DELIGHT FOR DEARG
Redcross men survive Shamrock Celtic comeback
DEARG CELTIC SHAMROCK CELTIC 3 2
DEARG CELTIC claimed the Charlie Byrne Cup with a 3-2 win against Shamrock Celtic in an enthralling game at Celtic Park in Arklow.
The two teams provided a fantastic game of football on what would have been Charlie’s 110th birthday.
The game started at a fast pace with both teams creating lots of early chances. The small pitch worked in both teams favour with long goal kicks causing havoc for both defences.
Shamrock Celtic were unlucky not to score in the fifth minute with a good strike from full back Philip Crill. A cleared Shamrock corner fell to Crill on the edge of the box and his vicious strike produced a good save from Dearg keeper Darragh Hosey.
Shamrock began to control the game and came close to opening the scoring in the 14th minute when Craig Doyle’s header hit the crossbar from a corner kick.
This momentum was halted in the 20th minute when Dearg opened the scoring through Alan Power after some fantastic play from man of the match Philip Murphy.
Murphy’s quick feet in the box had the Shamrock defence in a spin before finding Power on the edge of the box with a perfectly weighted pass whose first time strike flew into the top left corner to open the scoring and explode this cup final into life.
The game began to open up with Shamrock applying pressure on the Dearg goal in search of an equaliser.
Dearg were beginning to find their footing in the game finding great success in the wide areas through Philip Murphy and Craig Browne who were constant threats throughout the first half.
This increased confidence led to Dearg’s second goal through central midfielder Jordan O’Connor in the 30th minute sending the Dearg supporters wild.
It would be hard find an easier goal in any game as O’Connor headed into any empty net from a long free kick aided by Shamrock Celtic’s keeper Stephen Doyle unfortunately losing his footing as the ball was crossed in.
From this moment on the aggression levels in the game began to rise with some tough tackles from both teams leading to numerous free kicks being awarded.
Dearg had really found their rhythm now and applied significant pressure on the Shamrock goal creating a plethora of chances. The best of these fell to Power whose long shot flew narrowly over the crossbar.
The first half ended on a sour note for Shamrock Celtic as Greg Doyle was shown a yellow card for dissent and Craig Doyle was subbed due to injury.
The second half started much like the first with fast paced attacking football captivating the supporters in attendance.
Shamrock Celtic came out fast with efforts from Liam Clarke and Scott Meaney testing Hosey early in the half.
That pressure proved futile however as Murphy grabbed the goal his fantastic performance deserved in the 56th minute.
After some great build up play Murphy found himself through on goal with his effort bringing a great save from Stephen Doyle before slotting home the rebound to give Dearg one hand on the Charlie Byrne Cup.
The game isn’t over until the final whistle however and this increased poise looked to be Dearg’s undoing as Shamrock Celtic rallied in search of Istan- bulesque comeback.
Chance after chance fell to Shamrock with Greg Doyle coming closest as his effort cannoned off the crossbar.
The tension was rising as Dearg tried desperately to stem this flow of Shamrock Celtic pressure leading to the foul count increasing rapidly.
The game turned ugly in the 76th minute as a confrontation between Dearg’s Craig Browne and Shamrock’s Scott Meaney led to Meaney being shown a straight red card leading to verbal confrontations between various players on the pitch.
Focus turned back to the football soon after as in the 78th minute a deep free kick from Aiden O’Neill sailed past everybody into the far corner to give Shamrock Celtic a glimmer of hope in turning the game around.
This hope was briefly quashed as the referee disallowed the goal leading to frantic protests from the Shamrock Celtic players and management.
Upon consulting with the linesman the goal was awarded, reviving the hope for Shamrock Celtic.
The dream came a step closer for Shamrock Celtic in the 81st minute as they were awarded a penalty for a handball.
Tom Duffy calmly slotted home to send the Shamrock Celtic players wild.
The next ten minutes saw Shamrock Celtic lay siege to the Dearg goal in the hope of completing the comeback and it looked as if they had pulled it off in the 86th minute, however, Aiden O’Neill saw his free kick smack the crossbar.
The final whistle lead to hearty celebrations from the Dearg Celtic players and supporters as they etched their names onto the Charlie Byrne Cup for the 2017/2018 season.
1. Darragh Hosey,
2. Adam Browne, 3. Niall Garvey, 4. Owen Brennan, 5. Bobby Beltin, 6. Wesley O’Toole, 7. Jamie Power, 8. Jordan O’Connor, 9. Craig Browne, 10. Alan Power, 11. Philip Murphy. Subs:
12. John Kinsella, 13. James Cullen,
14. Ollie Byrne, 15. Steven Cullen, 16. Kevin Cullen, 17. Daniel Mooney, 18. Tom McKenna.
1. Stephen Doyle, 2. Noel McVeigh, 3. Philip Crill,
4. Gary Doyle, 5. Colin Cassidy, 6. Craig Doyle, 7. Scott Meaney, 8. Greg Doyle, 9. Aiden O’Neill, 10. Michael Hodgetinson, 11. Glen McCarthy. Subs: 12. Tom Duffy, 13. Colin O’Toole,
14. Rob Gillespie, 15. Aaron Corry, 16. Liam Clarke, 17. Inguard Rixhamson,
18. Ceaser O’Sullivan.
Shay Byrne; Linesman: Willie O’Brien and Andy Kavanagh.