Nenagh and Newport progress in Munster Junior Cup
Nenagh AFC made the journey on Sunday to Limerick to take on Shelbourne in a tricky Munster Junior Cup first round tie and after a tough game grinded out a 2-0 win.
From the start, the home side took the game to Nenagh and in the first five minutes could’ve taken the lead but Aaron Savage dived low to make a great save.
With 30 minutes gone, Nenagh settled into the game and should’ve taken the lead twice when Ciaran O'Reilly missed from close range after good build up play and then Alex Gardas missed a header after a great set piece delivery by O'Reilly. With half time approaching, Shels nearly made the breakthrough but Eoin Coffey was on hand to make a superb tackle to deny a certain goal after a low cross to the back post.
In the second half, Nenagh again were slow to settle and Aaron Savage again had to make a good save.
However, on 62 minutes, Nenagh made the breakthrough when Ciaran O'Reilly played a great through ball to Jordan Lewis who kept his composure and fired low past the advancing keeper.
To Shels credit, they responded well and had the Nenagh defence of McKenna, Coonan, McGee, Coffey & Dunne had to make vital blocks and interceptions plus Aaron Savage again had to produce some good saves to make sure our lead remained.
In the closing stages and with Shels pushing forward in droves, Nenagh finally put the game to bed when Aaron Savage picked a ball out of the sky, released to Eoin Coffey and he found Nathan Kelly who played a great ball through to Ciaran O'Reilly who raced through one-on-one with the keeper and unselfishly passed to Alan Sheahan who fired to the net and make it 2-0.
Nenagh advanced to round 2 where another potentially tricky tie awaits with a trip to play Kilfrush.
Newport Town were away to Dromore Celtic in the Munster Junior Cup on Sunday and emerged 6-0 winners. Brian O'Sullivan bagged a hat-trick with Elliot Slattery, Dave Kennedy, and Sean Ryan also on target.
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