*John Mulready clears his lines.
LIMERICK proved superior for a youthful Clare in the opening round of Group A in the Oscar Traynor.
Limerick District League 2
Clare District Soccer League 1
Venue: Jackman Park, Limerick
Although Limerick were the better and more experienced of the two sides, Clare were almost able to salvage a draw.
Elias Kunz pulled a consolation goal back for Clare on ninety one minutes, taking his shot well after substitute Joe Hanrahan played an excellent ball through to the striker.
Winger Leon Daly came close to issuing the perfect response when Limerick worked the ball up the field but from John Mulready’s kickout Clare were able to create a scoring opportunity but were fouled.
Nathan Boaventura was handed the responsibility of taking the free from outside the box with an angle to the right but instead of putting the ball into the danger area he went for glory and missed the target, the shot going over Josh McCarthy’s cross bar and with that a chance of Clare rescuing a draw vanished.
Of the sixteen Clare players to feature over the course of the game, just goalkeeper John Mulready had previously lined out in the Oscar Traynor competition.
Their inexperience was not aided by the late arrival to the game of Avenue trio Elias Kunz, Nnabuike Nneji and Witness Odirile who experienced car trouble on the way to game, both Kunz and Nna were intended to be included in the starting eleven and Clare’s management requested a delay to kick-off but this was rejected by the match officials.
On twelve minutes, Limerick broke the deadlock via Shannon’s Eoin Duff. His Regional Utd clubmate Kieran O’Connell did the majority of the work and played the ball across the box which Duff made no mistake in slotting past Mulready.
Full-back Jake Dillon was beginning to exert his influence on proceedings, first he delivered a danger cross into the area which beat everyone including Adam Foley who just needed to get the lightest of touches on the ball to flick it over the line on twenty nine minutes.
Dillon then had an opportunity himself which just nudged over the cross bar on thirty two minutes as Limerick continued to pile the pressure on.
At this juncture, Clare had called on Kunz and Na with Jack Ryan and Liam Buckley making way.
It made an impact as the visitors had the next two chances, first Nathan Boaventura’s cross was comfortably caught by McCarthy before Tom Hanrahan showed that his pace could cause problems but he was unable to make inroads past Dillon to force a meaningful opportunity.
Right on the stroke of half-time, Clare were dealt a massive blow as they fell two goals behind. Elias Kunz was unlucky not to be awarded a free, Limerick won possession back but Clare forced a turnover but then Jack Kelly gave the ball away as Kieran O’Connell was closing in on him, Limerick worked the ball to James Fitzgerald who took on Lee Mulready before firing past John Mulready to make it 2-0 at half-time.
Had it not been for Harvey Cullinan, it would have three goals to nil by the hour mark. The centre-half made a vital goal-line clearance to stop Kieran O’Connell from registering a goal. Cullinan came close to pulling a goal back at the other end but his header from a Boaventura cross just went wide.
Mulready made a great save on seventy eight minutes as Limerick looked to extend their advantage. Clare did close the gap thanks to Elias’ goal but it wasn’t enough to secure a share of the spoils.
Coming home empty handed now lessens the chance of Clare progressing out of the group. They must Kerry in a month’s time and hope the Kingdom get a result against Limerick as only one team will progress from the group.
For the first day out and considering the squad has only assembled, Clare can take some solace from their showing from a very youthful side. They found it very hard to get decisions off the home officials with Kunz in particular fouled on numerous occasions but yet wasn’t awarded frees.
There can be no complaints with the result, Limerick were the superior side and this also highlighted the gulf in overall quality between both leagues. Granted, Clare is home to the FAI champions but there is a big disparity in standard across the Premier Division compared with Limerick where five to six teams are capable of winning their domestic title each season along with forming lengthy runs in Munster and the FAI.
Promise was shown from several of Donie Garrihy’s Clare players including Harvey Cullinan and Lee Mulready with Elias Kunz and Nnabuike Nneji offering some much needed physicality when introduced.
For Limerick who are managed by John Lysaght and Paul Danaher, they look like a side capable of winning out the competition. They are well balanced and demonstrated better familiarity amongst themselves, this evident in their use of the ball and communication. Kieran O’Connell, Jake Dillon, Shane Duggan and Eoin Duff were best for the winners.
Limerick: Josh McCarthy; Jake Dillon, Adam Lipper, Eduardo Almeida, Danny O’Neill; Shane Duggan, Kyle Duhig, James Fitzgerald, Kieran O’Connell, Adam Foley, Eoin Duff.
Subs: Adam Dore for Fitzgerald (48), Shane Carmody for O’Connell (67). Leon Daly for Foley (70), Kevin Barry for Duff (82), Brian O’Connor for Duhig (89)
Clare: John Mulready (Bridge Utd); Cullen McCabe (Avenue Utd), Ethan Fitzgerald (Newmarket Celtic), Harvey Cullinan (Newmarket Celtic), Lee Mulready (Bridge Utd); Jack Kelly (Newmarket Celtic); Aaron Rudd (Newmarket Celtic), Liam Buckley (Bridge Utd), Tom Hanrahan (Moher Celtic); Nathan Boaventura (Newmarket Celtic), Jack Ryan (Shannon Town Utd)
Sub: Elias Kunz (Avenue Utd) for Ryan (28), Nnabuike Nneji (Avenue Utd) for Buckley (33), James Fahy for Kelly (71), Joe Hanrahan (Moher Celtic) for Hanrahan (85), Witness Odirile for Rudd (85)
