*Avenue Utd’s Eoghan Thynne. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
AVENUE UTD have taken a giant step towards retaining the Maloney Hardware Premier Division title.
Avenue Utd 7
Inch Crusaders 0
Venue: Roslevan
It was a one-sided contest as Avenue Utd extended their advantage at the top of the Premier Division when comfortably overcoming a depleted Inch Crusaders who greatly missed the presence of their key men Conor Finnucane and Bradley Higgins.
Crusaders were under pressure from the outset with the strike partnership of Elias Kunz and Owen Hadden pressing early down the left. The visitors afforded Avenue far too much possession throughout the match and it wasn’t long before the home side had their first goal of the evening.
A bullet header from Kunz after a well worked corner routine was the first of many by the home side. Avenue continued to run rings around Inch for the first forty-five minutes, the visitors could only field eleven players and a single substitute.
As a testament to this, Avenue players continually shouted “time” each time they won the ball, evidence of the extreme lack of pressure applied by Inch. A tap in from captain Dylan Casey had the 2024 double winners 2-0 up inside ten minutes.
Inch Crusaders lacked pace, especially in midfield and hardly left their own half in the first quarter. The away side made some half-hearted runs into the opposition half at the twenty minute mark but they yielded no return.
Midfielder Eoghan Thynne slotted another past Luke McMahon seven minutes later as the home side continued to entertain the few spectators present.
3-0 would have been enough to see the Ennis outfit go three points clear at the top but Avenue were ruthless in attack, scoring on a further two occasions in the first half.
Centre back Sean O’Callaghan rose highest to head the ball into the Inch net after thirty-seven minutes with Avenue making great use of set pieces throughout the game. Kunz scored a second just before half time to put the result beyond doubt.
David Russell and his management shuffled their team at half time, bringing on four substitutes and even changing their keeper late on. Inch again made a poor showing in the second half as Avenue were essentially left to play however they wanted.
The visitors registered a single shot on target for the entire match as they continued to be hounded by Avenue for possession. Luke McMahon did well to save a header and free kick in the space of two minutes but was left to pick the ball out of his own net a further two times that evening.
Avenue striker Owen Hadden scored with an excellent outside the box effort to add to Inch’s misery in the fifty-eighth minute. Crusader’s final insult would come from a soft penalty as Gary Roche was brought down in the box after sixty-seven minutes. Roche converted easily from the spot with a smooth finish to the bottom right corner.
With the score now becoming farcical and having used their only substitute in the first half, Inch Crusaders moved to abandon the game. Referee Shane Hayes blew the final whistle at only seventy-four minutes. Avenue now sit top of the Premier Division at 42 points, although Bridge United are only three points behind.
Avenue Utd: Luke Woodrow, Cullen McCabe, Mikey Dinan, Sean O’Callaghan, Dylan Casey, Eoghan Thynne, Jamie Roche, Jack Dunleavy, Elias Kunz, Owen Hadden, Jack Ryan.
Subs: Gary Roche for Kunz (HT), Conor Mullen for O’Callaghan (HT), Philip Talty for J Roche (HT), G Quinn for Thynne (55), Jakub Ruminowicz for Woodrow.
Inch Crusaders: Luke McMahon, Padraig Talty, Martin Moran, John Hassett, Colin Carmody, Ben Wragg, Diarmuid Ó Ceallaigh, Cathal Nolan, Sean Nolan, Michael Hickey, Noel Barry.
Subs: Tommy Barry for N Barry (32).
Referee: Shane Hayes
