Luckless defeat for Rearcross 'B' in penalty shootout

Rearcross ‘B’ travelled North to Cloughjordan last Sunday afternoon in an attempt to book their place in the Nora Kennedy Cup final for the second year in a row. Rea started on the front foot with Cloughjordan only providing a threat from quick counter attacks. However, it was Cloughjordan who opened the scoring in the 24th minute as Andrew Brennan timed his run perfectly to go through 1 on 1 with Brian Hammersley and finished calmly into the bottom corner. Rea reacted almost instantly when Mikey Feehan’s shot was blocked by a last-ditch tackle but luckily his brother Matty was on hand to slide in and equalise for Rea in the 26th minute. Rearcross remained in control of the game for the rest of the first half but were unable to find the goal to put themselves in the lead.
The second half was a very different state of affairs as Cloughjordan started to gain control of the game. The harsh weather conditions made it tough for either side to create any clear-cut chances with Cloughjordan coming closest early on in the half with a corner kick that looped in just over the crossbar much to the relief of the Rea defence. Mikey Feehan came close for Rea at the end of the half from close range only to be denied by Michael Hough in the Cloughjordan goals. After this it was apparent that the game would most likely be heading for extra time and so it did.
Extra time proved to be a relatively cagey affair with the only real chance falling for Cloughjordan at the very end of extra time when Rearcross failed to clear the ball in the box a number of times before finally averting the danger to see the game go to penalties. Rea were confident heading into penalties after advancing through the previous round on penalties. This confidence was boosted when Eamonn Devitt converted Rea’s first penalty and then Cloughjordan went on to hit the crossbar with their first. Despite this, Michael Hough would go on to save two Rearcross penalties and Clough would go on to score their remaining penalties to see themselves advance to the final where we wish them the very best of luck. The penalty scorers for Rearcross were Eamonn Devitt, Gary O’Brien and Gary Ryan while Shane Williams, Andrew Brennan, Neil O'Lone and Paidi Williams converted for Cloughjordan

Cloughjordan ‘B’: M. Hough, E. Hogan, S. Williams (Capt), B. Williams, D. Sheahan-Hussey, N O’Lone, S. Williams, L. Jones, M. Hennelly, K. Quinlan, A. Brennan.
Subs: D. Costello, K. Cahill, P. Williams, K. Kennedy, J. Carroll

Rearcross ‘B’: Brian Hammersley, Paul Ryan, Gary O’Brien, Eamonn Devitt, Sean Hickey, Matty Feehan, Kieran Devitt, Max Carroll, Mikey Feehan, Gavin Denihan, Donnie O’Brien.
Subs: Colm Nolan, Brendan O’Dwyer, Sean Malone, Colm Carey, Patrick Carey, Gary Ryan, Oisin Kelly.

Referee: Robbie Nevin

Report by Brian Hammersley