Clare District Soccer League 0
Venue: Frank Healy Park, Doora
This time round, Clare were far more organised than their mid October trip to Jackman Park last year, there was no car breakdowns that delayed the arrivals of players but home advantage didn’t count for much as Limerick left Doora this time round again with three points in the bag.
Harvey Cullinan, Jack Kelly and Nathan Boaventura all of Newmarket Celtic were the only survivors from the side which featured last October to the team which started in Thursday’s loss to Limerick while it was a completely new starting eleven for the winners.
Limerick started with intent and Shane Cusack had to make three excellent saves inside the first opening five minutes of the contest, a clear sign of the pressure Clare’s defence were put under from the outset.
First winger Leon Daly forced a save out of Cusack in the opening minute before he denied Joel Coustrain and then a Conor Coughlan effort was blocked by captain Conor Mullen.
As the pressure mounted, Cusack produced an outstanding effort to deny Vinny Ryan with Clare successfully weathering the early Limerick storming attack.
With twelve minutes on the clock, Clare had their best scoring chance of the day. Conor Mullen’s long throw fell to Boaventura, he faked a shot which allowed Scott Kirkland to pull the trigger but the Sixmilebridge midfielder’s shot was kept out of the net by Stephen McNamara.
Back to back chances then arrived for Limerick in quick succession, Mullen blocked a shot from Leon Daly before Cusack stepped up to stop a Josh Toomey effort from the edge of the box after Coustrain crossed the ball back to him.
Clare were not successful in shouting for a penalty on twenty five minutes after Eoin Hayes went to ground, the hosts then spurned a great chance on the half hour mark with Boaventura failing to capitalise.
Opportunities from set pieces arose for both sides but by the sounding of the half time whistle, the neighbours remained deadlocked.
While Clare did increase their amount of scoring chances in the second half, none of them really threatened Stephen McNamara in the Limerick net. Mullen headed wide from a Dean Hegarty free kick before Hegarty himself had an effort comfortably stopped on fifty four minutes.
Eoin Hayes played an excellent ball through to Boaventura but he again coughed up on the chance as did Jack O’Halloran when played through by Kirkland moments later.
As the first name in the book for a yellow card in the second half, Jamie Roche was substituted by Clare’s management on sixty three minutes which forced an alteration from their three at the back formation and this coincided with Donie Garrihy’s side creating less chances for the remainder of the tie.
On seventy four minutes, the deadlock was finally broken but it was Limerick that claimed the goal. It was certainly a scrappy finish as Tom Kidd got the ball over the line in a goalmouth scramble after Vinny Ryan and Coulstrain helped to move the ball across goal. Clare’s defence called for an offside but their shouts fell on deaf ears.
Michael Rock and his officials played five minutes of additional time which gave Clare plenty of time to try force an equaliser. They had the potential of a glorious chance on eighty nine minutes but as Aaron Rudd moved into the box with the ball at his feet, he slipped which allowed Limerick to clear the danger and from here they held on for a fully merited victory.
There was a lack of familiarity among the Clare side in how they played together which comes as no surprise given that their first get-together as a squad was on Monday. This was particularly evident at the beginning of the game which was also a very dominant spell from Limerick. Reactions in the middle of the field were slow on Clare’s behalf and there was a sense of urgency missing further up the field to get onto the ball and act as support runners for striker Eoin Hayes.
When playing with a back three, Clare did well with the trio of Conor Mullen, Harvey Cullinan and Jamie Roche impressing. Behind them, Shane Cusack was excellent and without him, it would have been a much bigger win for Limerick. Clare will need a stronger midfield if they are to be one of the two teams emerging from the group.
Limerick District League: Stephen McNamara; Adam O’Regan, Conor Carew, Ciaran Jennings, Joey Rushe; Tom Kidd; Josh Toomey; Leon Daly, Conor Coughlan; Joel Coustrain; Vinny Ryan.
Subs: Willie Armshaw for Daly (67), Sean Ezekemagha for Nolan (85).
Clare: Shane Cusack (Newmarket Celtic); Jamie Roche (Avenue Utd), Conor Mullen (Avenue Utd), Harvey Cullinan (Newmarket Celtic); Jack Kelly (Newmarket Celtic); Jack O’Halloran (Bridge Utd), Scott Kirkland (Bridge Utd), Dean Hegarty (Newmarket Celtic), Brian O’Connor (Newmarket Celtic); Nathan Boaventura (Newmarket Celtic), Eoin Hayes (Newmarket Celtic).
Subs: Liam Buckley (Bridge Utd) for Roche (63), Aaron Rudd (Newmarket Celtic) for Boaventura (71), Tadhg Noonan (Newmarket Celtic) for O’Connor (79), Cian McDonough (Newmarket Celtic) for Kelly (79), Charlie Morrison (Shannon Town Utd) for O’Halloran (85).
Referee: Michael Rock
