*Conor Finnucane is congratulated following his goal by Aidan Moloney and Aaron Rudd. Photograph: Joe Buckley
CLARE have qualified for the Munster region semi-finals of the Oscar Traynor after overcoming Kerry for the second year running, this time following extra time.
Clare 2
Kerry 1
Venue: Frank Healy Park, Doora
A shaky start which saw Clare reduced to ten men with eleven minutes played was overcome as the hosts prevailed in a contest of two evenly matched sides.
Preparation for Clare’s involvement in this year’s competition has been disjointed to say the least. Denis Hynes was appointed as manager ten days before their opening game in the competition. The Ennistymon man was part of Donie Garrihy’s management for the past two seasons with Donie resigning in July.
So for Clare to claim a win with only two sessions under their belt is an achievement and offers hope that the squad will improve with more collective training and the addition of further personnel. The task will be greater the next day out when they face favourites Limerick District League on the weekend of November 22nd/23rd.
What simply has to improve is the manner in which the Oscar Traynor competition is treated by the FAI and now it seems the CDSL. Failing to appoint a manager for three months for the county position is not good enough, neither is the fact that showers were not working in Frank Healy Park for either the Clare or Kerry players. In order to entice more players to want to represent the county, the standards must be raised, the basics include having showers for players to use.
Those who did answer the call didn’t get to wear the county colours and instead wore Newmarket Celtic’s away jerseys. There is of course a county strip but Kerry opted to wear yellow rather than the green they ordinarily wear in the competition which led to the use of the Celtic jerseys.
Returning to the game itself, Clare took the nod as the better team, they didn’t struggle against Kerry despite being a man down for the bulk of the game.
Ayoub Aguerram was dismissed, eleven minutes into the game. At first, he was shown a yellow card by referee Paudie Hayes who quickly brandished a red card once he saw the extent of blood dripping from centre-half Michael Leane. There was no arguments with the decision, Ayoub came in with a high foot and left his studs up in what was a dangerous tackle, one in which he has not been punished for on occasion at club level with Tulla Utd.
Centre-half Liam Buckley had the best chance of the opening half, he came very close to breaking the deadlock on thirty two minutes but was denied by the post. The industrious Eoghan Thynne managed to create more opportunities before the half was out and even had calls for a penalty which was not given.
Though Kerry were lively on the flanks, they didn’t look like troubling Clare and only had two decent chances in the first half. A cross from Cian Doe on the left flank led to the hesitation in the Banner defence and allowed Josh Bowler get a flick to the ball which goalkeeper Shane Cusack comfortably saved.
More used to lining out at midfield, Conor Finnucane was Clare’s starting striker. In his second Oscar Traynor campaign, the Lissycasey man opened the scoring on forty nine minutes. Aaron Rudd played an excellent cross to the new Avenue Utd signing who controlled the ball and produced a composed finish tucking the ball beyond Stephen Bartlett.
Instead of Clare trying to double their advantage, they sat back and became more complacent allowing Kerry to exert more pressure. This started with Josh Bowler making a tremendous sixty yard run and were it not for a well-timed Cathal Cullinan tackle, he could have equalised four minutes after Kerry fell behind.
Cusack stepped up with a finger-tip save to keep out a header from Pádraic Looney, the resulting corner saw substitute Seán Nagle head over the crossbar on fifty six minutes.
Kerry’s pressure paid off and they were back on level terms with sixty nine minutes played. Matthew Keane got a touch to the incoming free by Cian Doe, just enough of a flick to send the ball beyond Cusack.
Keane doubled his advantage on seventy six minutes but Hayes and his officials ruled it out for offside, Josh Bowler was offside when touching the ball in the direction of the striker. They came close just before this when a Liam Buckley header blocked the ball.
Well-timed tackling saved Clare again in the final quarter, this time Harvey Cullinan’s pressure was enough to distract Bowler who was bearing down on goal.
At the other end, there was less chances but they fell to Cathal Cullinan and Aidan Moloney, neither threatening Bartlett between the posts meaning extra time was required.
With fatigue beginning to set in, Kerry’s discipline waned. They started extra time with eleven men but ended with nine. Pádraic Looney picked up a straight red card on ninety four minutes for a last man tackle on Charlie Morrison while left-back Brendan Falvey was shown two yellow cards in extra time, the first could have been a red when he took Aidan Moloney out and ended his involvement in the game, the second appeared to be for mouthing in additional time of extra time.
(Gallery of photographs by Joe Buckley)
Extra time’s most important arrived two minutes into the second half when substitute Charlie Morrison struck the winning goal. A precision pass from Nathan Boaventura put the Shannon man through on goal and he finished to the net to send Clare into the semi-finals.
Last December, Clare defeated Kerry 6-0 down in Tralee with only four members of the starting team for that tie in from the off for Hynes’ side, the Kerry team also showed wholesale changes from thie game. Kyle Kirby, Eoghan Thynne, Ayoub Aguerram, Aidan Moloney and Adam Kilker all made their Oscar Traynor debuts for Clare.
Offensively, Clare will need to pack a bigger punch if they’re to overcome Limerick District League in a fortnight. At the back, Clare were solid with Shane Cusack and Harvey Cullinan bringing invaluable experience while youthfull full-backs Kyle Kirby and Cathal Cullinan were lively. Conor Finnucane and Eoghan Thynne both got through an amount of work for the winners.
Clare:
1: Shane Cusack (Newmarket Celtic);
2: Kyle Kirby (Bridge Utd)
5: Liam Buckey (Bridge Utd)
4: Harvey Cullinan (Newmarket Celtic)
3: Cathal Cullinan (Newmarket Celtic)
6: Scott Kirkland (Bridge Utd)
8: Eoghan Thynne (Avenue Utd)
7: Aaron Rudd (Newmarket Celtic)
10: Ayoub Aguerram (Tulla Utd
11: Aidan Moloney (Bridge Utd)
9: Conor Finnucane (Avenue Utd)
Subs:
15: Adam Kilker (Tulla Utd) for Rudd (63),
12: Charlie Morrison (Shannon Town Utd) for Finnucane (63)
13: Nathan Boaventura (Newmarket Celtic) for Moloney (97) (inj)
Kerry:
1: Stephen Bartlett
2: Chris O’Leary
4: Pádraic Looney
5: Micheal Leane
3: Brendan Falvey
6: Kieran O’Connor
8: Eamonn Nolan
7: Blake Bolster
11: Cian Doe
9: Josh Bowler
10: Matthew Keane
Subs:
15: Seán Nagle for Nolan (53)
12: Seán Lovett for Bolster (63)
13: Kalvin O’Sullivan for Doe (86)
Referee: Paudie Hayes
