Thurles Town 2 - Rearcross 'A' 0
‘Things can only get better’ - Take That
Rearcross A exited the Munster Junior Cup on Sunday morning last when they came up against a slick Thurles Town outfit in a match played in the Greyhound Stadium, Thurles. Rearcross made a shaky start but settled into proceedings soon after with Derek O’ Toole coming close from inside the box in the 6th minute. Thurles began to put some intricate passing moves together after this and subsequently took the lead in the 25th minute with Jamie O'Connor getting on the end of a well worked move. Diarmuid Sheehy, Greg Kennedy and Liam O’ Toole all had efforts in the following minutes as Rearcross fought hard to get back in the game, alas to no avail. Mark Hogan, showing off the dancing feet which have made him a popular hit in many of Limerick’s nightspots as of late, then glanced through the home side’s midfield with ten minutes remaining in the half – however his shot, as is usually the case with his Friday night disco moves, was completely off the mark. Thurles then hit the Rea’ Bhoys with a sucker punch a minute later when another well worked passing move down the left hand side was finished by Padraig Fogarty just inside the box. It was almost three a few seconds later when the ball luckily rebounded off the post, an event followed by a strong period of possession for Rearcross which was continued into the second half when straight from the tip off Simon Kennedy blazed over after good interlinking play between Kennedy and Liam O’ Toole out on the right. Hogan was in on the action once more in 51st minute when his free kick fell into the hands of the Thurles keeper, an attack followed closely by a Derek O’ Toole shot after good work by Simon Kennedy. Jim Caplis then came to the Rearcross rescue with two magnificent saves, the first from a one on one and the second a two handed stop to deny Robbie Jordan after good play by Padraig Fogarty in midfield. Davy O’ Toole, fresh from his siesta in South America, was thrown into the thick of the action in the second half and came close after Simon Kennedy’s through ball almost found Davy O'Toole. The game somewhat fizzled out for the remaining twenty minutes with two attempts from the aforementioned O’ Toole, the closest of which came with two minutes left on the clock, and a couple of attacks from Thurles being the highlights. Rearcross will be disappointed with their loss but happy with the team formation and discipline which seems to be improving all the time.
Rearcross 'A': Jim Caplis, Tommy Ryan (L), Eamonn Devitt, Mark Hogan, Greg Kennedy, Liam O’ Toole, Robert Harrington, Diarmuid Sheehy, Simon Kennedy, Kieran Devitt, Derek O’ Toole
Subs: Davy O’ Toole for Derek O’ Toole (62 mins), Darren Quigley for Tommy Ryan (L) (79 mins)
Thurles Town: Davy Coppimger, Ian Maher, Darren Connor, Liam Connelly, Luke Jordan, Tom Brophy, Padraig Fogarty, Ben Brophy, Aiden Crokem, Jamie O'Connor, Robbie Jordan,
Subs:
Benny Connelly, Gavin Lynch, Sean O'Connell
Referee: Tommy Lynch
Report compiled by Simon Kennedy