DEARG FIGHT BACK
Celtic overcome 3-1 half-time deficit to see off Aughrim
DEARG CELTIC AUGHRIM RANGERS 4 3
THE first round of the Charlie Byrne was hosted by Dearg Celtic on a cold Sunday afternoon in Redcross that turned out to be a dramatic seven-goal thriller between the two Division 3 sides.
The travelling side scored the opener in the first five minutes when centre-back Paul Lacey took a long-range free-kick which took an awkward bounce in front of Dearg Celtic keeper Jamie Roe.
Roe misjudged the bounce and ended up conceding an early goal to give Aughrim Rangers the lead in the fifth minute.
Aughrim’s confidence grew and grew since scoring early and looked at playing in Dan O’Hare and Shane O’Keefe, who had the pace to get in behind the Dearg Celtic defence.
This led to the away side playing numerous balls up and over their opponents back line but it was in the 24th minute when Aughrim grabbed another goal totally against the run of play.
A long ball over the top, which looked to be more like a clearance from James Byrne than a well-placed through ball to Shane O’Keeffe.
O’Keeffe went one on one with Dearg keeper Jamie Roe but instead of taking the ball around the keeper O’Keeffe slid the ball under Roe and into the net to give his side a two-goal lead with less than half an hour played.
Aughrim will be disappointed in how they conceded their first goal straight after scoring moments before.
Striker John Andy Kinsella went on a great run straight from the kick-off before firing a low shot to the Aughrim keeper’s Cillian Donegan’s left to grab a much-needed goal for his side if they wanted to get back into the game.
The drama continued just before half-time as another ball over the top of the Dearg Celtic defence found Dan O’Hare in plenty of space and went unchallenged before going one on one with Jamie Roe and slotting the ball into the corner of the net and beating the keeper.
Another great counter-attack from the away side to give themselves a two-goal cushion going into the second-half.
Dearg Celtic got their confidence back at the start of the second-half, putting together some great passages of play and they were unfortunate on a couple of occasions not to at least grab one goal back.
Skipper Michael Murphy went the closest in the 50th minute when he controlled a cross on his chest before taking the ball on the volley, but the midfielder was falling backwards as he took the shot and blasted over the bar.
Although Dearg Celtic were flying forward at every opportunity and Aughrim were sitting back it was the away side that had some of the best chances on the counter-attack
Dan O’Hare and Shane O’Keefe went close many times but they just couldn’t find the back of the net again.
With the players they had forward it was no surprise when the goals started to fly in for the home side.
A long free-kick from Michael Murphy was spilled by the Aughrim goalkeeper, only to fall to the feet of Wesley O’Toole, who bundled the ball over the line to make it 3-2 just on the hour mark of the game.
Michael Murphy got another assist on the 67th minute when his header put in John Andy Kinsella who blasted the ball into the net to equalise and make it 3-3 with 20 minutes remaining.
Aughrim looked to be fatigued going into the last ten minutes and had to make some substitutions keeping in mind that there might be the possibility of extra-time and penalties whilst Dearg Celtic had no intentions of wanting extra-time as they kept pushing men forward hoping for a late winner.
The home side got their reward for their determination in the 85th minute when again Michael Murphy was in position to assist Alan Hudson to score the winner.
Murphy had made a great run at the edge of the box before squaring the ball to Hudson who grabbed a late winner.
A great cup tie at Cullen Memorial Park but Aughrim Rangers will be disappointed that they couldn’t hold their lead and progress in the competition but credit to a determined Dearg Celtic side who refused to give up and got their reward in the end. DEARG CELTIC: 1. Jamie Roe, 2. Adam Browne, 3. Owen Brennan, 4. Niall Garvey, 5. Jordan O Connor, 6. Martin Cullen, 7. Michael Murphy, 8. Alan Power, 9. Wesley O Toole, 10. Alan Hudson, 11. John Andy Kinsella. Subs: Kevin Cullen for Adam Browne (71min), Richard Shane for John Andy Kinsella (72min).
AUGHRIM RANGERS:
1. Cillian Donegan, 2. Frank Byrne, 3. Stephen Davis, 4. Andy Holt, 5. Paul Lacey, 6. James Byrne,
7. Alan Cotton, 8. Dan Byrne, 9. Luke Brown, 10. Dan O’ Hare, 11. Shane O’ Keefe. Subs: Aaron Doyle for Luke Brown (74min), David Dunne for Stephen Davis (81min).
REFEREE:
Carl Doyle.