Originally Posted by Hibs7772
Clonmel Celtic 1-2 Pike Rovers
A bizarre game at Cooke Park this afternoon - Pike should have been out of sight by half time, yet at the final whistle Celtic were reflecting on what might have been.
Both sides set up in a classic 4-4-2 shape with two out and out strikers. Pike were out of the blocks quickly and signaled their intention to press high up the pitch from early on. Clonmel were not able to pass out of this press and were often forced to play speculative balls forward into the channels or to the strikers that resulted in losses of possession. The rather negative positioning of both centre mids contributed to this in terms of the battle for the second ball. Pike on the other hand weren't afraid to commit men forward, with the returning Tierney making his usual marauding runs on and off the ball from the middle of the park. He was to have the first chance of the game in the opening minutes. A cross from the left by Hanrahan was won in the air by Moloney. The ball fell to Tierney on the edge of the area, who shot wide.
This was the first in a string of chances for the Limerick side. Seconds later, a slip by a Clonmel centre half let in Pike right mid Jason Heffernan. His strike hit the upright. Soon after, the other centre half slipped while attempting a clearance. This allowed Pa Moloney in down the inside right channel. His cross shot was saved by Richie Ryan in the Clonmel goal. Pike left full Eddie O'Donovan also fashioned an opportunity for himself. He skinned his man before unleashing a powerful drive that glanced the crossbar before going over.
And so the pattern continued. Pike pressed high and Clonmel conceded possession. Yet it was the latter who would open the scoring. With 5 minutes remaining in the first half, a free kick was delivered in from the right by their left full/left mid (more on this in a moment). Gary Neville failed to claim and the ball bounced in off the back of a Clonmel head. The phrase "against the run of play" was invented for moments like this.
It wasn't long before Pike were level. Clonmel were engaging in a bizarre swap between Kevin Waters at left mid and their left full. They seemed to be interchanging regularly from about the 20th minute on. Eventually this cost them. Tierney dispossessed the Clonmel no 8 in the middle of the park. He noticed a huge gap between the left sided centre half and the left full Waters, and delivered the football through it. Moloney ran on to it and brought Pike level. 1-1.
Unbelievably there was still time for more action before the whistle. Right on the stroke of half time, Pike won a free on the left. Tierney delivered, it fell to Barry, who squared it to an unmarked Moloney. 1-2.
Realistically, Pike could have been up 1-5 at this stage. You would have been forgiven for thinking that they would win comfortably from that point, but the second half saw a momentum shift in Clonmel's favour. The pressing that instituted Pike's dominance in the first half was much less prominent in the second. The Limerick side were retreating and Clonmel were in the ascendancy. They got their reward after an hour, with the award of a penalty. A ball into the channel led to a foul from Wayne Colbert. The resulting free (again delivered by the no 3, whose delivery today was exceptional) found the hand of Eoin Hanrahan, who was subsequently booked. Alas, for Clonmel, the resulting spot kick was saved by Gary Neville.
Soon after, Clonmel introduced Brian Waters on the right, moving their right mid into the centre. The latter proceeded to take a far higher position than either Clonmel mid had taken in the first half. The no 6 was now the deeper of the two, and he looked for more comfortable, dropping deep to collect the ball from his defence and helping it forward. Coupled with the reduction in pressing intensity from Pike, this meant that Clonmel were now enjoying spells of possession, without really creating much from open play.
Pike responded to this shift in momentum by introducing John Okoro upfront, presumably for a bit of pace on the counter. He had the chance to finish the game off with about 10 to go. Richie Ryan, the Clonmel keeper, won the one-on-one battle.
By this point, Clonmel had switched to a 3-4-1-2 (ish) shape and were throwing the kitchen sink at it. They had two clear chances to level. First their substitute striker snatched at a chance with the goal at his mercy after Pike failed to clear from a set piece. Then their no 9 (Sean O'Hara?), whose touch had let him down on numerous occasions during the game, was put clean though against keeper Neville. The latter smothered the ball at his feet.
That was it for Clonmel. Pike did a good job of keeping the ball in the corner during injury time to kill the contest.
No doubt that the better team won. Clonmel didn't force a save from Neville in the first half and were it not for some profligate finishing Pike would have been out of sight at the 45 minute mark. However, the drop in intensity from Pike, coupled with the growing dominance of the Clonmel no 6 meant that the Tipp side were able to get a foothold in the game. Alas, they didn't have the creativity of a player like John Tierney to take advantage of their spell on top. He was the clear standout player on the day.
Clonmel didn't look to trouble Pike between the lines where they are most vulnerable. Neither striker dropped off enough and neither centre mid in the first half was aggressive enough in his positioning. The situation on their left side was bizarre and didn't help matters. Congratulations to Pike.
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