ENNIS CARPETS CLARE CUP SEMI FINAL: NEWMARKET CELTIC 4 BRIDGE UTD 3
Not a seven-goal thriller the scoreline would suggest but rather a stop-start, ill-tempered, fiery affair that saw referee Brian Punch brandish eleven yellows and one red, with Newmarket finishing the game with ten after Darragh Leahy received his marching orders in the 50th minute.
At the time Celtic held a three-goal lead after first-half goals from the head of Kieran Mahony in the eighth minute, the boot of Dean Hegarty in the sixteenth minute and the outstretched leg of Cathal Cullinan just after the half-hour mark.
The Bridge were all at sea, but six minutes after Leahy’s dismissal, Scott Kirkland pulled one back, but just three minutes later and just moments after his introduction, Eoin Hayes gathered the ball at the edge of the area, glided past one defender before being bundled to the floor.
Up stepped Dean Hegarty, but his effort was superbly repelled by Mulready in the Bridge goal, but Hegarty dispatched the rebound, and all hell broke loose with a host of players involved. When the dust settled, the standard two yellow cards were brandished, and play resumed with the Reds four-one up and seemingly destined for the cup final.
There was plenty of action in the closing stages, though, with Jack O’Halloran pulling a goal back for the Bridge with just over ten to play. Throwing everything they could at Celtic, only an outstanding Shane Cusack save thwarted a thunderous Aidan Moloney volley. Somehow the Bridge were then denied what seemed a blatant penalty when Aidan Moloney was hauled to the floor, but referee Brian Punch was strangely uninterested. It didn’t seem to matter really at the time, but then Jack O’Halloran blasted to the net in the eighth minute of added time. Sixty more seconds and one more Bridge attack were dealt with and the League Champions are now just one more game away from a domestic double.
