This article is from page 61 of the 2011-03-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 61 JPG
Avenue United 2 – 1 Tulla United at Lees Road, Ennis
AVENUE UNITED keep their hopes of winning the Premier alive as they secured three points on Sunday narrowly beating Tulla by two goals to one.
The first chance of the game fell to Tulla but Niall Whelan was unable to put his side in front. Avenue then began to get on top and held possession well. Mikey Mahoney then set up Barry Nugent for the first goal 25 minutes in and cries of offside from the Tulla contingency fell on deaf ears as Avenue took the lead.
The game then became nip and tuck from here as Tulla went in search of an equaliser but it was Avenue that struck again with a David McCarthy free kick that found the net putting them two up. Tulla did not give up hope and only minutes later they were back in it when Gearoid O’Doherty hit a great free kick past John Healy in the Avenue goal.
The sides went in at the break with Avenue 2-1 up but with a resilient Tulla side there looked to be a great second half battle in store. Unfortunately, Tulla were reduced to 10 men as Trevor Corbett received a second yellow card and this put a major dent in Tulla’s chances.
Avenue pressed on from here as Tulla began to struggle. They then had the chance to increase their lead to three when the referee awarded Avenue a penalty for a Denis Murphy foul in the area. Tulla were given a glimmer of hope though as Gary Flynn stepped up and put the ball over the bar to keep the the game tight to the finish.
The result of the game still hung in the balance in the closing stages as Avenue began to sit back on their lead and Tulla tried to pile on the pressure. Alan Brigdale then had a chance to gain a share of the spoils and level matters very late on but he was unsuccessful with his effort and Avenue held out to claim the victory.
Avenue are currently 22 points behind leaders Newmarket F.C but they have seven games in hand and will hope to utilise all these games to close the gap at the top of the table bringing the closing stages of the season to an interesting finale.
Avenue Utd
John Healy, Simon Cuddihy, David Herlihy, Con Collins, Mattie Nugent, Pa Wilson, David McCarthy, Gary Flynn, David Smyth, Barry Nugent, Mikey Mahoney.
Subs
Eamon O’Reilly, Colin Smyth.
Tulla Utd
Shane Collins,Tommy McKeon, Gearoid O’Doherty, Denis Murphy, Pat Vaughan, Mike McDermott,Trevor Corbett, Niall Whelan, Shane Mason, Keith Lenihan,Alan Brigdale.
Subs
Brian Hehir, Kevin Deloughrey,TomBurns.