Cathedral Celtic 3 Greenmount 1

CATHEDRAL CELTIC are through to the second round of the City Challenge Cup after a 3-1 victory over Greenmount Rangers at the Fairfield.

Second division side Greenmount Rangers were holding themselves well against League 1 side Cathedral Celtic, but some quality substitutions were made by Cathedral midways through the second period which decided the outcome in the end.

Cathedral’s Derek Heaphy got the tie going with a speculative effort which brought Mathew Cooney into action with a comfortable save.

At the other end, a swift turn and strike from Joe McCullough did not bother Cathedral’s keeper too much.

A Greenmount free kick followed and when Alex Connolly found Charlie Murphy near goal, both Jamie Coughlan and Jordan O’Connor did enough defending to ensure O’Connor would not get his shot away.

A titanic battle in midfield ensued for some time which made sure that chances were few and far between until Derek Heaphy’s free kick came for Alex O’Sullivan who swivelled before forcing Mathew Cooney to a fine save at the expense of a corner.

Greenmount threatened next with Alex Connolly firing low from 25 before being involved again minutes later when he seized onto a pass from Dale Tynan who forced O’Connor to push out for a corner from his stinging effort.

Derek Heaphy almost slipped a neat one through for Josh Tawadrous, but an alert Mathew Cooney came off his line in the nick of time to save the day.

Cathedral’s Antonio Nitu found Tawadrous with a perfect ball, but he was denied a certain goal scoring opportunity by a superb block from Pat Tynan.

A half chance came Greenmount’s way when Alex Connolly picked up cheap possession around the centre, but when he setup Rob Lyne, he blazed over from 20 yards out.

But, the ice was broken on 38 minutes when Cathedral were awarded a penalty following a handball incident in the box and from the spot, Derek Heaphy made no mistake with a well-taken effort to the bottom corner.

Greenmount’s Gary McCarthy got the second half away by forcing Jordan O’Connor to save from his crisply struck free kick, but a great chance fell for Cathedral soon afterwards when Wadi Dridi could only head straight at Mathew Cooney from Darragh Heaphy’s free kick.

Then, when Robbie Burke beats his marker on the right, he failed to find the available Alex O’Sullivan with his final ball.

But, Cathedral had a let off at this point when the woodwork came to their rescue following a superbly struck free kick from Gary McCarthy that cannoned off the crossbar before going over.

A driving run from Derek Heaphy followed – only to see him drill over from 20.

Minutes later, it was honours even once again when Gary McCarthy fired home from the spot after Greenmount were awarded a penalty in the 71st minute.

A response from Cathedral saw Damien Coffey embark on a run on the right before picking out the available Robbie Rourke, but the striker was denied a goal-scoring chance when Pat O’Sullivan produced a top-drawer block in the nick of time.

This was followed by a fine effort from Darragh Heaphy that flashed narrowly past the post.

Cathedral were starting to edge it now and when Darragh Heaphy collected from Luke O’Mahony, he fired over from a good position, but the hosts found themselves in front when Robbie Rourke collected before slamming low into the far corner to hand Cathedral back the advantage again on 82 minutes.

The tie was wrapped up soon afterwards when Darragh Healy’s cross reached Morgan O’Connor who steered into the far corner – 3-1 to Cathedral in the end.

Cathedral Celtic: Jordan O’Connor, Jamie Coughlan, Damien Coffey, Sebastian Donovan, Darragh Heaphy, Wadii Dridi, Antonio Nitu, Derek Heaphy, Robbie Rourke, Josh Tawadrous and Alex O’Sullivan.

Subs: Aaron Skillington and Luke O’Mahony for Josh Tawadrous and Alex O’Sullivan (63), Morgan O’Connor and Cian Madden for Derek Heaphy and Antonio Nitu (73).

Greenmount Rgs: Mathew Cooney, Pat Tynan, Eoin Ryan, Niall Fitzgerald, Pat O’Sullivan, Rob Lyons, Alex Connolly, Gary McCarthy, Joe McCullough, Dale Tynan and Charlie Murphy.

Subs: Pierce O’Keeffe for Alex Connolly (58), Robson Mugabe for Joe McCullough (89).

Referee: Mick O’Flaherty.