Cobh to try again for place in final
SOCCER
Daire Walsh
GREYSTONES UNITED………………………0
COBH WANDERERS………………………….0
COBH Wanderers and Greystones United will have to do it all again, after they couldn’t be separated in the semi-final of the FAI Intermediate Cup at Woodlands on Saturday evening.
Substitute Shane Geasley and Ian Stapleton had the best opportunities for the visitors – who will renew acquaintances with Greystones at Old Church Park, Cobh, this weekend, for the right to face Liffey Wanderers in the upcoming decider.
Cobh had booked their place in the last-four with an outstanding 3-2 quarter-final victory over Crumlin United, but were without the suspended duo of Conor Meade and Kyle Downey for the trip to the north Wicklow venue.
Indeed, with League of Ireland veteran Gary Dempsey featuring alongside former Celtic youth player Gareth McDonagh, there was a formidable look to the Greystones line-up on their home astro pitch.
It proved to be a scrappy opening and the sides remained delicately poised as the half progressed, although a curling 25-yard free-kick by Dempsey drifted just past the left-hand upright. With just a minute of the first-half remaining, Greystones’ Hayden was forced into the role of ‘sweeper keeper’ to beat the onrushing Stapleton to a through ball, and this ensured the opening period was a scoreless one.
It was expected that the play would open up after the restart, and strong defensive work by Greystones prevented Cobh’s Owen Kinsella from getting a shot away five minutes into the half.
An audacious effort by Stapleton was wide of the mark after 53 minutes of play, and with Greystones initially finding it hard to readjust themselves, Cobh sensed the game was there for the taking.
The introduction of Paul Molloy was a shrewd move by the Greystones management, though, as it allowed them to transfer Dempsey to a wider position in the front-line. Molloy also provided a fresh impetus in the centre-forward position, and his flicked shot from a Tanner delivery was saved by Michael Devine in the Cobh goal.
The best chance of the game fell the way of Wanderers, however, as O’Flynn’s 69th-minute pass freed Geasley – who had replaced Stephen Griffen four minutes earlier.
He appeared to be odds-on to break the deadlock when he rounded the advancing Hayden, only for his resulting strike to be cleared off the line in dramatic fashion. The Greystones faithful breathed a massive sigh of relief on this occasion, but it certainly increased the tempo of the game.
The Leinster Senior League outfit applied significant pressure on the Cobh goal for an extended spell, but it was their opponents who were, once again, agonisingly close to securing a spot in the final. Stapleton was one of the leading lights in a determined Wanderers performance, and his 30-yard piledriver produced a stunning stop from Hayden two minutes from the end of normal time.
This proved to be the final meaningful attack of the night, and as a result, a replay will now be required before the penultimate round of this competition can be drawn to a close.
GREYSTONES UNITED: Adam Hayden; Jack Tanner, Stephen Metcalfe, Andrew O’Brien, Conor O’Mahoney; Shane Evans (Paul Molloy 58), Ian Jordan, Gareth McDonagh, David Crosbie (Cormac Byrne 82); Karl Manahan (Barry O’Donnell 91), Gary Dempsey.
COBH WANDERERS: Michael Devine; Eoin Hastings, John Meade, Brian Fitzgerald, Peter Nolan; Alan O’Flynn (James Stoat 92), Owen Kinsella, Michael O’Shea, David Stack; Ian Stapleton, Stephen Griffen (Shane Geasley 65).
Referee: Dave Fitzsimons (Dublin).