This article is from page 106 of the 2009-10-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 106 JPG
THE Avenue United steamtrain left a hapless Burren United in their wake on Sunday as they maintained their perfect start to the season with a sixth successive victory. The ‘Galacticos’ of the Clare league have put together an enviable squad this year that ap- pears to have seamlessly blended and they demonstrated that increasing confidence on Sunday morning with a strong display of passing and ruth- less scoring prowess.
Granted, the visitors Burren were severely understrength but in all honesty, the way the league leaders performed, it is unlikely that even Burren’s normally spirited full line- up would have taken anything out of this game.
At times, some of Avenue’s move- ment and one-touch passing was a joy to watch and really a lacklustre Burren side were only chasing shad- ows for the majority.
Realising the gravity of their trip to the league leaders, a threadbare Bur- ren side needed a good start to settle them down but instead they found themselves 3-0 behind by the 16th minute. From that point on, it was merely a damage limitation exercise.
All three goals stemmed from Dav- id Smyth crosses with the first com- ing after only seven minutes through Sean O’Meara who flicked a near
post header past the Lifford goal- keeper. Three minutes later, Smyth raided from the left wing where his cross was headed on by O’Meara to the waiting Declan Field to volley to the net at the back post. Everything Avenue created seemed to be goal- bound and in the 16th minute Declan Field was fouled on the right wing. Smyth floated the resulant free into the box where O’Meara again rose highest to deftly nestle his header to the left corner.
By this stage, Avenue were rampant
and probably should have added to their tally with efforts from the pacy Adrian McDonagh and centre-half David Russell who had three chances each spurned.
Burren’s best chance of the half fell to Ghiat Marine who was un- lucky to see a clever lob drift past the right hand post in the 27th minute and it would get infinitely worse for the north Clare side when defender Michael Keating received a straight red for an impulsive slap on the back of Anthony Whyte right on the stroke
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The gradient of Burren’s_ uphill climb declined significantly just af- ter the breakthough when Avenue were hit with the double whammy of conceding a penalty and losing a man after Evan Talty beat goal- keeper Killian Culligan to the ball just inside the box and was subse- quently tripped. Culligan received a red; midfielder Gary Flynn went into goal and when Mark McCarthy duly converted the spot kick, the whole complexion of the game seemed to have altered.
Instead though, Avenue just altered their formation to 3-4-2 and within five minutes, had restored their three goal lead when the lively Adrian Mc- Donagh burnt the north Clare side’s defence for pace and flicked past Shannon for 4-1.
That was the killer blow for Burren who appeared to drop their heads af- ter that as Avenue laid siege in their half and with fresh legs on board, the goals soon followed. Substitutes David Herlihy and Mikey Mahoney (2) added to Burren’s woes before Declan Field, now the midfield an- chor, completed the rout in the 87th minute by taking on the defence and slipping the ball to the right corner of the net.
In one game, the leaders had al- most doubled their score difference, increased their advatage at the top to
eight points and more importantly, delivered a clear message of intent to their rivals that they certainly mean business this year.