This article is from page 76 of the 2011-11-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 76 JPG
Bridge Celtic 0 – Connolly Celtic 0 (AET Bridge Celtic won 3-2 after penalties) at The County Grounds, Doora
THE COLD War of Celtic’s east v west eventually went Bridge’s way after a two hour endurance battle that was only finally decided in sudden death penalties. In a goalless test of attrition that could have realistically gone either way, nothing could separate the sides until Dean Sinnott gave the east Clare side a memorable victory with the winning penalty.
It was cruel on Connolly, it always is when the lottery of penalties are involved. But in terms of clearcut chances created, Bridge arguably deserved their latest silverware that will banish the nightmare of last year’s relegation from the Premier Division and sit nicely alongside their Premier Division league title of 2007.
After Connolly had shaded the opening half’s exchanges with the aid of the breeze, it was Bridge who would manufacture four glorious second period opportunities in a 20 minute period midway through the half. Paul McEvoy came closest in the 57th minute when his diving header from a superb curling Diarmuid Aherne cross produced an equally impressive full length stop from goalkeeper Niall Quinn.
The next three were almost identical as teasing crossfield passes from the left wing were not headed on target at the back stick, twice from Willie Neary while captain Trevor Howard also came close with his 75th minute header that just drifted past the right post.
Had Connolly gone on to win the cup, the Killaloe/Bridgetown side would certainly have pointed to those misses as the main source of regret but due to their own stubborn rearguard, manned expertly by William Slattery and Luke Turner in particular, they weren’t about to leak any needless goals at the other end either.
They demonstrated that in the opening half when Connolly sent off a few warning shots to test their resolve. In the fourth minute, a Ken Kennedy free from his own half drifted beyond their forward division but skidded dangerously off the turf and goalkeeper Paul O’Connell had to be alert.
Five minutes later, they targetted effective centre-forward Mickey Byrnes, this time from the right through Andrew Clancy and when Byrnes headed down, Alan Markham was first to react but under pressure, sent his volley just wide of the right post.
Bridge’s best opportunity of the opening half came by way of an op- portunist run from Alan Conway who raced onto a ball over the top from Dean Sinnott before dribbling in from the endline and sending a shot via goalkeeper Quinn across the goalline before it was eventually cleared.They built on that chance in the second half when backed by the conditions but a failure to take their chances meant that the match was destined for extra-time.
The first ten minute period was an anxious deadlock of few chances but on the turnover, both sides had one final chance to snatch the silverware. In the 103th minute, Connol- ly’s lively striker Pat Hogan spotted goalkeeper Paul O’Connell off his line but couldn’t keep his lob below the bar. And after substitute Kieran Dillon was redcarded three minutes later, Connolly had goalkeeper Quinn to thank once more for maintaining their clean sheet when he was equal to a Trevor Howard shot from 35 metres.
Darkness descended as a penalty shootout had to be undertaken to fi nally separate the sides but the quest for the opening goal had to wait until the fourth penalty through Connolly’s Barry Lynch after the previous three had been expertly saved by Quinn (2) and O’Connell. The tables were turned in Bridge’s favour however as William Slattery and Diarmuid Aherne converted their successive spot kicks while O’Connell saved Connolly’s corresponding two but Sudden Death inevitably came into effect as Luke Turner blasted his potentially match winning penalty over the bar while Connolly substitute John Kelly gained parity at 2-2.
The marathon only lasted two more penalties however as Dean Sinnott found the right corner of the net while Ken Kennedy’s effort sailed agonisinly over the bar. And with a sigh of relief, Bridge Celtic left Clare headquarters with the first silverware of the year and a perfect kickstart to their promotion campaign.