You win some you lose some but Thurles sides still do club proud in Munster Junior Cup

Munster Junior Cup Round 4

Riverstown 2 Peake Villa 3

In what is a novel happening with both Peake Villas first and second team advancing outside of the TSDL area to the open draw in the Munster Junior Cup, the firsts won past Cork side Riverstown on Sunday morning to take their place in the fifth round, winning by a single goal in five after an exciting game.

The tie itself started at a frenetic pace, with both sides having early chances, the best coming from the visitors’ Jack Ryan Casey who went close in the fifth minute, but his well-struck shot was parried away.

Once the home side settled into the game, they took the lead after a quarter of an hour, when the Peake defence was caught flat footed, only able to watch Fionn Barry leap and score from a header from six yards out.

But Villa were not behind for long, and only four minutes later, the ever industrious Kieran Casey found Keith Cahill in space and he slid his shot past the Cork keeper to the delight of the visiting fans.
But while the Thurles side were celebrating, the home side struck back almost immediately and retook the lead a minute later through a Killian O’Sullivan effort.

The game was wide open at this stage and the TSDL side were rewarded for their attacking efforts in the 26th minute when a Dylan Coady corner was headed into the net by Sean Wade to make it 2-2, the score that the game went to the half time break at.

The second half Villa start to get on top and create some good chances through Keith Cahill and Kieren Hennessy, but the all-important goal came in the 68th minute when Alan Leahy crossed to Sean Wade who put his side in front for the first time in the game.

The Thurles side began to boss the tie from this point onwards, and Dale Loughnane came close on two occasions late on, but in the end, they were happy to finish on the right side of the result especially after the disappointment of last weekend in the FAI Junior Cup.

Shane Long's nephew, Eamon, scores extra-time winner in Tipperary Youths Cup derby

Munster Junior Cup Round 4

Springfield Ramblers 4 Peake Villa B 2

Peake Villa’s B team were also in fourth round action in the Munster Junior Cup, and travelled to Cobh Sunday afternoon to play out a thrilling cup tie against Springfield.

It was always going to be an emotional day for this young side after the past few weeks but they played out of their skin and ran a good Springfield side all the way to the final whistle.

Villa took the lead in the 20th minute when Danny Treacy was taken down in the box and was awarded a penalty, which he got up to put away himself.

After that, despite being under intense pressure, the Tipperary side looked like they were going to hold onto that unlikely lead until disaster struck in the final minutes of the half, when the home side got two goals in quick succession to head to the break in front.

The young Tipperary side could have easily thrown in the towel, but they were up for this and took the game to the hosts, levelling matters 11 minutes into the second period, when Conor Murphy played in Alex Moloney, to fire to the net.

The game turned however minutes later, when the home side scored a contentious goal to get their noses back in front, and shortly afterwards Villa were awarded a penalty kick, that was saved by the Cork net minder.

The sucker punch then came seventeen minutes from time, when Springfield added a fourth to finally put the game beyond the brave young Thurles team.

This Peake Villa side lost their popular manager Paul Twomey only a few weeks ago, but certainly honoured Paul’s memory with this battling performance, and they can be proud of themselves when they continue to cheer on their clubmates in the later stages of the Munster Junior Cup over the coming months.