Cathedral Celtic advance to the City Challenge Cup final after a 3-1 victory over Blackpool Celtic
The Cathedral Celtic side that had a 3-1 victory over Blackpool Celtic in the semi-final of the City Challenge Cup at the Fairfield.
They will now play UCC B in the final at the MTU Campus on Saturday, May 23 at 2pm.
But, what a cracking semi-final this was as both sides produced some expansive cup football throughout with Cathedral Celtic making an immediate impression after just six minutes when Kyle O’Callaghan worked it back for Corey Ryan who found the top corner with a wonderful finish.
Cathedral threatened again minutes later when Kyle O’Callaghan collected from Michael Blake before drilling a goal-bound effort that skidded off a defender’s head before flying narrowly over.
Then, from a corner, Morgan O’Connor shuffled away from his marker before cracking an effort that saw Blackpool’s Scott Duggan head away for a corner.
At the other end, Graham Corkery found space before working Kristian O’Sullivan to produce a solid save from his effort.
And when Corkery tried to thread a ball into space for Luke O’Mahony, Morgan O’Connor produced an important interception to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity happening.
A dinking pass into space by Ivan Skillington setup Michael Blake with a half-chance, but he looped over with his effort.
Blackpool Celtic came so close to grabbing an equaliser soon after when a ball broke for Graham Corkery, his fizzing effort flashed inches wide.
Willie Matthews was brought into action after that to produce a super save from Morgan O’Connor’s fizzing free kick, but when it broke inside the box for Kyle O’Callaghan, he poked home from close range to double Cathedral’s advantage on the half-hour.
And after Jamie Morrissey’s effort from distance never really bothered Kristian O’Sullivan, Morgan O’Connor turned, inside the box before directing his effort narrowly wide, following a free kick from Jonathon O’Sullivan.
The final action in the first 45 saw Dale O’Donoghue steer wide off the target after Kyle O’Callaghan’s effort was blocked by Billy Murphy.
Cathedral started brightly as the second half got under way and following a neat move involving Michael Blake and Kyle O’Callaghan, Dale O’Donoghue forced a fine save from Willie Matthews.
O’Donoghue was involved again later when he once again forced Matthews to a decent save from the edge of the box.
This was followed by a floating cross which arrived for Ivan Skillington who skewed his volley across goal.
Then, following neat build-up-play, Michael Blake had the final say when he drilled a forceful low effort, inches wide.
A delightful ball from Ivan Skillington picked out Dale O’Donoghue in a good position, but as he was about to pull the trigger, Craig Horgan produced a top-drawer tackle to deny him a certain goal-scoring opportunity.
But, Blackpool Celtic brought themselves right back into the battle later when a super strike from Eoin Duke torpedoed into the top corner to reduce the arrears on 75 minutes.
As Blackpool set their sights firmly on chasing an equaliser, Cathedral’s Corey Ryan came close with a cracking effort that narrowly cleared the bar before Michael Blake made Willie Matthews stretch to tip over for a corner from his dipping effort.
Blackpool Celtic’s energy levels grew to great heights as they frantically chased the equaliser and at this stage, Cathedral had to get numbers behind the ball to defend like Trojans as Kyle O’Keeffe drilled a cracking effort which saw Kristian O’Sullivan get a hand to before it smacked off the bar and over for a corner.
At this stage, Cathedral found themselves under huge pressure as Blackpool continued to press, but they still found it difficult to break down a stubborn defence, expertly marshalled by Morgan O’Connor.
With just minutes left, Kyle O’Callaghan gathered on the left before cutting inside to force Willie Matthews parry from his stinging effort and when Blackpool’s defence failed to clear the loose ball, Dale O’Donoghue pounced to steer home his side’s third and make it game set and match.
Cathedral Celtic: Kristian O’Sullivan, Eoin O’Connell, Evan Leahy, Luke O’Mahony, Morgan O’Connor, Jonathon O’Sullivan, Dale O’Donoghue, Kyle O’Callaghan, Michael Blake, Corey Ryan and Ivan Skillington.
Subs: Denis McCarthy for Evan Leahy (46), Sean O’Mahony for Ivan Skillington (70), Ross Kiely for Corey Ryan (71), Robbie Leahy for Eoin O’Connell (83).
Blackpool Celtic: Willie Matthews, Scott Duggan, Lee Duggan, Billy Murphy, Craig Horgan, Padraig Cosgrove, Sean O’Halloran, Jamie Morrissey, Kyle O’Keeffe, Graham Corkery and Luke O’Mahony.
Subs: Sean O’Sullivan for Padraig Cosgrove (half-time), Eoin Duke for Luke O’Mahony (57), Jamie Lynch for Sean O’Halloran (80), Christopher O’Callaghan for Graham Corkery (80).
Referee: Jim Hennessy.
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