Cup joy for brilliant Bunratty

Celtic started brightly, forcing a succession of corners and dominating possession. The final’s first chance fell to Robbie Lucey after seven minutes. Togher’s midfielder forced Darren O’Mahony to dive full length and prevent a goal bound free- kick from nestling in the back of the net. Bunratty heeded that warning however and broke the deadlock against the run of play. Celtic’s inability to clear a routine attack was punished by Conor Brosnan who squeezed his shot beyond Ciarán Murray after 12 minutes.

Killian O’Brien, Sean Evans, and James O’Regan helped the Schull club enjoy a dominant spell and United doubled their advantage midway through the opening half. O’Brien’s speculative 25-yard drive from distance somehow evaded Ciarán Murray’s grasp to make it 2-0. The same Bunratty player headed inches over from a corner shortly after as United threatened to end the contest by the half hour mark. Togher needed a spark to reignite their challenge and got it when Luke Hurley volleyed inches wide from a Brian Horgan delivery. Cathal Daly and Robbie Lucey toiled hard on minimal supply but Celtic couldn’t find a way past United’s defence, and they fell 3-0 behind after 31 minutes. Luke Hurley deflected the ball into his own net to complete a miserable opening period for an out-of-sorts Celtic.

Admirably, Togher refused to panic and pulled a goal back seven minutes before the break. Jamie Lucey’s cross was flicked into the net by Adrian Hurley to setup an intriguing concluding 45 minutes. Trailing 3-1 at the break, Togher had little option but to commit additional numbers forward as the second half got underway. They came within a Darren O’Mahony save from making it 3-2 when Cathal Daly was denied by the Bunratty shot stopper from close range. A threat from set pieces throughout the afternoon, Togher peppered Bunratty’s penalty area throughout the third quarter. Yet, despite that pressure, United’s defence remained solid thanks to Sean Kelleher and Eoin Kelleher. Having been under the cosh for much of the second period, Bunratty broke from defence only for an unmarked Jonathan Collins to waste a glorious chance on 64 minutes. It was a rare United opportunity in a half dominated by their opponents.

Despite that miss, the cushion of a two-goal lead meant Bunratty were able to sit deep and defend their penalty area. The Schull side had to remain vigilant, as evidenced by Cathal Daly’s snapshot that narrowly missed the target with quarter of an hour remaining. Celtic continued to press and substitute Paudie Crowley slid an effort wide before another replacement, Donnacha Collins, brought the best out of Darren O’Mahony. For all their increased efforts, Togher struggled to create clearcut chances until seven minutes from the end when Paudie Crowley raced into the penalty box and made no mistake to set up a thrilling finish. Unbelievably, after clawing their way back into the final, a wayward Togher Celtic clearance was immediately seized upon by their opponents. Conor Brosnan raced through, and the striker’s composed finish sealed a 4-2 victory for a delighted Bunratty United and their supporters.

BUNRATTY UNITED: Darren O’Mahony, Killian O’Sullivan, Eoin Kelleher, Mark Brosnan, Conor Brosnan, Killian O’Brien, Jonathan Collins, Sean Evans, Cathal Newman, James O’Regan, Sean Kelleher (captain).

Substitutes: Jake Coughlan, John Farrell, Gearoid Mac Suibhe, Danny McSweeney, Patrick Sheehan, James McKnight,
Lorcan O’Brien.

TOGHER CELTIC: Ciarán Murray (captain), Jamie Lucey, Eoin Murray, Kevin Cotter, Peter Collins, Liam Creedon, Brian Horgan, Luke Hurley, Robbie Lucey, Cathal Daly, Adrian Hurley.

Substitutes: Paudie Crowley, Thomas Kingston, Niall Hurley, Patrick Collins, David Mawe, Donnacha Collins, Alan Brickley.

Referee: Sean Doyle. Assistant Referees: Anthony McDermott and Martin Coakley.