Tipperary side make the long trip to Sligo in FAI Cup a winning one

FAI Junior Cup Round 4

Strand Celtic 0 – 3 Peake Villa

TSDL champions Peake Villa made the long trip to Sligo to take on Strand Celtic in the FAI Junior Cup on Sunday, but the distance travelled was worth it as they came away with a very good win against tough opponents.

Villa started well and pressed high, making the home side defend early on. They were rewarded for good pressure in the 12th minute when Ronan McGuire capitalised on a mistake in midfield and ran with the ball directly at the heart of the Strand defence. Space opened up for him and he scored to the bottom corner to make it 1-0 with a fine individual goal.

But the home side were not without chances of their own coming close on a couple of occasions, only to find Willie Tierney in good form and he easily dealt with their efforts.

The visiting team were having great joy on the wings with Darragh Byrne and Dale Loughnane a thorn in the home side all game. And that led to them extending their lead three minutes before the break when good play from Pippy Carroll saw him cross the ball into a dangerous area forcing a home defender to put into his own net and make it 2-0 at half time.

The second half was 45 minutes of few chances with Strand trying to get back into the game. They did have a great chance midway through the half, but the shot was again well saved by Tierney.

The final act of note came six minutes from the end when the Thurles side put all chances of a comeback beyond doubt, getting a third when McGuire controlled a ball into the box with his chest and scored with his left foot, to the delight of the travelling supporters.