CLERIHAN SCHOOLBOYS FC

U12 SFAI CUP     DUNGARVAN UTD  1   CLERIHAN  5

The u12s are now the only remaining team from theSouth Tipperaryleague in the SFAI cup following a comprehensive victory in Dungarvan. Clerihan started a little nervously and squandered a couple of early chances that might have settled everybody down. The home side took full advantage and scored after 15 minutes when some half-hearted tackles allowed an attacker walk through the defence and slot the ball to the corner of the net. This seemed to wake the Clerihan lads from their sleep and centre-back Conor McGrath began to dominate and set attacks in motion. On 20 minutes , Rian Quigley skinned the full-back and delivered a great cross which Sean Cotter volleyed to the net. It was Sean Cotter again minutes later who showed wonderful composure in the penalty area to beat a defender and drill a right-footed shot to the bottom corner. The home side were really rattled and a poor clearance out of defence was met by Callum Meagher who hit it first-time to the roof of the net from all of 25 metres to leave it 3-1 to Clerihan at half-time. There was no slackening from Clerihan in the second period with Cathal Ryan in particular tackling ferociously and not allowing Dungarvan to get any momentum going. When Rian Quigley’s shot was only parried by the keeper , Seamus McMahon was on hand to score and Rian himself got the goal his performance deserved when he ran the length of the field before finishing clinically to the net. This was another excellent effort from these lads , built on solid defence where Conor McGrath was outstanding and tremendous work-rate , especially from Liam McGrath and Cathal Ryan.  The finishing of Sean Cotter was really top-class while Dungarvan just couldn’t cope with the pace and skill of Rian Quigley. Their reward is a home tie against Piltown in the next round.

U14 SFAI CUP   CLERIHAN  1   BALLINROAD  0

The U14s achieved the distinction of carrying the flag forSouth Tipperaryin the last 32 of their SFAI cup when they defeated Ballinroad from theWaterfordleague. They are only the second Clerihan side ever to reach this stage of the competition and , in doing so, continued their great start to the season. It was Clerihan who dominated the first-half but failed to score despite creating numerous chances. The pattern was similar after the break and the deadlock was finally broken after 15 minutes. Clerihan won a corner which was only cleared to the feet of Jack Burke and he connected brilliantly to fire his team into the lead. Clerihan had plenty of easy enough chances to make the game safe but the finishing was poor on the day. With Ballinroad mainly playing on the break , the home defence was never unduly troubled and that solitary goal was enough to clinch matters. Given the great form of this squad , its no surprise to see that three of them have been selected on the Kennedy Cup squad and our congratulations on same go Sean Maher , Luke Hahessy and Jack Burke.

U10 LEAGUE CLERIHAN 1 PEAKE VILLA 1

Their second league game of the season was a much tougher affair for the Clerihan lads who will have been happy enough to escape with a draw. Clerihan started in whirlwind fashion and scored within two minutes , Ciaran Moroney finishing a Micheal Quinlan cross to the net. However , the Thurles side quickly overcame their nervous start and really came into the game. Luckily , the defensive play of Jack Fitzpatrick and Josh King was top drawer and Clerihan managed to hold out to half-time with their lead intact. However , Peake Villa deservedly got the equaliser midway through the second half as the home defence was finally breached. With Clerihan creating few attacking opportunities , the game ended in a draw , which was probably a fair reflection of both team’s efforts. Man-of-the-match on the day for Clerihan was Aiden Maher whose work-rate was excellent.