The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
AC happier to get second bite at Reserve title
DOMINOS PIZZA RESERVE CUP FINAL
Classic FC 1 AC Athletic 1 THESE two sides lived to fight another day after quite an entertaining game at Mounthawk Park on Sunday morning.
AC were without a few regular players and they will be the happier after this result.
Classic FC were well on top in the first half and were putting a lot of pressure on the AC rearguard.
They went ahead after seven minutes with a fantastic goal. Joe Duggan won the ball out on the right wing and floated a dangerous cross into the AC goalmouth. When the ball broke loose Kieran O’Regan was on to it in a flash and rifled the ball to the net with a thunderous volley.
They should have doubled their lead five minutes later when Shane Fitzgerald was played in one on one with the AC goalie Paul O’Grady and the keeper done very well to tip the shot over the top resulting in a corner kick.
Ryan O’Carroll swept this into the box and was headed over the top by Jonathan Loughnane.
Gradually AC began to get into the game and John Mike Dooley put Joseph Diggins through on goals but the Classic keeper Kenneth Leahy smothered the ball at his feet.
Classic put another attack together in the 20th minute with Shane Fitzgerald setting up Max Mugabe but he shot wide.
They then forced 4 successive corners all of which were taken by Ryan O’Carroll and from the 4th one Billy Clifford had a free header but it went over the bar.
They thought they had scored again in the 26th minute when Joe Duggan worked hard to put in Shane Fitzgerald and his piledriver of a shot hit the underside of the crossbar and was cleared.
The woodwork prevented them from scoring again in the 30th minute with a cracker of a shot from Brendan Sweeny clipping the top of the crossbar and went over.
AC got a major setback in the 34th minute when their ace goalscorer John Mike Dooley had to retire injured and he was replaced by Colin Sheehy.
AC almost equalised in the 36th minute when Joseph Diggins produced a bit of trickery to outfox a defender and with the keeper off his line he tried to dink the ball over him and it was just inches wide.
Classic forced two corner kicks at the start of the second half but were unable to take advantage of them.
Then out of the blue AC equalised in the 49th minute. The build up began at midfield and Joseph Diggins ran on to the ball just outside the 6 yards box and after teasing a defender he hooked the ball across the goalmouth and sub David Egan caught the Classic defence flat-footed and he headed the ball to the bottom corner to set the cat among the pigeons.
Classic got a free kick on the edge of the box in the 62nd minute and a well struck shot by Jonathan Loughnane was too high to bother the AC goalie.
Then a foul on Max Mugabe on the very edge of the box gave Classic a good chance to score but Jonathan Loughnane’s effort yielded nothing.
Classic were almost left redfaced in the 82nd minute when a short back pass put their goalie under severe pressure and it ended up with the ball going over the crossbar to the relief of the Classic defence.
Classic must feel it was a game they should have won and AC will be delighted to have another bite of the cherry when their player manager Marke Walshe will be back from holidays and they will be keeping their fingers crossed that John Mike Dooley will be fit for the replay. CLASSIC FC: Kenneth Leahy, Jonathan Loughnane, Billy Clifford, Martin Sweeney, Brendan Smyth, Kieran O’Regan (Wayne Murphy 75), Ryan O’Carroll (Dominic Houlihan 82), Brendan Sweeney, Max Mugabe, Shane Fitzgerald, Joe Duggan (Denis Cosgrove 65), AC Athletic, Paul O’Grady, Eamon Fitzgerald, Jason Diggins, Jeremy McKenna, Sean Leahy, Conor Diggins, Anthony Fealy, Shane Leahy (David Egan 46), John Buckley, Joseph Diggins, John Mike Dooley (Colin Sheehy 34) REFEREE: Adrian Quirke