Our Seniors hosted Everton in the third round of the Munster Senior Cup last night. Both sides had eyes on the open draw but knew it was going to be tightly contested.

It was the visitors that landed the first punch when their midfielder pounced on a loose touch by Kyle Keeley and disguised a finish past Ryan Delaney in goal. 0-1

Everton’s lead lifted their spirits as they started to form attacks but we defended well while adapting to a new system.

Fionn Kelly helped a ball on to Jason Hurley who was brought down in the area as he was about to pull the trigger. Kyle Keeley dispatched the resulting spot-kick in trademark fashion giving the keeper no chance and equalising at the brink of half-time. 1-1

We took a hold of the game in the second half but could not go in front despite a ton of chances. We were denied by a huge block by the Everton centre back and the goalkeeper made a handful of big saves to keep us at bay.

Ronan Murphy and Jason Hurley were the catalysts for our goalscoring opportunities and both were unlucky not to end up on the score sheet. The aforementioned two linked up in the last minute of normal time when Hurley squared a ball to oncoming Murphy who couldn’t get a toe on it despite being full stretch, almost preventing the game from hitting extra time.

Extra time was much of the same of the second half of the 90 with our lads having more chances but unable to put them away. Ryan Delaney was called into action tipping the ball over the bar In tremendous fashion.

In the final moments of the game, Everton’s winger crossed a dangerous ball which found its way backpost to their unmarked striker to tap home and snatch the game at the death. 1-2

There was time for one last opportunity as Ronan Murphy looped it to the back stick which Cian McCarthy calmly controlled but his powerful strike was kept out by an incredible block to save the game by Everton’s defender.

Tough loss to take for our lads who couldn’t have done much more right. Can’t fault the effort, sometimes you’re just not in luck and football can be a cruel game. On to the next one….

Final Score: Saints 1-2 Everton