Cannon blasts OLBC out of the Junior Cup

Athenry 2OLBC 1

Mike Rafferty

Nine man Athenry had to dig deep as they survived more drama than one could find at the theatre as they advanced from Sunday’s FAI Junior Cup clash at Moanbawn and their reward is another home game in the sixth round against either Ballina Town or last year’s beaten finalist’s Kilbarrack United.

Two up at the break, they then found themselves two men down as the pressure mounted and it was only the intervention of linesman Vincent Carew, who made the correct ruling, that saved the home side conceding an equaliser following a missed penalty. 

Two strikes by Conor Cannon in the opening six minutes had put Athenry in the driving seat, before they were inflicted a cruel blow when Gary Forde was sent off on 44 minutes when he was presented with his second yellow card of the day for a simple foul in the middle of the park.

While it is always difficult to judge in these situations, the home side were denied what seemed a certain penalty on 56 minutes, when Ray Moran was sandwiched in a challenge in the box.

A Jimmy Jennings tap in left matters in the balance at 2-1 with a half hour to go, before the game’s turning point arrived on 77 minutes.

Again Jennings was in the thick of the action, as his goal-bound shot was kept out by a terrific Gary Delaney diving save. Problem is that Delaney is a central midfielder and while his handball saved a certain goal, it also resulted in a correct red card.

The resulting penalty by Geoffrey Power crashed off the crossbar, with the midfielder also failing to hit the target with the rebound.

Therein the problem arose as the midfielder was playing the ball for a second time, without anyone else touching it and the subsequent scrambled “goal” that resulted was ruled out following the intervention of linesman Carew who flagged the indiscretion as soon as it happened.

The frustration seemed to kill off all the fight left in the city side, for despite controlling matters they never got a sight of goal as an outstanding Athenry back four kept the visitors well away from the target.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.