Munster Junior Cup Preliminary Round

Friday October 03rd , 2014
Classic Fc 2-3 St Brendans Park Fc
By Tommy Naughton

St Brendans Park advance to the first round of the Munster Junior Cup with a late winner on Friday night . In truth the game had a lot of misplaced passes on a wet slippery surface and the Park should have easily won by more but for some poor finishing especially in the second half .

The opening ten minutes went by without either side registering any early chances . The first real chance of the game fell to Max Mugabe who was denied by a last ditch tackle by Ryan Downey . Jesse o Sullivan went close for the park but his shot went wide of the near post after being put through by David Rodgers . The opening goal came in the fifteen minute when Mark o Sullivan picked up the ball on the right hand side of the box before chipping the ball across the box where Fergal Maunsel guided a header into the corner of the net . The Park failed to build on this lead and were punished just before the half hour mark when James Galvin glided passed two players in the centre of the pitch before playing the ball into the path of Max Mugabe who made no mistake with his first time effort . Within two minutes the Park nearly grabbed the lead again after good work from Mike Conway who played Fergal Maunsel in by the end line , Maunsel pull back found Jesse o Sullivan but his shot was blocked well by the feet of Gary Kissane . Six minutes to the break and Classic take the lead when a long ball towards the box by Martin Sweeney comes of the head off David Magee and falls into the path of Max Mugabe who finished while the Park defence looked on without reacting to the danger . Jesse o Sullivan had one last chance before the break but saw his header from a Ryan Downey cross go over the bar .

The second half turned into a game of backs and forwards at times with Classic looking like they were happy to hold on to what they had . The Park lay siege on the Classic goal in the opening ten minutes of the half but Jesse o Sullivan , Fergal Maunsel , David Rodgers and Mike Conway all missed good opportunities . Fergal Maunsel nearly had the sides level when his long range effort came back of the post with the keeper seeming to think it was going wide . The game was all square with 25 minutes remaining and it had a slight bit of luck involved in it . A Mike Conway corned broke to the edge of the box where Ryan Downey drilled a low shot goal wards which deflected of a defenders leg and looped over the keeper into the net . Jesse o Sullivan nearly had the park in front with less than fifteen minutes remaining when he got on the end of a Paudie Bailey cross but his header was blocked and his follow up attempt hit the outside of the post and went wide .

With two minutes remaining Fergal Maunsel grabbed the winning goal . Classic for once had to many men up field and the Park broke quickly with Mike Conway driving through the centre of the pitch , he rolled the ball into the path of Maunsel who lifted the ball over the diving Kissane and into the net . The Park will have a home tie against Mitchels Avenue in the first round in the coming weeks .

Classic Fc ; Gary Kissane , Wayne Murphy, Billy Clifford, Anthony McAuliffe, Martin Sweeney, James Galvin, Aston Mugabe, Brendan Smith , Timmy Lynch, Mark Tangney, Max Mugabe .Subs , Jay Murphy for Mark Tangney ( 63 mins), Neil Hobbert for James Whelan (70 mins) , Kieran o Regan for Timmy Lynch ( 77 mins) .

St Brendans Park Fc ; Jamie Kelly, David Magee, Con Barrett, Martin Bowler , Ryan Downey, Paudie Bailey, Mark o Sullivan, David Rodgers , Mike Conway , Fergal Maunsel, Jesse o Sullivan . Subs ; David Doyle for Jesse o Sullivan ( 86 mins) , Adam Barrett for David Rodgers ( 93 mins ) .

Referee ; Derek o Shea .