Razor sharp Greens blast past Manulla
The returning Rokas Mikuckis had two assists for Claremorris. Picture: Michael Donnelly
The second chapter of Claremorris and Manulla took place on Sunday just, four weeks after the Blues took the spoils in the Super League. Claremorris were gunning for revenge after the league defeat and blew the men from Carramore out of the water.
Conditions were damp and breezy at Concannon Park and both sides took time to guess what one another would do. Claremorris were without several key players but still started the encounter with purpose.
The returning tricky Rokas Mikuckis was a thorn down the left-hand side for Manulla all afternoon. He played through Simon Butler whose efforts were cleared , John Heneghan had a shot blocked down which fell kindly to the feet of Mike Heaney who calmly found the corner of the net to put the home side in front after 14 minutes on the clock.
Manulla had a glorious opportunity to restore parity in the 20th minute when a defensive mix-up in the Claremorris backline allowed Gary McHale to tee up Aiden Dunleavy who skied his effort over Evan Campbell’s crossbar.
Claremorris then roared back at their counterparts. Brandon Walsh, who was a livewire throughout, found Mikuckis with a delicious cross-field pass but the latter screamed a shot off the upright on 27 minutes.
Manulla continued to play on the counter and McHale found Diarmuid Heneghan who fired a shot straight at Campbell.
It was not long until Claremorris found their second, Mike Heaney sent in a hopeful cross which was not dealt with by the Manulla stopper James Bolster who parried to the onrushing Simon Butler who swept home on 41 minutes.
Claremorris emerged quickly from the Manulla restart. Smelling blood, Mikuckis was played down the wing and whipped an irresistible ball to Butler who rose highest with a gorgeous looping header to put a healthy distance between the teams on 42 minutes.
The away team started the second half in swift fashion with Padraig Beirne failing to hit the target with a header. Mikuckis continued his armory of trickery and sailed in a whipping cross which miraculously avoided everyone in green and drifted wide on 54 minutes.
Last year’s double winners did not have to wait long for their fourth of the tie to arrive. Mikuckis yet again toyed with the Manulla defence and whistled a cracking shot off the woodwork which bounced neatly to Heaney who bundled in his second of the day on 56 minutes.
That goal knocked stuffing out of the Blues who sent in crosses to the Claremorris penalty area which were not converted.
Mikuckis who was the player of the match, had the opportunity to find Claremorris’s fifth of the day but was unable to find the finish with Bolster off his line.
Colm Murphy played in McHale who fluffed his lines from eight yards with the net begging to be rippled.
An important victory for Claremorris who gained a valuable win the Westaro Cup and they will look to take the confidence from this win into the league over the coming weeks.
