Subs: Emmet Considine for Moloney; Andrew Page for Considine; Michael McDonagh for Callinan; Stephen Geraghty for M Geraghty; Paddy Donnellan for Scanlan.
Turnpike Rovers: Ian Mounsey; William O’Keeffe, Donnacda Hassett, Eric Hayes, Joe Slattery, Mark Woods, James Keane, David McMahon, Brendan Dobbins, Jason Hayes, Tony Greene.
Subs: David Flynn for J Hayes; John Ferns for Dobbins; Sean Dobbins for Woods.

Avenue United B 3
Inch Crusaders 1

Eddie Slattery gave Avenue United B the lead just before half time when he latched onto a Craig McNamara cross.
Ten minutes into the second half the winners doubled their advantage when the Inch keeper dropped a Dara Kerins cross into the net.
Substitute Nicki Twumasai scored the winners’ third goal before Eoin Enright pulled one back for Inch but it was too late to prevent Avenue from advancing to round two.

Avenue Utd B: Killian Culligan; Shane Browne, John Waters, David Considine, Neil Slattery, Mick Shiel, Pa Sherlock, Craig McNamara, Eoghan O’Loughlin Dara Kerins, Josh Lynch.
Subs: Eddie Slattery for Lynch; Emyra Zakeri for Sherlock; Nicki Twumasai for O’Loughlin; Alan McNamara for Brown.
Inch Crusaders: Declan Clancy, John Earls, Mark Connellan, Thomas O’Doherty, Sean Talty, James Rynne, Conor Neylon, Alan Clerkin, Rory O’Connor, John Clohessy, Padraig Talty.
Subs: Noel Casey for Clerkin; Eoin Enright for Rynne; Rory Killeen for O’Connor.

Sporting Ennistymon 4
Tulla United B 2

Tulla took the lead in the first five minutes through Keith Walsh but the North Clare outfit led at half time after they had hit back with goals from Cathal McConigley and Kieran Monaghan.
Ten minutes into the second half the teams were level for the second time, after Martin Floyd converted from the penalty spot.
Midway through the half, Sporting Ennistymon went ahead again when Cathal McConigley scored his second, this time from the penalty spot. With 15 minutes remaining, substitute Jamesie McConigley scored his side’s fourth to seal their passage to the next round.
Tulla piled on the pressure and dominated the closing ten minutes but the winners managed to hold out.

Sporting Ennistymon: Richard Leigh; Patrick O’Dwyer, Robbie McInerney, John Mullane, Mark Burke, Declan O’Looney, Thomas McConigley, Alan Sexton, Damian Flanagan, Cathal McConigley, Kieran Monaghan.
Subs: Abdel Ennaoui, Jamesie McConigley, Padraig Flynn.
Tulla United B: Darragh Kelly; Phil Browne, Niall Leamy, Gerry Ryan, John O’Hagan, Shane McNamara, Cathal Dinan, Martin Floyd, John Brigdale, Keith Walsh, Keith Lenihan.
Subs: Ken Durcan, Michael Hoey, Dermot O’Keeffe, Peadar Greene, Eamonn Howley.

Hermitage C 0
Ruan United 5

Ruan United were comfortable winners over Hermitage C in this cup tie played at the Fairgreen.
The winners led after ten minutes thanks to an Anthony White penalty and had doubled their lead by half time after Paul Dinan found the target.
Barry Cusack scored a hat trick in the second half to seal the win.

Hermitage C: Jason Carmody; Niall Seery, Neil Mulqueen, Eric O’Donoghue, Jamie Kenneally, Johnnie O’Grady, Mick Culligan, Mike Thoussifer, Kevin Moynihan, Darren Lynch, Kevin Ruane.
Subs: Mark Moloney, Eamonn Moloney, Shane Talty, Kenny Hartigan, Oisin O’Donnell.
Ruan United: Rory Breen; Conor Reeves, Adrian Ballinger, Leon Quirke, Willie Treacy, Jason Morris, Damian Quirke, Jonathon Clohessy, Barry Cusack, Anthony White, Paul Dinan.
Subs: Hugh O’Donnell for Ballinger; Dean Lee for White; Thomas Leahy for D Quirke.

Round 2 pairings
The way is now clear for round two in this year’s cup title race and the pairings are: Newmarket Celtic B V Shannon Olympic B; Sporting Ennistymon V Manus Celtic B; Hermitage A V Avenue Utd B; Ruan Utd V Avenue Utd A; Mountshannon Celtic V Bunratty Cratloe A; West Clare FC V Coole FC; Moher Celtic V Newmarket Celtic A; Kildysart Celtic V St Pat’s; Rhine Rovers V Treaty Celtic; Bridge Utd B V Bridge Celtic; Lifford B Bye; Bridge Utd A V Cooraclare Celtic; Ennis Town Rock V Kilmaley Fern Celtic; Lifford A V Kilrush Rangers; Kilkishen Celtic V Connolly Celtic; Burren Utd V Hermitage B.