*Darragh Leahy scores his first goal for Newmarket Celtic. Photograph: Joe Buckley
NEWMARKET CELTIC’s bid to win a twentieth Clare Cup title moved a step closer when they accounted for Fern Celtic with ease on Friday evening.
Newmarket Celtic 5
Fern Celtic 0
Venue: Frank Healy Park, Doora
Paddy Purcell’s side were overwhelming favourites for the contest and rightly so but they will know for the big tests that lie ahead throughout this month that a sizeable improvement is needed if they are to upset rivals Avenue Utd.
They dominated possession for the tie but only held a 1-0 advantage by the sounding of the half-time whistle but appeared to be only going through the motions. Their superiority and quality became more evident in the second half as they began to finish their opportunities.
It also must be noted that they didn’t allow Fern Celtic a single chance to test Shane Cusack but then again this was a case of the best club in Ireland last season facing off with a club battling to win the Second Division in Clare.
Early opportunities fell to Eoin Hayes, Nathan Boaventura and Gearoid O’Brien as Newmarket worked all the moves.
Fern Celtic netminder Rhys Phillips knew he was going to have a busy evening and he managed to keep a shot out from Eoin Hayes with his left hand after Tadhg Noonan had a nice flick to put his captain through. Two corners in a row presented more chances for Newmarket but Jack Kelly narrowly headed wide with one of these.
Their pressure paid off and the deadlock was finally broke on eighteen minutes. Colin Smyth made a powerful run from defence and was fouled in possession, the free from Eoin Hayes was headed to the back of the net by Tadhg Noonan on eighteen minutes.
Goals were far more plentiful for Newmarket on the restart with Jack Kelly doubling their advantage on forty eight minutes. A quick corner from Boaventura allowed Hayes deliver the cross which Jack Kelly did well to get a flick to and it left Phillips powerless to stop.
On the hour mark, goal number three arrived. Noonan was fouled and a penalty was awarded despite remonstrations in the Fern Celtic defence. The spot kick was dispatched to the net by Boaventura.
From here Purcell emptied the bench and this in no way weakened the Newmarket cause with Ronan McCormack, Darragh Leahy, Dean Hegarty and David O’Grady certainly adding value. Indeed Hegarty’s return from an ACL injury was a welcome sight.
Leahy made his presence known with two goals in a half hour stint on the field as a tiring Fern defence were punished on each occasion.
May 25th is the final date where Newmarket Celtic will lock horns with Avenue Utd. There’s plenty of ball to be played in between then with the sides to clash in the Premier Division with Avenue firmly poised to be crowned league champions.
Defensive structure is something Newmarket may revise for those big upcoming games and they will be hoping to have key personnel back in action. On this occasion, Jack Kelly and Conor McDaid as always got through an amount of work while Tadhg Noonan made effective contributions with the centre-half pairing of Colin Smyth and Eoin Kelly effective.
Fern Celtic can certainly be pleased to have reached the last four of the Ennis Carpets Clare Cup and they were in fine company among the top three clubs in Clare this season. Tadhg Murphy was their best player while without Rhys Phillips the margin would have been much greater.
By the concession of Jack Kelly’s goal, their attention began to switch to the league where they are still bidding to win promotion from the Second Division.
Newmarket Celtic: Shane Cusack; Davy Lennon, Colin Smyth, Eoin Kelly, Conor McDaid; Jack Kelly; Gearoid O’Brien, Aaron Rudd, Nathan Boaventura; Tadhg Noonan; Eoin Hayes.
Subs: Ronan McCormack for O’Brien (60), Darragh Leahy for Noonan (60), Dean Hegarty for Rudd (60), David O’Grady for Hayes (70), Billy McNamara for Smyth (70).
Fern Celtic: Rhys Philips, Ben Mungovan, Adam Fleming, Tadgh Murphy, Declan Meaney, Liam Meaney, Noel Frawley, Matt Fahy, Shane Talty, Keith Shea, Sean Culligan
Subs: Josh Healy for Culligan (65), Ray Maher for Frawley (65), Cody Kiloughrey for Fahy (69) (inj), Jamie Fitzpatrick for Murphy (76) (inj)
Referee: Mark Reilis
