Thrilling win for Rearcross ‘A’ following extra time and penalty shootout.

Rearcross welcomed Clonmel Celtic to Rearcross FC Grounds for this 2nd round clash in the FAI Junior Cup. Rearcross were underdogs for the tie and it was Clonmel who made the early running in the fixture as their slick passing and movement off the ball causing problems for the home side. However, it was Rearcross who nearly opened the scoring on the ten-minute mark when Stephen Rochford found Daragh O’Siochrú on the left wing and his first time through ball saw Michael O Gorman get in between the defender and keeper but his lobbed effort bounced off the crossbar. This seemed to spark Celtic into life as they dominated for most of the remainder of the half. They hit the front in the 20th minute when a great delivery from Peter O Dowd saw Cian O Sullivan head in at the back post. Celtic had a couple of efforts to make it 2 nil but Cathal Kennedy pulled off a few good saves. The 2nd goal did arrive on the half hour mark, following a clearance from Rea the ball fell to Cillian O Brien who dropped the shoulder to create space and his low strike found its way into the corner of the net. To their credit Rea kept battling away and nearly pulled one back on the stroke of halftime when a long-range free kick into the box fell to Greg Kennedy but his first time effort was well saved by the Celtic keeper.
The 2nd half saw a similar pattern to the 1st half as Celtic looked to close out the game. They nearly added a third through David Morrissey only for Cathal Kennedy to deny him with a superb save. Rea breathed life into the contest on the 65th minute when a free on the right-hand side was whipped into the box by Philly Deegan, Greg Kennedy’s flick on saw the ball fall at the feet of Daragh O’Siochrú whose first time strike was saved by the keeper but Paul Nolan was on hand to finish to the net. Rearcross at this stage were pushing hard for the equaliser and were running at the Celtic defence at every opportunity with Paddy Deegan and Tadhg O O’Siochrú coming close. They were hit on the counter though as Celtic added a third following a great passing move which saw Ayo Williams in one on one with the keeper and he kept his composure to slot in at the near post. Seemed like game over at this stage but Rea kept plugging away and with 10 minutes remaining they pulled a goal back. Greg Kennedy intercepted a pass and broke out from defence and played a lovely through ball to Michael O Gorman, his brilliant first touch saw him bearing down on goal and his well-placed shot gave the keeper no chance. A couple of minutes later Rea found the equaliser when the ball was worked out to left wing to Daragh O’Siochrú who got to the byline and swung a great cross into the six-yard box and the onrushing Tadhg O’Siochrú headed to the corner of the net. This would send the game to extra time. Celtic were reduced to 10 men when Cian O’Sullivan picked up a 2nd booking in the first half of extra time. Celtic thought they had won it in the 2nd half of extra time when a corner was swung in from the right-hand side and John O’Connor saw his header crash off the crossbar. The game would be decided by penalties and it was Rea who eventually won 3-2 with Paddy Deegan, Paddy Dawson and Callum Wallace converting from the spot with Cathal Kennedy producing 2 excellent saves. A great result for Rea who showed great grit and determination to comeback twice from 2 goals down.
A big thanks to Grainne and Kennedys of Rea for providing food for both teams after the match. Best of luck to Clonmel Celtic for the rest of the season.

Rearcross ‘A’: Cathal Kennedy, Callum Wallace, Stephen Rochford, Patrick Deegan, Greg Kennedy, Paul Nolan, Tadhg O’Siochrú, Conor Nolan, Daragh O’Siochrú, Michael O’Gorman
Subs: Cillian Kennedy, Patrick Dawson, Kieran Devitt, Robert Harrington

Clonmel Celtic: F Kerton, K Hawkins, P O’Dowd, J O’Connor, C O’Sullivan, J Purcell, J Kerton, C O’Brien, N Prendergast, D Morrissey
Subs: P Ormond, A Williams, S Hawkins, C Hogan, B Cooney.

Referee: TP Sullivan

Report by Robert Harrington

Clonmel Celtic Manager post match interview

Paul Nolan scores opener for Rearcross

Michael O'Gorman nets a second for Rearcross

Tadhg O'Siochrú crashes home the equalizer for Rea

Patrick Deegan converts the opener from the spot

Patrick Dawson nets a second from the spot

Callum Wallace bags a third for Rearcross

Cathal Kennedy saves superbly to deny the TSDL side

Cathal Kennedy with another magnificent  save