*Liam Buckley in possession.
BRIDGE UTD have set up a final day showdown in the Maloney Hardware Premier Division after overturning Tulla Utd with ease.
Bridge Utd 6
Tulla Utd 0
Venue: Shannon Rd, Sixmilebridge
It all comes down to Sunday to determine where the honours will go in this season’s Clare soccer top flight with Bridge Utd producing a fine display on Wednesday evening to keep themselves in contention for glory.
They fired some stunning goals on their way to depriving Tulla Utd of a potential third place finish.
Three goals in either half had Mark Culbert’s side in the driving seat and on their way to a mouth-watering meeting with Avenue Utd on Sunday morning in Roslevan.
Their finishes were also impressive as they blitzed Tulla Utd who have been slow to reveal their best hand since qualifying for the Clare Cup final.
This was a powerful blitz but they know they’ll need to provide a much stronger challenge to try take down a fancied Avenue in Roslevan.
A lot went right for the winners and their performance included some well-taken goals over the course of ninety minutes.
With twenty five minutes played, the deadlock was broken and comparisons between Simon Kilker and David Seaman were made regarding the former England goalkeeper’s 2002 World Cup blunder against Brazil, this time it wasn’t Ronaldinho to score but rather Scott Kirkland.
Although it was Bridge Utd that were dominating matters, Tulla were only a goal adrift with two minutes of normal time remaining in the opening half. However, by the stage the half-time whistle sounded they trailed by three and the outcome of the game was inevitable.
Witness Odirile doubled their advantage on forty three minutes. A throw from Mikey Guerin was headed clear from the box but Scott Kirkland made a vital header regaining possession and knocking the ball towards Filip Mostowy who made an excellent cross that was well finished by Witness.
Possession was cheaply given away by the visitors four minutes later and they were punished with a fine volley by Ger Myles giving Bridge that commanding three goal advantage at the interval.
John Mulready coughed up a penalty when he bundled Jashar Aliu down in the box but he redeemed himself with an impressive save to deny Aliu and Tulla from getting on the scoresheet.
In another four minute blitz, Bridge struck for two more goals. First, substitute Leon Kelly reacted to a breaking ball from a free to find the net and Odirile bagged his second goal on sixty two minutes when producing a wonderful flick to finish a Scott Kirkland corner to the net.
Dominic Griffin completed their scoring when firing to the top right corner of the net on eight five minutes to seal a win which could only be described as one that sends a statement that the title race is not decided yet.
Bridge Utd: John Mulready; Aidan Moloney, Liam Buckley, Liam Flynn, Brian Monaghan; Scott Kirkland, Mikey Guerin, Jack O’Halloran, Witness Odirile, Filip Mostowy, Ger Myles.
Subs: Leon Kelly for Moloney (HT), Brian Corry for Myles (62), Dominic Griffin for Mostowy (62), Eric Carr for Guerin (62), Alan Mulready for Buckley (70).
Tulla Utd: Simon Kilker; Adam McNamara, Diarmuid Molloy, Dara Ryan, Glen McNamara; Adam Kilker, Eoin Hassett, Jashar Aliu, Callum Casey, James Wallace, Raymond Bane.
Subs: Jack McSweeney for A Kilker (55), R McMahon for A McNamara (61), Éanna Culloo for Casey (73).
Referee: Shane Hayes
Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Lifford FC gave their chances of a survival another big boost when recording a 5-0 win over Kilkishen Celtic. Shannon Town defeated Inch Crusaders 3-0.
