O’Reilly strike separates Avonmore and Coolboy
at Celtic Park, Arklow
players his effort went just wide of the Avonmore goal.
Coolboy fine play was starting to come to the fore as their number 10, Eddie Cullen, got behind the Avonmore defence but his shot flew wide of the near post.
Avonmore chances were few and far between but they did manage to carve the odd chance. From a corner, the ball came back out to the taker Leighton Doyle who cut inside the defender but his effort flew over the bar.
Coolboy’s midfield was still dominant and this led to another chance for Lee Doyle who put his shot straight at the keeper.
As the half was drawing to a close, Coolboy winger Eoin Ivanoff was running on to a through ball, but the Avonmore keeper got there just in front of him leaving the scores level at the interval.
Whatever was said to Avonmore at the break changed this game completely. They came out at the start of the half and started playing some lovely football.
This resulted in the finest move of the game with the ball ending up at the feet of the aforementioned O’Reilly who slid the ball into the comer of the net.
The goal came completely against the run of play. Coolboy kicked back into gear almost immediately, creating another chance but after a great shot from Cain Byrne, Reece Magee made a fine save.
Eddie Cullen had yet another great chance for Coolboy, but yet again the keeper pulled off a fine save. Keepers were on top in this period with Coolboy goalie Callum Keenaghan pulling off two fine saves from Reilly again.
Coolboy chances were fading quickly as time ticked on and eventually you could see their heads dropping as they tried everything in their power to score, but, try as they might, this never transpired and Avonmore held on for a very hard-fought 1-0 win
1. Callum Keenaghan, 7. Cian Byrne, 4. Thomas Kelly,
11. Eoin Ivanoff, 8. Conor Hamilton,
9. Bryan Tullan, 3. Killian O’Keeffe, 6. Lee Doyle, 10. Eddie Cullen. Subs:
2. Daniel Byrne, 5. William Doyle, 14. Barry Kealy.
Coolboy Rangers:
1. Reece Magee,
2. Oscar Dowling, 3. Joe Sinnott,5. Leighton Doran, 6. Kian Fluskey, 7. Mark Reilly, 8. Gavin Cullen, 12. Paddy Harpur. Subs: 11. Conor Hayes, 10. Ethan Tarmey.
Butch Doran
Avonmore A: Referee: