Ten-man Thurles Town see off Nenagh Celtic in Premier Division shield final
Thurles Town beat Nenagh Celtic 1-0 in the North Tipperary & District League’s Premier Division Shield final at Nenagh College on Sunday afternoon - Thurles Town coped admirably with the Celtic challenge despite playing the final thirty-nine minutes of this contest with ten men following the dismissal of Eoin Byrne in the 54th minute.
Town took the lead in the sixth minute when Adrian Cleere headed home Martin Darmody’s pin-point corner.
This final then adopted a stop-start nature with both sides struggling to piece together moves on a reasonably poor playing surface.
The next chance of note materialised in the 25th minute when Celtic ‘keeper David Walsh pushed Eoin Byrne’s free kick away at the expense of a corner.
Eight minutes before the break Celtic created their first opportunity, but Mark Walsh found Graham Loughman’s side netting following an Alan Kelly cross. Then, right on the stroke of half-time, Kelly lifted a half chance over the Thurles Town bar.
Tempers flared nine minutes into the second half following an incident involving Thurles Town’s Eoin Byrne and Nenagh Celtic’s Stevie Ryan - referee Tommy Lynch brandished a second yellow yard at the Thurles striker and the defending league champions were down to ten men.
Thurles Town coped well with the situation that they found themselves in and created a terrific goal-scoring opportunity in the 57th minute when Michael Byrne played in Joe Moloney on the counter and Celtic ‘keeper David Walsh did especially well to save.
At the other end Graham Loughman saved a tame Jamie Kelly effort in the 67th minute while Celtic created their best opportunity of the game in the 79th when Loughman advanced to save at the feet of the raiding Michael Hynes and Danny Ryan failed to make a telling connection on the rebound.
Next week Thurles Town are scheduled to take on Blackcastle Templemore Harps in the league - the result of that contest will have a big impact on the fight for the Premier Division title.
MATCH DETAILS
Nenagh Celtic: David Walsh, Alan Kelly, Seán Healy, Stevie Ryan, Paul Walsh, Danny O’Donoghue, Michael Hynes, Danny Ryan, Paddy Lynch, Mark Walsh, Jamie Kelly. Subs: (72nd) Tadhg McCarthy for Paddy Lynch, (88th) Anton Provotorov for Danny O’Donoghue.
Thurles Town: Graham Loughman, Michael Byrne, Martin Darmody, James Hogan, Aaron Ryan, Adrian Cleere, Joe Moloney, Wallace Bourke, Eoin Byrne, Pádraig Fogarty, Paul Kirwan. Subs: (74th) Robert Jordan for James Hogan.
The Nenagh Celtic team which lost 0-1 to Thurles Town on Sunday.