*Conor Mullen. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
AVENUE UTD captain Conor Mullen is ruled out with injury for Saturday’s Ennis Carpets Clare Cup final as is Paddy O’Malley.
A two-time Oscar Traynor winner with Clare, Mullen will miss out on Avenue’s attempts to win a fourteenth Clare Cup title. Left winger Paddy O’Malley who returned to the club this season is also ruled out with injury as the club strives to finish the season on a high.
Ennis native O’Malley who won a Munster Junior Cup with Pike Rovers in 2018 sustained a serious hamstring injury in Avenue’s second last game of the Premier Division at the beginning of May when their 1-1 draw with Bridge Utd ended the chances of the Sixmilebridge side winning the league and gifted the Premier Division to Newmarket Celtic.
Paddy was back in the Avenue ranks earlier this year having returned from Australia and lined out with both the club’s A and B team from the end of March. His precision deliveries made him a valuable addition but his progress was stalled by the hamstring tear which forced the thirty year old to be carried off the field in Sixmilebridge.
Mullen has been sidelined for longer. He sustained the knee injury in Avenue’s 2-1 extra time win over Tulla Utd in the quarter-finals of the Ennis Carpets Clare Cup at the end of April. The captain is one of the vocal leaders of the Avenue side and the presence of the thirty three year old will be greatly missed from the heart of their defence.
Right back Gary O’Connell is also ruled out with injury while there are doubts over the fitness of Dylan Casey and Ryan Corcoran.
Elias Kunz has left the Avenue Utd squad and won’t be available for selection, the striker picked up an injury in his only outing for the club this season and his loss has weakened their attacking options.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Avenue Utd manager, Adrian Walsh remarked, “We’re the walking wounded and I suppose Newmarket are too as it is the end of the season. We have Conor Mullen out, Paddy O’Malley both out for the season, massive losses. Other than that we have a few niggles but we should be fairly okay, we came through fairly unscathed from the semi-final, a couple of dead legs and muscle injuries but we should be okay”.
