Soccer
Heart-broken in extra time Inter Cup replay
SACRED HEART…………………………..1
LIFFEY WANDERERS…………………….3
By Daire Walsh
SACRED Heart/Firhouse Clover’s FAI Intermediate Cup campaign came to a crushing end at Killinarden Hill last Saturday after they suffered an extra-time replay defeat at the hands of Liffey Wanderers.
After playing out a 1-1 draw in their initial meeting on November 22, the two sides once again proved inseparable on the stroke of 90 minutes. It seemed almost impossible to determine a winner heading into the additional periods and the spectre of a penalty shootout was beginning to loom large.
However, Wanderers had enough in reserve to come through in the end. While Sacred Heart winger Owen Devereux made a strong impact off the bench, Raoui Lassoued’s brace propelled the Irishtown Stadium outfit into the fourth round.
Sacred Heart had enjoyed a dream start to the drawn encounter as Carl Forsyth rattled the Wanderers net with an early strike. Amidst testing conditions on their home patch, Paul O’Brien’s charges repeated the trick.
When a free-kick was rolled into his path on 10 minutes, centre-forward Michael Fox unleashed a precise shot into the bottom left-hand corner. This threw down the gauntlet to the visitors and with Peter O’Donnell and Lee Redmond combining to good effect in midfield, they had a last-16 showdown against Killester in their sights.
As expected, Wanderers gradually grew into the contest and Sam Simpson offered a potent threat on the right-wing.
Liffey’s Jason Doyle nodded down into Aidan Roche’s direction, but his final effort drifted over the crossbar. Wanderers continued to persevere with their challenge as the action progressed and enjoyed the lion’s share of possession.
Sacred Heart held onto their one-goal advantage until the interval and maintained a firm grip on proceedings after the resumption.
This Wanderers side are a resilient bunch, however, and the 2017 champions restored parity just past the hour mark. Following a prolonged move, the ball fell kindly in the area for Simpson to fire home off his left foot.
This set-up a tension-filled finale and though momentum appeared to be with Wanderers, Sacred Heart had some bright attacking moments of their own. Preceding Conlon’s save from Conor Riddick, Forsyth had a corner tipped over by opposition custodian Shane Nolan.
Both teams had opportunities to seal the deal in normal time – Devereux’s pace and trickery added a new dimension for Sacred Heart in the final-third – but an extra 30 minutes were ultimately required.
Lassoued was thrown into the mix in place of Doyle and it was his energy that swung the pendulum in Wanderers’ favour. He displayed great composure on 98 minutes to shoot beyond the reach of Conlon – leaving Sacred Heart with a mountain to climb in the process.
The hosts were not out of contention just yet and they pushed hard for a second goal in the closing moments of a compelling clash, but a swift Wanderers counter-attack finally placed the tie beyond doubt.
Simpson squared for the advancing Lassoued, who finished with aplomb for his second goal as a substitute.
SACRED HEART: S Conlon; C Canty, G Murphy, M Gaynor, L Walsh (R McEquilly-Brown 46); P O’Donnell (R McGuinness 74), L Redmond; C Wynne (D Farrell 95 (F Olushola 106), C Forsyth, N Arevadze (O Devereux 82); M Fox.
LIFFEY WANDERERS: S Nolan; D Andrews (S Dixon 93), A Gray, D Roche, G O’Connor (D McGuinness 82); C Murphy (A Deegan 78), C Riddick; S Simpson, A Montgomery, A Roche (S O’Callaghan 103); J Doyle (R Lassoued 78).