Curracloe so close
One more win will seal U-12 honours
HOSTS CURRACLOE United moved within sniffing distance of the Wexford and District Under-12 Division 1A title with a hard-earned victory over Wexford Albion on Monday of last week.
Second-placed Glynn Barntown needed either Albion in this tie, or New Ross Celtic in the coming weeks, to take points from the table-toppers to have a chance of nabbing the title, and the chasers couldn’t have asked any more of United’s opponents in this clash.
Right from kick-off this was a superb game of football, with both sides intent on getting the ball down, passing and probing down the flanks.
Indeed, Albion may well have conceded the first goal but they were probably a little unlucky to only go in at the break level.
The Wexford town side gave it absolutely everything they had but there’s a reason why Curracloe are top of the table. When the chips were down heading into the second-half and they were desperate for a goal, they pulled out a stunning 30 minutes of football.
It looked like it might be a fairly handy evening for Curracloe when they opened the scoring inside 60 seconds.
Joe O’Leary was the creator, with a defence-splitting pass out right to Joshua Roche. The winger had plenty to do but drilled a succulent shot to the bottom corner.
The goal might have acted as a settler in other games but United clearly displayed the nerves the occasion demanded for a while after the opener. They dodged a bullet when Rian Ormonde somehow deflected Filip Wasilewski’s cross-cum-shot off target and over.
Rory Gilbert glanced Seán Denton’s corner narrowly wide as the pressure continued on the hosts’ goal. It was bound to tell and did in the 24th minute when Denton’s ball into the box bobbled around and fell for Callum Fowler to poke home.
The goal shook Curracloe to life and Liam Kielthy forced William Gaul into a fine save from James Robertson’s pull-back just before the break.
With words of encouragement ringing in their ears, United took the lead right after the resumption.
It was a truly superb goal. Kielthy played the ball in, it was deliciously flicked around the corner by Cillian O’Leary, and Joe O’Leary ran onto the through-ball and dispatched to the net. Curracloe were better in the second-half and continued to probe for the next 25 minutes.
However, they only wrapped up the game when O’Leary netted his second from Kielthy’s feed four minutes from time.
It was a bit helter-skelter in the last few minutes but Curracloe held on to move within a victory against New Ross Celtic of the Division 1A title.
Curracloe United: J.P. Fielding; James Robertson, Rian Ormonde, Cillian O’Leary; Luke Corrigan: Joshua Roche, Liam Kielthy, Josh Kinsella; Joe O’Leary. Subs. (rolling) - Max Roche, Craig Fanning, also Darnell Lawlor, Gavin Kinsella, Eoin Murphy.
Wexford Albion: William Gaul; James Kirby, Seán McCleane, Rory Gilbert; Seán Denton, Adam Tierney, Filip Wasilewski; Callum Fowler, Flávio Valentini. Subs. (rolling) - Evan Donohue, T.J. Furlong, Jake Kelly, Seán O’Connor.
Referee: Sam O’Neill.