Aidan McNamee hat-trick sees Mogeely reach the second round of the County Cup
The Mogeely A side that had a 4-1 victory over Castlbridge Celtic in the first round of the County Cup at Fermoy FC grounds.
The big difference between the two sides was the quality in the final third that Mogeely had, but Castlebridge made a huge contribution towards making it a very competitive 90 minutes also.
Mogeely A exploded out of the blocks and after a deceptive shot-cum-cross from Rory Black whistled narrowly wide, Billy Foley McCann robbed Jack Murray of possession before setting off towards goal, but Barry Sheehy was sharp enough to challenge in the nick of time and save the day.
Then, after David McCarthy defended well enough to deny Jonathon Clifford a goal-scoring chance, the East Cork side did forge in front when a lovely ball from Dion Drake found Billy Foley McCann, who picked out the available Aidan McNamee to steer the opener past Sheehy on ten minutes.
Mogeely continued to enjoy the early possession and from Matthew Cotter Sweetnam’s lofted pass, McNamee chested it down for Rory Black to blaze over.
At the other end, Kevin Barrett controlled before cushioning a ball down for Cian O’Driscoll, who drilled narrowly wide.
Nice build up play from Mogeely followed as McNamee played it neatly for Matthew Cotter Sweenam, who helped it on for Dion Drake to fire narrowly past the post.
A chance came for Mogeely then, but when McCann found Clifford in space, the striker could not adjust his body in time to get a shot away before McCann found a way through, but the ball seemed to have spun away from him at a crucial moment.
Castlebridge were challenging hard to get some kind of foothold on the game and in fact, had a chance when Kevin Barrett found Aaron Fenton in space, but his reluctance to pull the trigger allowed Karol Michniewicz a chance to get a foot in and abort the threat.
What a chance then fell for Conor Twomey, but from Jordon Gordon Harvey’s cross, he failed to produce some conviction while unattended near the far post.
Castlebridge were to rue those chances as Mogeely doubled their advantage when Billy Foley McCann setup Jonathon Clifford to slam home with aplomb on 34 minutes.
And after Jonathon Clifford saw his run-and-strike fly wide, it was 3-0 at the break when McNamee latched on to a ball over the top before placing past a helpless Sheehy on the stroke of half-time.
Mogeely won a corner in the opening minutes of the second period and from that set-piece, Luke Dean rose to force Sheehy to a low save from his header.
Castlebridge went so close towards reducing the arrears when Cian O’Driscoll beat Sweetnam with a low effort, only to see the ball go agonisingly past the upright.
And when Aaron Fenton collected from Cian O’Driscoll, he was denied a goal-scoring chance when Mogeely’s Michniewicz threw his body on the line to produce a solid block.
At the other end, McNamee found a way through, but his effort lacked force as Sheehy collected.
Castlebridge did pull one back when Kevin Barrett slammed home from the spot, following a hand-ball incident inside the box.
But, after defending from a free kick, Mogeely broke with pace and following a neat passage of play, Aidan McNamee completed his hat-trick with another cool finish, 4-1 to Mogeely A.
Castlebridge Celtic: Barry Sheehy, Padraig Dolan, Jack Murray, David McCarthy, Sean O’Driscoll, David Twomey, Aaron Fenton, Cian O’Driscoll, Jordan Gordan Harvey, Kevin Barrett and Conor Twomey.
Subs: Jason Moorehouse for Jack Murray (57), Artjoms Ivanovs for Sean O’Driscoll (62), Gracjan Patek for Aaron Fenton (62), Jay O’Sullivan for Padraig Dolan (82).
Mogeely A: Oran Sweetnam, Matthew Cotter Sweenam, Karol Michniewicz, Luke Dean, Ronan McCarthy, Rory Black, Dion Drake, Billy Foley McCann, Jonathon Clifford, Aidan McNamee and Luke Cushen.
Subs: Rory Murphy for Billy Foley McCann (half-time), Colm Beausang for Luke Dean (59), James McConnell for Dion Drake (60), Phillip Ansbro for Johnathon Clifford (64).
Referee: Jim Hennessy.
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