St Peter"s keep cup dream alive

(AET)Two extra-time goals from "super-sub" Brian Caldwell saw St. Peter"s of Athlone snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in an entertaining Umbro sponsored FAI Junior Cup semi-final against TSDL champions Clonmel Town before a good sized attendance at Cooke Park, Tipperary town, last Saturday evening. On a beautiful manicured St. Michael"s AFC pitch, 1994 winners Clonmel Town blew the opportunity of another attempt at lifting this coveted trophy when they twice led this tie only to allow a battling St. Peter"s off the hook. The Athlone side snatched equalisers right at the death of the opening half and again minutes before the end of normal time. St Peter"s will now attempt to become the first Athlone side to win this competition in over 70 years and must be credited for a most wonderful achievement in reaching the final of a competition which boasts over 700 participating teams at its outset. In the opening eight minutes Clonmel Town - who were dangerous breaking down the left flank with Rory Kiely, Dwayne Burns and Michael Coady - notched up more than seven corner-kicks but failed to penetrate a solid St. Peters rearguard. With Clonmel Town having the lion"s share of possession, they continued to create chances with a Mark Costigan header hitting off the upright from an Ian Barnes corner after 21 minutes, and then Town blew another chance after 25 minutes when a flowing move involving Ian Barnes and Paul Scully ended with Patrick Craughwell making a timely interception from Aaron Moroney. Clonmel wasted another chance when Dwayne Burns showed some neat footwork to beat two players but fired his shot into the side netting. After 29 minutes, the relentless Clonmel Town pressure eventually paid dividends when a corner-kick by Ian Barnes saw Mark Costigan rise highest to head home. St. Peter"s, living off scraps at this stage, came close when a free-kick by Adrian Carberry ended with a first-time strike by Stephen Mullan skimming the crossbar. However, it was at the other end that saw the majority of the action with St. Peters" Eoin Fox forcing Aaron Moroney to fire into the side netting and Tony Scully heading over from a Dwayne Burns centre. With two additional minutes showing on the fourth official"s board, St. Peter"s, against the run of play, saw the hard working Mark Sherlock dispossess John Shanahan out on the touchline and he slipped the ball to the unmarked Stephen Mullan whose well placed strike across "keeper Richard Ryan found the far corner of the net to leave it all square at the break. Clonmel recovered from that setback and were again enjoying the majority of the exchanges with Dwayne Burns breaking through the St. Peter"s defence but instead of passing to the unmarked Tony Scully decided to shoot and his effort was easily taken by St. Peter"s netminder Keith Hynes. The Clonmel Town supporters didn"t have to wait long to see their side regain the lead because after 50 minutes the goal came when good one touch football between Ian Barnes and Dwayne Burns saw the latter"s end-line low centre across the face of the goal being tapped home at the far post by the in-rushing Tony Scully. On the hour mark, Clonmel should have put the game beyond St. Peter"s with the normally reliable Tony Scully missing two gilt edged chances. The first opportunity came when a deep centre by John Shanahan saw Keith Hynes parry an Aaron Moroney header and the ball fell to the unmarked Scully who blasted over an open goal from six yards. Scully, who should have notched up a hat-trick by now, then failed to make proper contact from an Ian Barnes inch perfect centre. Those misses were to prove costly as St. Peter"s, following that double let-off, reorganised their forces by bringing on fresh legs in both Brian Caldwell and Craig Tone. However, it was Clonmel that continued to ask the questions with Dwayne Burns beating two defenders before being denied by the outstretched hand of Keith Hynes. With 80 minutes gone, Clonmel"s left back Michael Coady was sent off for a second bookable offence after he dragged down David Donohue but the free-kick by Adrian Carberry that followed was cleared by the Town defence. Clonmel, who had also lost Tony Scully through injury, and his brother Paul being substituted, were losing their grip in the centre of the park and as a result it was St. Peter"s that was now getting the upper hand. Although struggling to breakdown the Town rearguard, St. Peter"s did get a very fortuitous equaliser three minutes before the end of normal time when a corner-kick was only cleared to the unmarked Tom Silke on the edge of the penalty area. Silke"s strike through a crowd of players struck the butt of the post and rebounded off goalkeeper Richard Ryan"s back and over the goal-line forcing another twenty minutes extra-time. With Clonmel down to ten players they had to readjust their players leaving just three at the back but in the opening period of extra-time had opportunities with Rory Kiely showing some neat footwork to beat a number of players only for his shot to be well saved by Keith Hynes. However, it was just on the stroke of half-time in extra-time that St. Peter"s took the lead for the first time at 3-2 when a corner-kick to the near post by Adrian Carberry was headed home by Brian Caldwell. With Clonmel now having the proverbial mountain to climb, St. Peter"s put the issue beyond doubt when a long clearance saw Brian Caldwell beat Darren Burns for pace before coolly firing past the advancing Richard Ryan to the delight of the St. Peters" supporters to reach a historic first FAI Junior Cup Final against Ballymun Utd. St. Peter"s: Keith Hynes; Eoin Fox; Paul Murphy; Tom Silke; Rory McGowan; Patrick Craughwell; David Donohue; Michael Collins; Mark Sherlock; Stephen Mullan; Adrian Carberry. Subs used: Brian Caldwell for Craughwell (60 mins); Craig Tone for Collins (68). Clonmel Town: Richard Ryan; John Shanahan; Michael Coady; Ray Condon; Robbie Costigan; Tony Scully; Ian Barnes; Paul Scully; Aaron Moroney; Dwayne Burns; Rory Kiely. Subs used: Barry Kiely for T Scully (70 mins); Darren Burns for Moroney (87); Stephen Ryan for Dwayne Burns (100). REFEREE: Tony Purcell (Waterford).