Home defeat for the Youths Combo

Clodiagh Rangers / Rearcross Youths combo hosted Arra Rovers in Drombane last Saturday afternoon and made a bright start when Sean Griffin crossed to Rían Treacy whose header went over the bar in the 7th minute. Arra Rovers got more in to the game with some good possession and found space on the right wing in the 14th minute as Diarmuid O’Donoghue scored the opener for the Portroe outfit. The home side upped the ante and were luckless not to peg it back level on the 20th minute mark when good hold-up play by James Butler put Sean Griffin through but the shot flew over the crossbar. Arra broke three minutes later and a long-range effort from M O’Mahony saw the ball go all the way to the net after an unfortunate Hugh Purcell lost his footing. The Combo team upped the ante after this as Larry Collins was fouled on the edge of the box. The resulting free kick found Leo Ryan at the back post whose header was cleared but the clearance fell to Rían Treacy who was luckless to see the effort drag wide. The Rearcross / Clodiagh Rangers combo were well in the game as good combination play between Larry Collins and Max Carroll in the 35th minute forced the concession of a free kick as Sean Griffin’s effort wasn’t far away. The Slieve Felim side were pushing hard to get back in to the game before half time and were denied after Larry Collins set Conor Brett through on goal but the shot pulled wide of the mark.
The hosts went on the attack after the resumption in an effort to reduce the two-goal margin leaving some vulnerability at the back which was exploited in the 50th minute when Diarmuid O’Donoghue scored his second of the day following a quick counter attack. The combo team kept plugging and were denied when a Larry Collins corner kick was headed on target by Luke Carroll but the Arra keeper saved. It was proving to be a difficult outing for the hosts when Cathal Ryan shot narrowly wide on the hour mark following good work by Max Carroll and James Butler. The visitors took up a 4-nil lead on 62 minutes when Luke Power hit the net with a sharp finish from the left-hand side. Full credit to the home team who didn’t throw in the towel as James Butler pulled a goal back with ten minutes to play and then it was further reduced to 4-2 in the 85th minute after good attacking play by substitute David Griffin found Larry Collins in space who made no mistake with a fine finish. The home side finished strongly and were denied a third goal when Tomás Ryan linked up with Luke Carroll who saw his header dipping just over the bar. A strong second half showing from the home team wasn’t enough on this occasion against a strong Arra Rovers team that is now the top of the table.

Rearcross / Clodiagh Rangers Youths: Hugh Purcell, Conor Brett, Leo Ryan, Luke Carroll, Rían Treacy, Max Carroll, Larry Collins, Sean Griffin, Paddy Ryan, James Butler, Taylor Light
Subs: Cathal Ryan, Paddy Kennedy, Timmy Costello, David Griffin, Aaron Quinlan, Tomás Ryan, Toby Corbett, Liam Challen, Michael Quinlan

Arra Rovers: J O’Dwyer, L Power, H Hunt, D O’Dwyer, M O’Mahony, J Dillon, C McKeown, D O’Donoghue, C Gorman, T Boland, O O’Driscoll
D Maloney, A Kyne

Referee: David Butler