Clonard reach final
Three goals to spare over Réalt na Mara
CLONARD BOOKED their Gorey Guardian Juvenile football Roinn 2 championship final place with an entertaining win over Réalt na Mara in St. Patrick's Park on Monday last.
Both sides had vastly different competitions to play in to reach the semi-final stage, but they did it with equal amounts of style. The victors competed in the 12-a-side division, finishing top with six wins from their six games.
Competition rules state that the one qualifier for the final four from the 12-a-side format must field a full regulation team in the knockouts, so Clonard did that for the first time to great effect against their opponents in the semi-final clash.
On the other hand, the Ballygarrett and Courtown boys had the advantage of playing in the 15-a-side section and also came out on top with a full quota of victories from their six games.
However, they didn't meet a team with the quality of the Wexford town side in those clashes and they were given an example of that in the opening minute when Tommy Smillie went driving through the defence; his initial shot was blocked but he buried the rebound.
Réalt na Mara responded like a team full of confidence and goaled when Conor O'Toole hauled in Jordan Goff's crossfield ball and flashed his shot into the roof of the net. Points from Adam Baziz and Andrew Cullen gave Clonard a 1-2 to 1-0 lead but a quickfire 1-2, in which O'Toole got a classy second goal and Jordan Redmond added two points, put the Gorey District side ahead.
Their advantage didn't last long. Jason Brennan's point was followed by a brace of goals, the first from Dillon O'Regan who shot to the topright corner of Kieran Gigi's net, and the second, which gave Clonard a 3-3 to 2-2 interval lead, a superb finish by Smillie after a Craig Kelly long ball.
Full of confidence, Clonard pushed on at the start of the second-half and, after Baziz pointed, scored twice in less than three minutes. Both goals were courtesy of penalties for fouls on Smillie and both were taken by Jason Brennan. The attacker hit the post with the first one and scored the rebound, and then converted the second to the same bottom left corner.
From that point, trailing by 5-4 to 2-2, the task looked too big for Réalt na Mara. They did add points from Redmond and Darragh O'Toole and a Dylan Fleming goal, but Cillian Deane finished off his side’s scoring with Clonard's sixth goal five minutes from time to book his club’s place in the Roinn 2 decider.
CLONARD
Cian O'Connor; Aaron Carley, Leon Chun On Hoe, Adam Roche; Stephen Evans, Cillain Deane (1-0), Craig Kelly; Mark Doyle, Adam Baziz (0-2); Jason Brennan (2-1, 1-0 pen.), Daniel Byrne, Tommy Smillie (2-0); Justin Butler, Andrew Cullen (0-1), Dillon O'Regan (1-0). SUBS: Brandon O'Brien for Baziz, inj. (51), Issac Doyle for Cullen (56), Rokas Baiki for O'Regan, also Dean O'Connor.
REALT NA MARA
Kieran Gigi; Cathal Lee, Liam Molloy, Billy Dunne; Michael Weafer, Mark Whitaker, James Flynn; Conor Dowling, Jordan Goff; Jack O'Mahony, Darragh O'Toole (0-1), Jordan Redmond (0-3, 2 frees); Conor O'Toole (2-0), Dylan Fleming (1-0), Rory O'Connor. SUBS: Tom Higgins for Whitaker, black card (50), Kevin Corrigan for O'Mahony (54), Adam Fleming for O'Connor (58), also John Higgins.
VENUE: St. Patrick’s Park, Enniscorthy.
REFEREE: Aiden O’Brien (Cloughbawn).