League v Kanturk in Gurteenard on Saturday 1st April 2017
Kanturk 3 Carrigtwohill United 1
Scorer – Evan Donnelly
An early start for Carrigtwohill as they headed to take on the league leaders in the shadow of Kanturk Castle. But it would be a fortress of the sporting variety Carrig visited today with Kanturk scoring 5 or more in all home their matches this season.
Either due to weather or soft ground, the grass had not been cut for some time, this coupled with a strong wind would make Carrig’s signature quick passing style difficult to execute on the day. The opening ten minutes saw Kanturk with the territory and possession, but Carrig carrying all the threat on the break, with Roman Ymedi and Darragh Hoare carving open the Kanturk defence a number of times only to be thwarted by the long grass. With ten minutes gone, Kanturk sent a high ball into the box, which sailed through to the safe hands of Darren Flynn in goals. The eagle eyed ref however had spotted a fowl on the edge of the box, Kanturk drilling home a low free kick to take the lead. Kanturk added a second with twenty minutes gone, the wind carrying the ball over the Carrig defence leaving a grateful striker to head home from six yards. Carrig continued to threaten with Aneesh Sawani inches away from halving the deficit after lovely build up play by Robert Adam and Darragh Hoare.
Five minutes before half time, Carrig suffered a sucker punch. When a 50/50 challenge left a Kanturk player on the ground, all 22 players stopped in concern. But as the ref called play on, Kanturk won the battle for the ball, spread the play to the back post and tapped in for a third goal. A harsh lesson in the reality of competitive sport, but the Carrigtwohill players, in particular Ebe Imoh, can be proud of their sportsmanship. Carrig felt that 3-0 was a harsh score line after a fairly even first half, but the second half would be far from even.
Carrig started on the front foot, attacking from the off and pinning Kanturk back in their own half. Good play from Robert Adam, Darragh Hoare and Ronan Imedi opened Kanturk up on several occasions, but the long grass and the strong wind conspired to thwart Carrigtwohill. Darragh Crowley and Alex Canty kept it very tight at the back, giving Carrig confidence to go forward in numbers. With 15 minutes left Aneesh Sawani dropped a beautiful cross into Evan Donnelly, who finished in style to set up an exciting finish.
It was all Carrigtwohill for the last ten minutes with James OShaughnessy working hard getting forward from fullback in search of goals. The league leaders were camped in their own box for the last ten minutes as Carrig lay siege to their goal, and with tired legs all over the pitch it was Carrig would finish the stronger. But the clock was against Carrigtwohill and in difficult conditions they couldn’t add to the score line. A disappointing result but the hardworking display bodes well for the rest of the season.
Player of the Match – Darragh Crowley