Match reports Sat 7th Jan

CLERIHAN SCHOOLBOYS FC

 

U16 LEAGUE    CLONMEL TOWN  5   CLERIHAN  0

 

In the end , this proved to be an easy victory for Clonmel Town but Clerihan certainly gave the home side plenty to think about in the first half. Defending strongly and confidently , Clerihan forced their opponents to shoot from distance in an effort to break the deadlock. Rhys McMorrow and Rory Maher were in sparkling form in midfield and created chances for Clerihan which , unfortunately , were not converted. With the game scoreless at half-time , Clerihan were well in it but were undone by a free-kick after the break which goalkeeper Liam Powell parried but the rebound was turned into the net by an attacker in a blatantly offside position.This setback really deflated the Clerihan lads and Town took full advantage to run in four more goals , one from the penalty spot. In fairness to their spirit and attitude , Clerihan continued to cause problems for the Town defence with Luke Hyland , in particular , a constant menace with his pace and skill. If only the form displayed in the first half could be maintained , this side would have a realistic chance of challenging for the Plate.

 

U14 NSL     CLERIHAN  2  TEMPLEMORE  1

 

An excellent display from the U14s resulted in another three points at the community field on Saturday afternoon. Luke Hahessy gave Clerihan the lead with a brilliant header following fine approach play and a great cross from John Alan Lowes. Templemore were back on level terms from the penalty spot shortly after before Luke Hahessy  restored Clerihan’s lead with another sublime finish. There were to be no goals in the second half as Clerihan set about protecting their advantage. As Templemore pushed on for an equaliser , the central defensive partnership of Jack Burke and Eoin O’Donovan stood strong and composed , never offering up any easy opportunity to the visitors. Keenan Cunningham was outstanding in tracking back to help time after time while Shane Hickey was quite brilliant in holding up the ball to give his defenders a breather. There was a final scare as Templemore were awarded a free-kick just outside the area in the dying minutes but Eoin Power pulled off a great save to ensure the victory. This was a great way to bounce back from the setback against Birdhill and a real confidence booster for their upcoming SFAI tie.

 

U12  LEAGUE   CAHIR PARK  5   CLERIHAN  0

 

A very good Cahir Park side proved much too strong for Clerihan and ran out easy winners. Sean Cotter was desperately unlucky not to give Clerihan the lead when his shot beat the goalkeeper but just went inches wide of the post. Cahir responded strongly and a blistering turn of pace saw the left winger leave defenders in his wake before drilling a shot to the roof of the net. The pace of the Cahir lads had the Clerihan defence working hard to keep the deficit to one goal. A big moment in the game came just before half-time when the Clerihan  duo of Sean Cotter and Liam McGrath combined brilliantly for Liam to score only to see the goal disallowed for offside , a dreadful decision from the referee. The second half started in the worst possible fashion from a Clerihan viewpoint , conceding a very soft goal and this really deflated the whole team. Cahir went on to add three more before the end , running through the defence at will and finishing clinically. This was a real wake-up call for the Clerihan lads who were too slow to react to danger on many occasions and made things too easy for an admittedly excellent home side. Cathal Ryan and Callum Meagher in midfield were most prominent on a day when the team could have no argument with the result.

 

U10A LEAGUE   CLERIHAN  2  ST. MICHAELS  4

 

Another really good game of football took place in this league on Sunday morning at the Clerihan all-weather pitch. St . Michael’s started really quickly and had the ball in the Clerihan net within two minutes. However , Clerihan had the better of things for the rest of the first half but just couldn’t find a way past an excellent Michael’s defence. The visitors struck for a second goal just before half-time to leave Clerihan with a lot to do in the second half. A wonderful passing move shortly after the resumption saw Ciaran Moroney finish sweetly to the net to make it 1-2 but an unlucky own goal restored St. Michael’s two goal advantage. Aiden Maher was so unlucky to see his wonderful shot strike the inside of the post and end up in the goalkeeper’s arms while Daragh Hurley hit the outside of the post with another great effort. St. Michael’s scored the goal of the game to make it 4-1 before Ciaran Moroney got his second with an excellent finish after good approach play. This was a fine game overall and the Clerihan lads will be hoping for revenge when they play the reverse fixture in Tipperary later in the season.