Castletown Celtic 3
Clonakilty Soccer Club 4
GER McCARTHY REPORTS
CLONAKILTY Soccer Club will face Togher Celtic in the Gareth O’Driscoll Premier Division Cup final following the sternest of tests in Castletownkenneigh on Monday evening.
Four-nil up and seemingly cruising to another cup decider, Clonakilty were fortunate to emerge with a victory from this entertaining seven-goal encounter.
When all seemed lost, Castletown Celtic somehow hauled themselves back into the semi-final. Yet, having moved to within a goal of their in-form opponents, Celtic were unable to net a late equaliser and force extra-time. It wasn’t for the want of trying, as Gearoid O’Donovan, Jack O’Callaghan, Rory O’Sullivan and Oisin O’Leary excelled for the hosts.
Clonakilty will be relieved to reach another cup final in a season that could yet yield an additional three trophies. The Beamish Cup is already secured with Premier Division league, Parkway Hotel-Maybury Coaches Cup and Premier Division Cup titles still up for grabs.
There is huge room for improvement however, and a similar performance will not be enough to overcome Togher in the Premier Division Cup decider. Paul Daly, Ben McCarthy Shields, Alan Ward and James Calnan were the top performers for John Leahy and Lorne Edmead’s side.
Ahead of kick-off, Celtic were eager to build on a positive campaign that had the newly-promoted club sitting third in the Premier Division standings. Because of a lack of competitive games however, Castletown had completed a paltry three fixtures since December 15th, meaning the hosts lacked match sharpness.
As for their opponents, the previous weekend’s heroics in retaining the Beamish Cup were quickly put to good use as the visitors set a brisk tempo.
Despite changes to their starting 11, Clonakilty opened the scoring when Chris Collins set up Jack Calnan for a confident finish after five minutes.
Creditably, Celtic pressed forward from the restart and two Jack O’Callaghan corners had the visiting defence scrambling to clear. Both goalkeepers, Oisin O’Leary and Ben McCarthy Shields, acquitted themselves well during a frantic spell midway through the opening half.
Chris Collins and Jack O’Callaghan went close at either end before the Premier Division champions stamped their authority on proceedings.
A devastating three-minute spell delivered three unanswered goals, beginning with Chris Collins getting his name on the scoresheet. Alan Ward headed home a corner before Jack O’Crowley netted 60 seconds later to make it 4-0.
Despite the score, Castletown dug deep and mustered a response with Darren Coughlan pulling one back after 33 minutes. The home side finished the half strongly. Barry O’Mahony saw a goal-bound effort hacked away and Ben McCarthy Shields had to produce two excellent saves in quick succession.
Failing to heed those warnings, a lethargic Clonakilty were further punished when Jack O’Callaghan forced Reuben Henry to divert the ball into his own net in the 55th minute. Next, Jack O’Callaghan’s looping header missed the target by centimetres as Celtic continued their fightback.
It took an Alan Murphy snapshot that grazed Castletown’s crossbar to bring the visitors back to life. Chris Collins brought the best out of Oisin O’Leary minutes later, but sloppy passing continued to blight the visitors’ attempts to put the semi-final to bed.
Seizing on their opponent’s growing frustrations, Castletown defended solidly and made it 4-3 with 18 minutes to go. Jack O’Callaghan was rewarded for an all-action display with a well taken goal to set up a cracking finish.
Chris Collins narrowly missed from a free kick and Celtic’s Sean Hennessy curled an effort past an upright as play became stretched.
Both teams had penalty claims turned away in the dying embers but it was the visitors who held on to win 4-3 and qualify for yet another cup final.
Castletown Celtic: Oisin O’Leary, Darren Coughlan, Cian Buttimer, Sean Hennessy, Niall O’Halloran, Jack O’Callaghan (captain), Rory O’Sullivan, David Curtin, Shane Corcoran, Barry O’Mahony, Gearoid O’Donovan.
Subs: Tiernan O’Driscoll, Stephen Moore, Finbarr Lordan, Finbarr Dromey.
Clonakilty Soccer Club: Ben McCarthy Shields, Cal O’Mahony, Rueben Henry (captain), Jack O’Crowley, James Calnan, Chris Collins, Ethan Draper, Paul Daly, Alan Ward, Alan Murphy, James Horan.
Subs: Mark Shorten, Rob Downey, Joe Edmead, Shane Buttimer, Darren Nolan, Eoin Hartnett, Iain O’Driscoll.
Referee: Tadhg O'Sullivan.
