AUL: Morgan O’Connor nets winner for Cathedral Celtic at Banteer

CFC Banteer 0 Cathedral Celtic 1

A COOL finish from Morgan O’Connor helped AUL League 1 leaders Cathedral Celtic to a hard-earned 1-0 victory over fellow title contenders CFC Banteer at the Banteer Sports Complex over the weekend. It certainly was a tight affair that saw some chances spurned on both sides.

The midfield battle was evenly balanced with David Murphy shining for Banteer while Michael Peters was outstanding for Cathedral Celtic.

Cathedral had to endure a significant amount of pressure from their opponents as the second period wore on, but did manage the game well enough to ensure all three points would be secured in a title race that will only get better as the season progresses.

CFC Banteer engineered the first half-chance when Chris Taylor lofted a pass into the path of Tadgh Murphy, but he skewed wide of the target from an acute angle.

Minutes later; Cathedral were relieved to see David Murphy’s effort whistled inches past the upright following a quickly taken corner.

Wide

Banteer’s good start continued with Niall Kearney finding David Murphy who picked out the over-lapping Timmy Murphy to rifle wide.

And after Banteer won a corner on the right, Timmy Murphy’s lofted delivery came for Cathal O’Donoghue who headed over while unattended.

Play soon shifted to the other end and it was Derek Heaphy who was presented with a good chance, but he drills straight at Corkery.

Another terrific chance fell for Banteer following a nice move as David Murphy threads it through for Tadgh Murphy who helps on to set up Chris Taylor – only to see the striker skew wide near the far post.

But, when Michael Peters won possession from David Murphy, he finds Morgan O’Connor with a sumptuous through ball to fire coolly past the advancing Jordan Corkery on 38 minutes. With minutes into the second half, Colin Farmer picks out Derek Heaphy in a good position, but Timmy Murphy came to his side’s rescue with a timely tackle.

CFC Banteer had no choice now, but to chase the game and their pace increased as they applied pressure on Cathedral’s defence and after a cross from David Murphy was just too high for Chris Taylor, Robert Stack heads straight at Jordan O’Connor from David Murphy’s free in what was a nervy final five minutes.

CFC BANTEER: Jordan Corkery, Martin Kearney, Timmy Murphy, Brendan Stack, Cathal O’Donoghue, Tadgh Murphy, Robert Stack, David McAuliffe, David Murphy, Chris Taylor, Niall Kearney.

Subs: Brian O’Keeffe for Tadgh Murphy (half-time), Liam O’Brien and Barry Murphy for Niall Kearney and David McAuliffe (72),

CATHEDRAL CELTIC: Jordan O’Connor, Darren Horgan, Aaron Skillington, Colin Farmer, Luke O’Mahony, Johnny O’Sullivan, Darren Heaphy, Michael Peters, Anthony Ntiu, Derek Heaphy, Morgan O’Connor.

Subs: Simon Deady for Morgan O’Connor (61), Sebastian Donovan for Derek Heaphy (83), Alex O’Sullivan for Darren Heaphy ((84), Damien Coffey for Anthony Ntiu (85).

Referee: Billy Noonan.