Pursey to the fore as Avonmore win

at Celtic Park a narrow angle when he could have played the ball to a man in space in front of goal, seeing his shot well-saved by Dean Gahan.

Gahan may have been expected to save this shot but he certainly exceeded expectations with his next piece of action.

John Kearns was played in on goal by Kevin O’Regan but was obstructed from getting his shot away by Mark Miley who dragged the attacker to ground, conceding a penalty.

Ed Dunne looked calm as he stepped up to the spot. Gahan in the Avonmore goal made himself look big and perhaps this got in the flying winger’s head as he took a weak penalty down the middle which was well saved. Rather than dishearten Arklow, this miss only served to push the men in green and white on.

Just a few minutes later, Paddy Walker got on the ball in midfield and found John Kearns in the gap between the Avonmore midfield and defence.

Graeme Souness once said that the best piece of advice he ever got was to stand still and this is precisely what Kearns did.

With Mark Doyle making a superb run across the field, dragging both centre backs out of position, Kearns was able to pick out Paddy Walker’s run from deep and the young midfielder clinically dispatched the ball into the far corner to give his side the lead.

Kearns was proving influential for his side, providing an outlet time and again to relieve the Avonmore pressure. However, this pressure eventually paid off shortly before half-time when a well worked throw in gave Fiachra O’Hannain the space to pick out Callum Pursey from the left who rifled home a superb effort from the edge of the box.

The second half began with Avonmore once more on the front foot and it wasn’t long before they had taken the lead.

A long ball into the clouds looked like it was destined to reach the Arklow Celtic keeper but Eugene Dunne’s relentless pursuit of the ball coupled with a favourable bounce gave the Avonmore striker a sight of goal and Dunne duly volleyed home past the onrushing keeper. Within a matter of moments, the Avonmore lead had doubled.

Patrick Walker dwelled too long on the ball in midfield and was dispossessed by Fiachra O’Hannain.

The Arklow Celtic defence, fearful of the ball in behind, began to retreat and O’Hannain stepped forward to smash home a pile driver from 30 yards that Gareth Bale would be proud of; a truly superb strike which left the keeper with no chance.

Arklow Celtic made a triple substitution shortly after this goal and at first this gave them a new lease of life, with some nice touches from Shane Walker in particular, but Avonmore looked a hungry side and relentlessly pressed and harried their opposition.

Cian O’Hannain showcased his skills on the break in the closing stages, cutting inside one man and nutmegging another only to see his strike rebound off the post before his brother Fiachra added his second and completed the scoring late on to give Avonmore FC a comprehensive win.

There were impressive performances on both sides.

Despite the result, Kevin O’ Regan and John Kearns had strong showings for the home side and for Avonmore Callum Pursey, Mark Miley and Fiachra O’Hannain were the standout performers with Pursey in particular displaying exceptional work-rate off the ball.

Arklow Celtic (4-4-2): Edwin Walker, David Moorehouse, Darren Rowan, Jason Wolohan, Kevin Keane, Kevin Moorehouse, Ed Dunne, Kevin O’Regan, Paddy Walker, John Kearns, Mark Doyle. Subs: Shane Walker, Brian Thompson, Mikey Doyle.

Avonmore FC (4-4-2): Dean Gahan, Ben Gahan, Mark Miley, Keith Byrne, James Busher, Scott Doran, Callum Pursey, Fiachra O’Hannain, Cian O’Hannain, Eugene Dunne, Wes O’Toole. Subs: Rhys O’Brien, Mikey O’Toole, Don Phelan