*Nnabuike Nneji was among the scorers for Avenue Utd. Photograph: Joe Buckley
AVENUE UTD ended Tulla’s chances of winning a first Premier Division title while also keeping themselves at the top of the table.
Avenue Utd 4
Tulla Utd 2
Venue: The Cragg, Tulla
It was a tight affair in patches but Avenue Utd were the stronger outfit over the course of the entire ninety minutes to prevail and keep their title hopes on track. In the process, they put Tulla Utd out of the race.
Of the two sides, Avenue were more composed on the ball, Tulla played some nice football especially from midfield up but at the back they panicked on the ball and focused on just getting rid rather than finding a target.
Tulla started the second half well and deservedly got back on level terms but their concentration levels dipped and they paid the price with Avenue quickly regaining the lead and staying in front for the remainder of the tie.
There was no sign of fatigue from Tulla following their memorable Clare Cup semi-final win over Bridge Utd on Saturday, they started well and had Avenue panicking after a free from Jashar Aliu from distance hit off the crossbar while in the next move of play, a long-throw from Dara Ryan was narrowly headed over the crossbar by Daragh Corry.
Any such Avenue nerves quickly evaporated when they took the lead on their first attack. Steven McGann with a wonderful piece of skill, back-heeled the ball to Mark Roche, he hit the ball into the danger area, it broke to Eoghan Thynne and his shot took a deflection off Ayoub Aguerram to go beyond Simon Kilker and into the back of the net on five minutes.
Jakub Ruminowicz had to be on alert, first parrying a Tulla cross and then catching their next effort as they fought to get an equaliser. The netminder did well to intercept a cross-field pass from Aliu to Éanna Culloo and then saved an effort from Dan Withycombe, all of these involvements coming within a period of five minutes.
To aid Tulla’s confidence, Avenue lost star man McGann to injury on seventeen minutes, the attacking midfielder was forced off with a suspected metatarsal injury and was in obvious discomfort for a few minutes before making the call to bow out.
Mark Roche had two chances to double their advantage while Elias Kunz got on the end of a corner but headed over the crossbar.
There were penalty shouts at either hand in the opening half, Tulla argued that Jamie Roche handled the ball on twelve minutes while Avenue appealed for Eoghan Thynne to be given a spot kick after he went to the ground on twenty eight minutes. Thynne’s deflection remained the difference when the sides retreaed for the half-time break.
Referee Paudie Hayes was kept busy on the restart, tensions were beginning to rise as is to be expected with a game where the loser was effectively out of the race for league honours. Over the course of ninety minutes, Avenue had four players booked with three Tulla yellow cards issued while off the field Avenue substitute Mikey Dinan and Tulla manager Mike Moloney were booked by the match official.
Indeed Tulla’s equaliser came after Avenue conceded a free, the long-range delivery saw Ruminowicz commit a mistake by leaving his line and misjudge where the ball was landing allowing the experienced Daragh Corry to head the ball into a net where the goalkeeper was nowhere to be found on sixty one minutes.
Immediately, Avenue restored their lead. Fiachra Ryan had done well to get back with Elias Kunz and block his first shot but failed to clear his lines which paved the way for the talented striker to slot beyond Kilker and make it 2-1 which was a suckerpunch to Tulla.
Nnabuike Nneji netted his first goal since November and it was worth the wait, to extend Avenue’s lead. He produced an excellent volley on his left foot after Dylan Casey’s corner fell towards the back post and the powerful midfielder was relieved to end his scoring drought.
Roche brothers, Jamie and Mark combined on the left flank to tee up Kunz for his second and avenue’s fourth on seventy four minutes to put Avenue in a comfortable position.
They had less comfort as the game reached additional time as Tulla’s efforts to pull a goal back paid off, substitute Jack McSweeney scored a fine goal to make the scoreline more respectable and also more realistic of the tie that it was.
Avenue are now in the driving seat for league honours and will take a boost in the manner in which they recovered from shaky spells in the game to hold off Tulla. The majority of teams will struggle to deal with them when they use the ball calmly and effectively while they are also showing glimpses of the clinical elements they had in abundance prior to Christmas. Jack Ryan, Elias Kunz, Jack Dunleavy, Nnabuike Nneji and Mark Roche stood out for David Russell’s side.
Focus is now entirely on a first Clare Cup final appearance for Tulla Utd who will be disappointed to be out of the shake-up for league honours. They were shaky at the back which strong teams like Avenue will always punish. The concession of an avoidable goal early on was also detrimental to their cause. Daragh Corry, Jashar Aliu, Seán Withycombe and Éanna Culloo impressed for the East Clare side.
Avenue Utd: Jakub Ruminowicz; Cullen McCabe, Conor Mullen, Dylan Casey, Jamie Roche; Nnabuike Nneji, Eoghan Thynne; Jack Ryan, Steven McGann, Mark Roche, Elias Kunz.
Subs: Jack Dunleavy for McGann (17) (inj), Sean O’Callaghan for Mullen (75), Owen Hadden for M Roche (76), Philip Talty for Kunz (83),
Tulla Utd: Simon Kilker; Fiachra Ryan, Diarmuid Molloy, Dara Ryan, Adam McNamara; Jashar Aliu, Ayoub Aguerram, Éanna Culloo, Seán Withycombe, Dan Withycombe, Daragh Corry.
Subs: Jack McSweeney for S Withycombe (67), Diarmuid Whelan for F Ryan (84), C McNamara for Corry (84), R McMahon for Aliu (84), Cormac Hale for Culloo (86)
Referee: Paudie Hayes
