Rearcross quell Knigh’s Cup upset hopes
North Tipperary and District League Review
By Gary Culbert
Kevin Fogarty Tipperary Cup
Knigh United 0-2 Rearcross ‘A’
A professional and clinical performance Rearcross ended Knigh United’s inspired run of giant-killings in the Tipperary Cup quarter final on Sunday.
This was a game played mostly through long balls, with Rea’ breaking that mould more than their hosts. Paddy Dawson opened the scoring after twenty minutes, with Cillian Kennedy competing for a looping cross, with Dawson arriving at the perfect time to mop up the second ball and finish cooly in off the front post.
Former Sallypark players Kieran Ryan and Alan Flynn impressed for the home side, with the latter covering every blade of grass, but wherever he went so did Paul Nolan, who more than able for the physicality of the all-action midfielder.
Flynn was unlucky to see his header from a corner strike the crossbar in the first half, but the new entrants to the NT&DL did not offer much other than that, with Rea’s Greg Kennedy stopping most of their attacks in a dominant physical display, which saw the centre half pick up the player of the match award.
Cillian Kennedy effectively ended the contest with a poacher’s goal in the 70th minute, which came only after a powerful run from James Deegan down the right. Evidence if it was ever needed that the nutritionist come strength & conditioning coach, Deegan, is indeed following his own expert advice.
There was no grand-stand finish. Perhaps Knigh would have laid siege to the visitors’ goal if Jack Sanders had been available, but in the end Rearcross advanced to the semi-finals with a clean sheet to their name.
Goalkeeper Cathal Kennedy is facing a race to be fit for that massive home tie, which will be against either BT Harps ‘A’ or Cloughjordan ‘A’.
Manager Paul Carey traded roles with the 23-year-old on Sunday and was an able replacement between the sticks. The previously retired Michael O’Gorman has come back to the fold and is sharper than ever, particularly dangerous as an impact sub. Furthermore, his mentorship with the batch of youth players coming through at Rearcross is worth as much, if not more, than his contribution on the pitch.
Clodiagh Rangers 2-1 Grange United (AET)
Grange United’s run in the cups was concluded by an extra-time defeat to Clodiagh Rangers in Drombane on Sunday.
John O’Meara put Rangers in front on the hour mark but Phil Tynan replied for the Laois side with ten minutes remaining to force extra time. Oisin Treacy netted the only goal of the additional twenty minutes.
Grange travelled light on the day and were without some key players. Despite the loss, positives can be taken from the youthful nature of their line-up, who all put in a huge effort to take the game to extra time, and were unlucky not to come away with more from the game after missing some gilt-edged chances.
Evan Carey, Timmy Guidera, Cillian O'Riordan, and Phil Tynan all impressed for the visitors, whilst Adrian Cooke made a number of key stops for the hosts.
Ryan Byrne was the visitors’ best performer on the day, but young Clodiagh winger Hugh Purcell was the standout player by some distance.
Clodiagh are away to the winners of Ballymackey ‘A’ and Moneygall ‘A’ in the semi-finals.
Elsewhere, in the last remaining third round game, BT Harps’ expectedly accounted for Rearcross ‘B’ 6-1 to set up a quarter final against Cloughjordan.
Premier Division Ricky Fogarty Cup
A goal from a free-kick four minutes from time, and another in extra time, were the difference as Ballymackey edged out Ardcroney in the Ricky Fogarty Cup on Sunday.
The hard-fought victory over the dogged hosts sees George Haverty and Damien Bentley’s side through to the semi-finals, where an away tie against Arra Rovers awaits.
Ballymackey took an early lead through Cathal Conneally; the winger poking through the legs of the onrushing Kevin Shinners after being played through by Aidan White. Ardcroney replied shortly after with Alan D’Arcy nodding in a Matthew Moyles free kick from close range.
Ballymackey goalkeeper Brendan Hayes was sent off in both previous encounters on this ground earlier in the season, and on Sunday referee Tommy Murphy gave him his marching orders midway through the first half. It was double jeopardy for the visitors, as the off-the-ball incident occurred inside the box, so the hosts were awarded a penalty. Ardcroney’s Ronan Clifford was shown a second yellow card in the aftermath also, so both sides were down to ten.
Jack Daly dispatched the penalty to the net past stand-in keeper Cormac Doheny, and Ardcroney now had a 2-1 lead to protect. The hosts proceeded to retreat back as the game progressed, with Paul Molloy their only real outlet for a counter attacking threat.
The game was played almost exclusively in Ardcroney’s territory in the second half, and the pressure eventually told with only six minutes remaining as Eamonn White scored a direct free kick of the highest quality. Kevin Shinners in goal was left guessing which White brother would hit the 30-yard dead ball, but it was the younger of the two that went keeper’s side, expertly bouncing his stinging shot just before the goal. The powerful strike fired up off the ground and went in off the post with a loud ding.
Jack Daly tried his luck direct from the restart, but he could not reproduce Ray Cordial’s heroics from last season, only finding the crossbar of Doheny’s goal with his cheeky effort from the halfway line.
The pattern of the game continued in extra time and ended with the same result. Ardcroney had one half-chance from a set-piece, and Eamonn White went close after jinking his way into the area. However, it was another free kick that sealed the tie. It came from an almost identical free kick, this time 25 yards from goal. Again, left footed Aidan White and right footed Eamonn White stood over the dead ball, but this time it was the older brother who let fly. The Ardcroney wall parted like the red sea, and the resulting deflection threw Shinnors at the last second. The big keeper got a hand to it, but he could only parry as far as the onrushing young Davy O’Brien, who tapped in unmarked for the winner.
Had Luke Dervan not picked up an injury against BT Harps, and had Matthew Moyles been fully fit, we might not have seen Ardcroney drop quite so deep for such prolonged periods. Ultimately though, Ardcroney will finish the season without silverware. It will be a hard pill to swallow having sat top of the table for so long, but there is no time to dwell on what could have been, as they have to get themselves up for a trip to Cullen Lattin this weekend in the FAI Junior Cup.
This is the first season that early rounds of the prestigious competition will take place at the start of the calendar year, a move which was part of the FAI’s overall plan to align to the soccer season.
First Division Barry Cup
An Adam Fogarty brace and a goal each from Martin Touhy and Jakub Wysocki ensured that Portumna Town came out the right side of a seven-goal thriller in Borrisoleigh, to book their place in the semi-finals.
Jerry Kelly found the net once, whilst James Devaney netted a brace for Borris. However, the home side’s best performer was actually goalkeeper Mikey Kennedy, who made some fantastic saves in what was a very entertaining game. David Greenwood and Martin Touhy were the best for Portumna.
Youths Premier Division
Top performances from Borrisokane’s most valuable players ensured that the premier division trophy did not leave the Lower Ormond town on Saturday as they edged title rivals BT Harps 2-1.
Jack Slevin stole the headlines with a goal in each half, with the quality and importance of each goal only equalled by the outpouring of emotion in Slevin’s celebration each time. Savva Rashkevich, Darragh O’Brien, Joseph Murphy and skipper Ryan Donnelly also impressed for Borris in the beautiful sunshine in the pristine Borrisokane community grounds.
BT Harps knew they needed a win to force a title play-off, and they made the perfect start when David Rabbitte finished from inside the area after 27 minutes. However, this was as good as it got for Harps, as they rarely threatened Alan Reid in the Borris goal thereafter.
The big winner on the day was football in North Tipperary. One thing is for sure; the future is bright for both BT Harps and Borrisokane.
It comes as no surprise that the brilliant Harps academy is producing talent to sustain their senior team, but it is a very exciting prospect to think of these Borrisokane youngsters being the driving force of bringing the glory days back to Borrisokane. When the likes of Gordon Harding competed at the top of the men’s premier division.
With that said, these young men will be watching the Borrisokane men’s team closely this Sunday, as will Grange United. A point away to Borrisoleigh would be enough to secure premier division football in Borrisokane next season, while only a loss to Borrisoleigh would force a promotion play-off with Grange United.