AUL: Cathedral Celtic spot on to book AOH Cup semi spot

Cathedral Celtic 3 Village Utd 3 (Cathedral won 5-4 on pens)

LEAGUE 1 leaders Cathedral Celtic created a big shock when they ousted Premier side Village United 5-4 on penalties from the AOH Cup in the Mayfield Community School over the weekend.

And it certainly was no fluke as they thoroughly deserved their victory after producing an admirable team performance which saw them book their ticket to the semi-final stage now of the competition.

Straight from the kick-off, Cathedral were nearly caught cold when a ball dropped over their defence for O’Donnell, but he hooked wide.

But what a start for Cathedral when Cian Madden won possession on the right before picking John Corcoran out to rifle with force past Gavin Cummins for the opener on four minutes.

An immediate response from Village then saw O’Donnell drill straight at Jordan O’Connor.

It was all square again though when from Ivan Skillington’s free kick, O’Donnell headed on for Stephen Long who steered into the far corner to restore parity once again on nine minutes.

It was all happening now in these early exchanges and after Jordan O’Connor had to put his body firmly behind O’Donnell’s effort, Cathedral found themselves in front once again when Derek Heaphy powered his header into the back of the net from Cian Madden’s corner on 15.

Then, William Corcoran, noticing Cummins out of position, tried to get his shot away in a hurry, but fired off target.

A chance then fell for Cathedral when Michael Peters robbed Skillington before passing it square for John Corcoran who drilled over from outside the box.

Graham Cummins then embarked on a run down the left flank before seeing his low delivery come back off the butt of the upright.

A lovely ball from O’Donnell found Colin Hickey in space, but a superb save from O’Connor denied the midfielder.

And when Cian Madden played it through for William Corcoran at the other end, the winger rifled narrowly wide.

Play shifted promptly to the Cathedral half and Jordan O’Connor did well to touch Kyle Quinn’s low effort onto the woodwork before it was cleared to safety.

A strong run from Anthony Kiniry took him deep into the Cathedral half before cracking a fine finish into the bottom corner to send both sides into the interval at 2-2.

After a fairly subdued five minutes to the second period, William Corcoran managed to find space before lifting his effort over from 20.

And when Cian Madden fired a measured pass on for John Corcoran, the striker was unlucky to see his rasping low effort whistle inches past the upright.

Cathedral nosed in front once again when following a handball by Stephen Thompson in the box, Derek Heaphy found the corner with a crisp finish from the spot on the hour.

But, a stray pass from Johnny Sullivan handed Village an opportunity when O’Donnell headed past a helpless Jordan O’Connor to make it 3-3 on 78.

Despite this setback for Cathedral, they did start to take command of the contest at that point and after a turn and strike by Michael Peters was pushed away by Gavin Cummins, Derek Heaphy headed over from McManamon’s corner.

Cummins had to be in the right place then to deal with an effort from Peters before a good chance fell for William Corcoran who skewed wide from a favourable position.

Cathedral continued on the front foot now and Peters came so close with a low effort that skimmed past the upright.

But, after Robbie Rourke headed over from another corner, Dean Hickey’s corner reached Stephen Long who headed narrowly over at the other end before the game was forced into extra time.

And when extra time failed to produce a winner, the dreaded penalty shoot-out was called upon to decide the outcome of what was a superb cup tie.

The hero, in the end, was Johnny Sullivan who had to show great composure and nerve to fire home his side’s fifth penalty to make it 5-4 in the end to Cathedral.

CELTIC: Jordan O’Connor, Robbie Cunningham, Colm McManaman, Johnny Sullivan, Colm Farmer, Robbie Rourke, Cian Madden, Derek Heaphy, Michael Peters, John Corcoran and William Corcoran.

Subs: Wadii Dridi for Robbie Cunningham (68), Antonio Ntiu for Wadii Dridi (83), Evan Leahy for Anthony Ntiu (103).

VILLAGE: Gavin Cummins, Kyle Quinn, Graham Cummins, Stephen Thompson, Howard Coakley, Ivan Skillington, Colin Hickey, Stephen Long, Stephen O’Donnell, Anthony Kiniry and Aaron Morey.

Sub: Dean Hickey for Aaron Morey (31).

Referee: Denis Cronin.