*Captain Eoin Hayes is congratulated at the final whistle. Photograph: Joe Buckley
NEWMARKET CELTIC dethroned Fairview Rangers as Munster Junior Cup final champions and sealed their spot in the final of the provincial competition.
Newmarket Celtic 1
Fairview Rangers AFC 0
Venue: Jackman Park, Limerick
For the first time in their history, Celtic will contest the finals of the FAI and Munster Junior Cup in the one season, a remarkable feat for the Clare club.
Such is the run that they are on that they haven’t been mentioned within the Chambers of Clare County Council. Cllr Pat McMahon (FF) who is also President of the club, concluded the April meeting of the local authority by praising Newmarket Celtic for their run to date and the Mayor of Clare, Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) rowed in behind his sentiments, insisting the whole county was behind them in their pursuit for national and provincial honours.
It’s certainly true as Clare senior football manager, Colm Collins referenced their campaign, the season they’ve been having and the opportunity in their grasp when speaking to The Clare Echo recently.
Surviving their toughest test of the season in 17 degrees heat is certainly going to stand to Celtic. Jackman Park appeared to be in fine condition, they’ll hope that it can become a winning venue for them as it’s down to host the FAI Junior Cup final where they will face St Michael’s. Indeed it was St Michael’s who defeated when they last reached the final of the Munster Junior Cup back in 2016.
Gearoid O’Brien’s goal on seventy seven minutes proved to be the difference in edging Celtic past Fairview Rangers in what certainly was their stiffest encounter. The Kilrush man had a powerful header when he connected with David McCarthy’s precision corner.
Extra time seemed the most likely outcome prior to O’Brien’s goal. The sides were very evenly matched with Fairview applying the bulk of the pressure but crucially failed to put the ball past Shane Cusack.
Cusack may not have been too busy when Newmarket defeated Ballynanty in the FAI semi-final but he was called upon on plenty of occasions and keeping the clean-sheet under such pressure is a clear indicator of his ability.
His best save came on seventeen minutes when cat-like reflexes were needed to stop Jason Cross’ header from getting over the goal-line, the danger was averted through a swift Harvey Cullinan clearance.
Early shouts for a penalty on nine minutes were ignored by referee Anthony Morrison after Celtic full-back David O’Grady had a minor collision with Conor Coughlan. On the other wing, Darragh Rainsford was asking questions of left-full Conor McDaid but the Ennis native once again rose to the occasion.
With thirty five minutes played, Cusack did well again to stop and control a free kick from centre-half Jaile Dillon. He turned provider for their best opportunity of the opening half with a fantastic delivery to Darragh Leahy but the striker slightly rushed his shot and subsequently didn’t get the desired outcome.
Josh McCarthy between the posts for Fairview didn’t have to showcase his shot-stopping ability in the opening but rather his aerial skills. He did well to catch three different looping deliveries in the opening half from McDaid, O’Brien and Jack Kelly.
Following a stop-start opening half, Celtic were the happier of the sides at the interval, mainly that they hadn’t conceded given the pressure they dealt with but also full in the knowledge that they had yet to hit their stride.
This was evident on the restart as it was Paddy Purcell’s men who were the better side in the second half. Leahy came close to breaking the deadlock in their first attack while McDaid again stepped up, this time clearing a Conor Ellis cross.
Captain Eoin Hayes did well to win a corner with little support on fifty five minutes, the resulting kick from David McCarthy hit the head of Ethan Fitzgerald but went narrowly wide. McCarthy again found his target with the next corner but power was lacking in Harvey Cullinan’s header, thus it didn’t threaten Josh McCarthy.
Striking the hour mark, Conor Coughlan had a glorious opportunity to put Fairview in front following a well-worked move but he rushed his effort. Coughlan helped to tee up Conor Ellis in their next attack but his shot just sailed over, to the relief of the travelling Celtic contingent.
A sense of shock swept over the venue when the deadlock was finally broken when O’Brien’s powerful header left Josh McCarthy with no chance, the consistently accurate corners from David McCarthy finally paid off for Celtic.
At this juncture, Fairview began to make changes, they altered their formation to become more attacking orientated with centre-half Jason Cross withdrawn as a result. They left it too late and will be left to rue their inability to hit the back of the net when opportunities presented themselves in the first half.
Mike Costelloe’s side would certainly have fancied their chances of winning the Munster Junior Cup for the seventh time but failed to make their pressure count, without question they dominated the opening half but had no goal to show for it. Darragh Rainsford, Shane Duggan and Stephen Bradley impressed for the Limerick outfit.
They’ve gone to Dublin and Waterford and returned to Newmarket-on-Fergus with victorious but of the challenges faced by Newmarket Celtic this season, the test from Fairview was the most strenuous. They lost wingers Dean Hegarty (knee) and Aaron Rudd (hamstring) to injuries but kept focused on the task at hand with Gearoid O’Brien and Eunan Doherty not weakening the cause in any iota when introduced.
Losing this game could have had big implications, it would have derailed momentum and put a small doubt in their minds but instead they are now in a much stronger position having eliminated the reigning provincial champions, in fact it serves as the best possible preparation for their tilt at national honours in a fortnight’s time.
Star performers on this day included Shane Cusack between the posts, not alone is he stopping the shots but he’s also the catalyst for many attacks and showing immense leadership. Centre-half Harvey Cullinan was immense once again, whether it was clearing his lines, showing composure under pressure and winning frees, he again was in a league of his own.
Conor McDaid and Darragh Leahy together at different sides of the field were united in how selfless they were for the cause and continued to throw their bodies on the line. David McCarthy’s precision and ball-playing ability was also central to the result.
Newmarket Celtic: Shane Cusack, David O’Grady, Ethan Fitzgerald, Harvey Cullinan, Conor McDaid; Jack Kelly, Dean Hegarty, David McCarthy, Aaron Rudd; Eoin Hayes, Darragh Leahy.
Subs: Gearoid O’Brien for Hegarty (5) (inj),Eunan Doherty for Rudd (67) (inj), Ronan McCormack for McCarthy (80), Stephen Kelly for Kelly (85)
Fairview: Josh McCarthy; Wayne Colbert, Jaile Dillon, James Cross, Scott Kirwan, Stephen Bradley, Shane Duggan; Darragh Rainsford, Jeffrey Judge, Conor Coughlan, Conor Ellis.
Subs: Sean Oyoby for Kirwin (79), John Mullane for Cross (87).
Referee: Anthony Morrison. Linesmen: Mark Griffin, Michael Chapman
