Match Report 24th Mar –Clane U14 P v Moone-Midlands Shield
The 1st of a two legged Midlands Shield tie saw Clane Premier play Moone at home.
The game started at a high tempo with alot of play going thru central midfield .6 min in saw some lax marking from Clane and Moone sharp shooting midfielder taking a return pass in the box shot to score.Clane defence tightened up to close down any further attacks and some great expolsive runs from Eoin to open up the Moone midfidfield allowing Clane create some excellent one/two linking play between Ben and Cameron.Possible goals with runs from Ryan and Faruk were cut out extremely well by a sharp Moone keeper.
A change at the 25min saw Oisin the Clane centre back move to midfield and 2min later found himself making a darting run into the Moone box and connecting a brilliant header with a wonderful cross from Ben,beating the keeper easily for Clanes first goal.
The second half started with Clane having alot of the possession and some questionable offside decisions against Faruk and Ryan denying Clane their second.The 14min saw Ryan make an excellent run at the Moone defence ,just as it looked like the opportunity to score was gone he battled on and created another, finishing brilliantly.Even though Moone weren’t creating many chances Clane defence slacked off momentarly and Moone linked up with 15min to go creating a pass to level the game.Both sides played defensively for the remaining time and saw the game end 2/2 .
All to do in the Moone 2nd leg.
Under 14 Major 2 Prosperous United V Clane United – 13/01/18
Full Time: Prosperous United 3 Clane United 5
Competition: U14 Major 2
Venue: Ballinafagh Road Co.Kildare
Clane started the game the better and after good work by Eddie Gillespie in the 18 yard box his cross across the face of goal found Cian Connolly to tap home into the empty net. Clane continued to create chances and their lead was doubled thanks to Luke Fahy whose curling shot found the top left hand corner of the goal. Prosperous then started to get back into the game and could have narrowed the gap if it weren’t for a good save from the Clane United keeper Kyle Kennedy.
Clane continued to attack and after good work from Nelson on the right wing his pass found Luke who was then taken down in the box. The penalty was taken and scored by Aayola who power his shot to the keepers right. Prosperous got back into the game and got the goal their efforts deserved to make it 3-1 going into half time.
Prosperous started the second half like Clane did the first half and were rewarded with an early goal to make it 3-2. Clane didn’t panic and despite all the pressure Prosperous put on the back three of Kian Fitzgerald, Eoin Carroll and Tom Hillyer they defended well to keep Clane ahead going into the last 15 minutes. Clane then started to get back into the game and eventually got their reward when Clane’s man of the match Aayola shot from 25 yard and found the top corner of the goal to make it 4-2.
Prosperous got straight back into the game and scored to make it 4-3 to make it a nervous finish for Clane. However, Clane finally finished the game off after good work by John on the right wing, his cross found Cian Connolly to slot home and make it a final score of 5-3 to Clane.
Clane United V Portumna U14 Midlands Shield – Match Report 09/12/17
Full Time: Clane Utd 6 Portuma 0
Competition: U14 Midlands Shield
Venue: Doctors Road, Clane Co.Kildare
Clane United certainly have the upper hand in this two legged affair. Clane came out of the traps and within 3 minutes had taken the lead following some great work from Ben Kirwan, a long ball from James Lukumu which was brilliantly controlled and dispatched by Aidan Ralph. And before Portumna could even take a breath a second one was followed up minutes later again following great work from Ben Kirwan whose dribble and pass was finished by Ryan Grace to score the first of his 3 goals. Portumna started to come into the game more and were unlucky to see a good effort just go wide from the number 10 who was their danger man throughout the game. However Clane were soon back in control and goals from Ryan Grace and Ronan Doorey meant Clane went in 4 goals to the good at half time despite some good pressure from Portumna just before the half time whistle. The second half started off again with Clane on the front foot and within minutes of the start it was the combination again of Ben Kirwan and Ryan Grace that resulted in Clane’s 5th goal of the day. Despite being 5 down Portumna did not lie down and soon started to put the pressure on the Clane’s defence. It was only through good work by Clane’s defense and goalkeeper Patrick O Rourke that prevented Portumna getting a deserved goal. The game settled into a tit for tat for the next 20 mins and it was only some great saves by Portumna’s keeper that kept the score unchanged. Eventually after much pressure a neat pass from Josh Smith into Faruk enabled Clane to get their 6th and final goal of the day. Still one leg to go but at this stage Clane are very much in the driving seat.
U14 Midlands Shield Results
| 16/12 | Tullamore Town | 3 | 0 | Arlington AFC |
| 09/12 | Clane United | 6 | 0 | Portumna Town |
| 02/12 | Arlington AFC | 0 | 6 | Tullamore Town |
| 02/12 | Moone Celtic | 3 | 2 | Abbeyleix Ath |
| 02/12 | Clara Town | 3 | 4 | Athy Town |
U14 Clane United Maj 2 October 28th 2017 Match Report
Full Time: Clane Utd 5 Arlington 1
Competition: U14 Major 2 Division
Venue: Doctors Road, Clane Co.Kildare
Arlington started off quickly however, they were unable to find a way through the Clane Utd defence marshalled by captain Eoin Carroll. Eventually Clane started to get a foothold in the game and after 10 minutes Matthew put Clane ahead finishing well from a great through ball by Andrew Bisland.
Clane started to turn up the pressure and Cian Connolly was causing Arlington all sorts of problems on the left wing. Eventually his efforts were rewarded when he cut in from the left side of the pitch with the ball before scoring past the keeper. Minutes later Nelson cut in in from the right side of the pitch before unleashing his shot which ended up in the top corner of the goal.
Clane continued to pile on the pressure and after great work by Cameron Curren on the right side of the pitch he took his shot which was well saved by the arlington keeper however Matthew was on hand to tap in the rebounder, and minutes later his strike partner Eddie Gillespie finish well to make it 5-0.
If it was Clane’s striker force the busier in the first half it was definitely the Clane defence who had the busier second half. Arlington were not going down without a fight and very quickly got the goal their second half pressure deserved. Tom Hillyer was kept very busy in defence and if not for his last ditch challenge when the arlington striker looked set to score the scoreline could have been even closer. Clane continued to defend well with Ethan Smith and Emmet Williams breaking up play in the centre of the pitch. However it was a man of the match performance by Kian Fitzgerald who on numerous occasions was on hand to put in the required tackles to stop Arlingon scoring any more goals.
