Blarney Street Athletic 6

Cathedral Celtic 1

BLARNEY STREET ATHLETIC kept their interest in the League 1 title alive when they cantered to a 6-1 victory over Cathedral Celtic at a blustery Fairfield.

Blarney Street’s hero of the day was Christopher O’Driscoll who scored four over the action.

After leading 2-0 at the break, the Street upped their performance further in the second 45 and in the end, ran out convincing winners.

The Street’s defence were nearly caught napping after just minutes in when Antonio Ntiu collected from a short corner before lifting a cross over for Wadi Dridi, but the advancing full back, just failed to get a touch while unattended near goal.

Play soon shifted to the other end with Aaron Magee driving a first time volley over from Robbie Cunningham’s cross.

Then, Colin Keane turned inside before firing low at Jordan O’Connor who dealt with the effort well.

Damien Coffey won possession cheaply which gave him a half chance, but George Kenny threw his body in the line to deny the Cathedral winger’s effort reaching its intended target.

Good Blarney Street pressure followed with Christopher O’Driscoll hooking a cross into the box and when it broke for Aaron Magee, he drilled narrowly wide.

A nice Blarney Street move ensued after that which commenced with Cunningham playing it short for O’Driscoll who combined with Magee before firing low, but straight at Jordan O’Connor.

Cathedral were then reduced to ten men after Wadi Dridi was sent from the field of play after receiving a second yellow.

The Street were having the upper hand now and after Robbie Cunningham fired over following a pass from Anthony Peelo, the hosts nosed in front after a lovely passage of play.

Christopher O’Driscoll played it on to Christopher Butt, who picked out the supporting Robbie Cunningham to cross for Aaron Magee who sent a thumping header crashing into the far corner on 38 minutes.

A response from Cathedral then saw Alex O’Sullivan produce an audacious effort that beat Paul Connolly – only to see it bounce off the bar before going over.

But, on 44 minutes; Christopher Butt cushioned a header from Victor Mylod’s pass into the path of Christopher O’Driscoll who found the bottom corner with a terrific finish.

And with seconds to the interval, O’Driscoll was unlucky to see his fizzing effort lift narrowly over from Cunningham’s assist.

Cathedral were bright in their approach as the second half took off and were rewarded when from Antonio Ntiu’s corner, Damien Coffey drilled home off a defender to reduce the arrears.

The Street responded with Cunningham finding O’Driscoll with a diagonal ball to rifle inches past the upright.

But, the Street found themselves 3-1 up when Peelo headed on for Stephen Waters who picked out O’Driscoll to slam home his second and his side’s third on 52 minutes.

The Street were availing of the numerical advantage now and when Magee collected from Victor Mylod, he jinked past two players, but failed to beat Jordan O’Connor with his final effort.

But, Magee became the provider for Blarney Street’s fourth when he skipped around two defenders before laying it square for O’Driscoll who produced an exquisite finish to the corner – 4-1 to Blarney Street on 64 minutes.

The hosts were pretty much in control now and the inevitable happened when Christopher O’Driscoll showed a neat touch before steadying to unleash a forceful effort which seemed to touch off a Cathedral defender before finding its way deep into the net to make it 5-1 on 80 minutes.

Adding icing to the cake then was Jonathon Walsh who collected from Aaron Magee before cracking a terrific effort into the left corner with just minutes remaining to chalk up a big three points as Blarney Street continue to keep their challenge for the title alive.

Blarney Street Athletic: Paul Connolly, Robbie Cunningham, Colin Keane, George Kenny, Robert O’Connor, Stephen Waters, Victor Mylod, Anthony Peelo, Christopher Butt, Christopher O’Driscoll and Aaron Magee.

Subs: Gareth Cambridge for Christopher Butt (44), Jonathon Walsh for Robert O’Connor (65).

Cathedral Celtic: Jordon O’Connor, Darren Horgan, Wadi Dridi, Colin Farmer, Luke O’Mahony, Johnny Sullivan, Cian Madden, Derek Heaphy, Alex O’Sullivan, Antonio Ntiu and Damien Coffey.

Subs: No subs used.

Referee: Brendan O’Regan.