Avondale deal a blow to students’ title hopes | Stephen Barry
UCC 0Avondale United 1UCC’s run of seven unbeaten MSL Premier Division games was brought to a shuddering halt on Saturday the 19th of January by an Avondale side that smothered the students’ free-scoring attack on a boggy back pitch in the Farm.Natural selection favoured the bigger and stronger Carrigaline side on a pitch which suffered the effects of being a sponge for the previous night’s rain and got more and more cut up as the ninety minutes ticked by.Yet College were able to hold out until eighteen minutes from time when Ian Stapleton’s fantastic strike from the edge of the box gave Avondale the goal their dominance deserved in front of a sizeable crowd. But, while it was a dominance which manifested itself in the possession and territory stats as well as the corner and shot counts, Avondale struggled to find the target. This was in part due to their own profligacy in front of goal; however UCC manager John Caulfield was keen to point to his side’s dogged defending deep in their own territory:“The lads defended very well; they put great blocks in and I suppose the difference for us is that because we’re the leading goalscorers in the league, you hope that you’re going to create chances. But today we found it difficult to get forward and create chances; so it was a hard day.”Indeed from almost the first whistle blast from Alan Kelly (of Champions League refereeing fame) UCC’s backs were to the wall. The students ceded control of the middle of the field as Hugh O’Donovan sat back to protect the defence while both wingers were positioned in far deeper positions than usual but always primed to rush forward to put pressure on the ball.The students did have the first opening but Simon Holland chose the wrong cross option and it was from another misdirected cross, ten minutes later, that Avondale broke for the first goal threat of the game; Kevin Mulcahy diving onto the end of Stapleton’s cross but heading wide. Ponderous transfers spoiled another opportunity for a break, and so by the time the half-hour had passed, there had still been only one shot of any major note.However Avondale soon began to exert their dominance further up-field. UCC keeper Ryan Price misread the trajectory of an in-swinging corner, but Mark Horgan, standing almost a foot taller than his marker, couldn’t bundle in from a position underneath the crossbar and Steve Mahon cleared off the line.Then, in a rare moment, Mark O’Sullivan got inside the UCC cover in open play but Andrew Neville got a block in, not for the first time during the game, before Danny Long headed over from the corner.The dying moments of the half continued in the same vein, with defensive lapses providing UCC with rare hope as Holland and Josh O’Shea both almost got into dangerous positions. Meanwhile at the other end, Price had to punch clear from a dangerous corner while Long ruined a chance with his reluctance to pull the trigger.UCC needed inspiration at the break and John Caulfield did his upmost to provide it with an energetic half-time team talk, where, from a distance, he seemed to morph into a shadow boxer as he fervently articulated his instructions:“We thought at half-time that we’d weathered the storm well and we felt that in the second half that the game might open up a bit more. But I think the pitch cut up a lot and it was energy sapping and we just found it difficult to get forward.”Avondale showed little sign of letting up as they immediately forced a corner which came to nothing. Five minutes in and O’Sullivan found the net from a set piece as he nodded in off the far post, but the linesman’s flag reset the scoreline.Seconds later from the opposite wing, the ball was crossed for an unmarked Eoghan Lougheed, but in an instant Andrew Ganon got between him and the goal, and the ball was deflected clear. Then it was another defender, from another set piece who spurned a chance; Brian Fitzgerald heading over from close in.Substitute Conor Barry was making an impact for UCC and wasted good work with a pull back to nobody. But College’s big opening subtly came and went after the hour mark when Mahon over-hit a ball aimed for the fantastically timed run of Josh O’Shea.Avondale were briefly losing concentration as Stapleton hit the wall with a close in free before the subsequent two corners both hit the first man.However it was a defensive lapse from the students which gifted the visitors the opening for their goal. UCC failed to clear the ball and Stapleton pounced before bending a rasper away from Price and into the far top-corner.That was enough for the defending league and FAI Intermediate Cup champions, with defensive interceptions from Michael Mulconry and Horgan keeping the late wave of student pressure comfortably at arm’s length.And while former Avondale manager Caulfield admitted that his former club were the superior side, he chose to look at the positives of the campaign so far as a whole, rather than dwell on a rare loss:“They’re probably the best team in Ireland, but I’d say the pleasing thing from our point of view was that the lads worked really, really hard. The pitch cut up and got very heavy and we dug in and hung on and at the end of the day while Avondale had a lot of possession and were well on top, other than a few free kicks and corners, where they looked dangerous, they hadn’t created much.“From where we were to where we are now, challenging at the top of the table, we’re doing really well and the lads are working really hard so overall we’re happy. You never like to lose, it’s just that it was a great goal and otherwise you have to admit that they were the stronger on the day.”UCC: R Price; A Ganon, J O’Brien, A Neville, S O’Callaghan; C O’Callaghan, H O’Donovan, S Mahon, E Kilcommons; S Holland, J O’Shea. Subs: C Barry for Kilcommons (58), C Lordan for Mahon (77).Avondale: D O’Leary; B Fitzgerald, M Mulconry, M Horgan, E Lougheed; K Mulcahy, K Caulfield, G McCarthy, D Long; I Stapleton, M O’Sullivan. Subs: R Long for McCarthy (74), D Spratt for Long (84).
