Corkbeg 3-1 Blarney Street Athletic (AET):
Corkbeg defeated a well fancied Blarney Street Athletic in the first round of the AOH Cup on Saturday afternoon, after extra-time.
Corkbeg started the better of the two sides, and were unlucky not to have taken the lead on a number of occasions, with the away side’s keeper make a few good saves to keep the game scoreless and Alan Hogan striking the crossbar. As the half went on, the Blarney side came into the game, but good defending from Corkbeg kept them at bay. It was 0-0 at half time.
Corkbeg made one change at half-time, with David Hickman making way for Max Ahern. Corkbeg started the half brightly, once again, but had more efforts saved by the Blarney keeper. The away side were dangerous on the counter, but some top-notch defending from Cian O Driscoll, Stevie O Halloran, Colin Horgan & Dylan O Neill ensured the game stayed at a stalemate.
The opposition were reduced to ten men at around the 65th minute mark. Corkbeg upped the tempo, and were awarded a penalty for their hard work. Tariq Tynan stepped up, but his effort was well saved by the keeper, again. It was still scoreless at full-time.
After a quick break, the extra-time period began. Both sides looked to grab a winner, but it was the home side who looked like doing so. After the first ten minutes, the deadlock was still to be broken.
Corkbeg opened the scoring with 8 minutes left, with Jordan Ryan slotting home from close range. Minutes later it was 2-0. Tariq made up for his earlier penalty miss by composing himself to take the ball away from the defender, and slot home into the empty net. Alan Hogan got a well deserved goal only two minutes later. Blarney did get a goal back, in the last minute, from the penalty spot.
Corkbeg ran out 3-1 winners in the end and progress onto the next round. Special mention to Stevie O Halloran, Colin Horgan & Alan Hogan, who both had outstanding games.
CORKBEG: J Manning, D O Neill, S O Halloran, C Horgan, D Hickman, J Ryan, J Farmer, K O Driscoll, A Hogan, T Tynan, C O Driscoll. Subs – M. Ahern, S. Garde