Match Report – Clane United (M1) 2-7 Clane United (M)
KDUL U14 Umbro Shield Semi-Final
Venue: Doctors Road, Clane
Date/Time: 16 April 2024, 18:45 KO
One of those rare and special cup fixtures between same club teams. The Ms not long after their win against Naas, and the M1s, the only remaining team from their division, seeing off Prosperous (M) in the quarter finals.
Match Report – Clane United (M) 6-4 Naas United (M)
KDUL U14 Umbro Shield Quarter Final
Venue: Doctors Road, Clane
Date/Time: 13 April 2024, 13:00 KO
This match was a real end-to-end encounter as both teams met to decide who would advance to the KDUL Shield Semi Final.
With the aid of a significant breeze and lead by captain Jack Christie, Clane started strongly and eventually broke through the very strong Naas defence with Sean Byrne sharp off the mark to finish to put Clane in front. Before half time, Clane added some much needed further breathing space with excellent goals from Stephen Marron and Oscar Heffernan.
With the start of the second half, Clane produced an excellent period of passing and movement into a stiff breeze and added further goals with Stephen Marron and Oscar Heffernan again.
A physically strong Naas side started to impose themselves more in the match and got a goal back midway through the second half. Clane quickly responded again with excellent interplay working Mark Mullahy into space on the left and he finished expertly to make it 6-1.
This resilient Naas side didn’t surrender however and, with the aid of a strong breeze, they made it very challenging for Clane to work the ball out of their own half. Naas continued to attack and got 3 goals back to make it 6-4 with 5 minutes remains. Naas had significant momentum but credit to the Clane players for staying calm in the face of the pressure coming from Naas and they confidently controlled the remaining minutes to put the match to bed.
Jack Christie was outstanding in goals in terms of his shot-stopping and control of his area in relation to through balls from Naas. Jack was also very influential in helping his teammates remain calm when under pressure in the last 15 minutes and is deservedly Clane Man of the Match.
Clane U14 Major now progress to set up a big KDUL Shield semi-final against their close friends in the Clane U14 Major 1 team who beat Prosperous United in their Quarter Final. Semi Final match to be played on Tuesday 16 April 2024.
Team: Jack Christie (Captain; Man of the Match), Conor Brennan, Aaron Reardon, Harry O’Reilly, Art Ormsby, William McNamee, Sean Óg Finn, Jack Kinsella, Sean Jamieson, Mark Mullahy (1), Patrick Doherty, Oscar Heffernan (2), Seanie Reilly, Andrew McCormack, Sean Byrne (1), Stephen Marron (2).
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Match Report – Clane United (M1) 3-1 Prosperous United (M)
KDUL U14 Shield Quarter Final
Venue: Doctors Road, Clane
Date/Time: 23 March 2024, 12:30 KO
From warmup and pre-match talks, we could tell the lads were switched on for this match from the get-go. No messing and focused on job at hand. Captain Matthew McDonald won the coin flip and wisely opted with-the-wind on a very blustery day.
It was a high tempo start, with both teams looking to control. The Prosperous strategy appeared to be long-ball play, so our back line needed to be on-point. Unfortunately, a lapse in concentration in our defence played attacker onside and resulted in a conceding goal ~15mins into the first half. This was actually a good thing, as it spurred Clane on even more and we started to dominate. After a spell of high press, Rian Connolly crossed to Luke O’Keeffe, who blasted the ball on the volley into the Prosperous net. Our tails were up now, and Clane’s tenacity continued. Shortly before the first half whistle, after a mis-cleared corner, Rian got himself on the scoresheet with a cracking strike just outside the box to make it 2-1.
The windy conditions worsened in the second half, with several throw-ins resulting in throw-outs. Harry, Finn, Kacper and Adam K were brought on and maintained the intensity. Our defence was now much improved, working in unison, and resulted in several offside rulings against Proposerous. With ~10mins before the final whistle captain Matthew Mc spotted the Prosperous keeper off his line, and struck a beautiful high ball into the top corner making it 3-1 to Clane.
A superb team performance moves the M1’s into the semi-finals. MOTM awarded to Rian Connolly, with a special mention the Adam Bermingham. Two work horses from start to finish. Well done lads!
Goal tally to date (all comps) – Luke O’Keeffe 30!, Quin Connolly 9, Rian Connolly 7, Charlie O’Brien 4, Cody Blake 3, Matthew McDonald 3, Harry Heffernan 2, David O’Dea 2.
Team
Adam Bermingham, Adam Kearney, Charlie Dunne, Charlie Dunne Cash, Charlie O’Brien, Cody Blake, David O’Dea, Finn Murphy, Harry Heffernan, Kacper Lisowski, Luke O’Keeffe, Matthew McDonald (c), Matthew Breen, Quin Connolly, Rian Connolly (MOTM), William O’Connell
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Match Report – Clane United (M) 1-2 Sallins Celtic (M)
KDUL U14 Umbro Cup Quarter Final
Venue: Doctors Road, Clane
Date/Time: 23 March 2024, 11:00 KO
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Match Report – Suncroft M1 Red 0-11 Clane United U14M
KDUL U14 Umbro Shield Round of Last 16
Venue: Cummunity Grounds, Suncroft
Date/Time: 09 March 2024, 11:15
The scoreline in this match didn’t tell the story of the early battle and resistance that Suncroft Red
presented in this KDUL Shield Round of 16 tie. With the scores tied at 0-0 after 20 minutes, the
Suncroft goalkeeper was finally beaten with Seanie Reilly finishing well. Lead by their captain, Conor
Brennan, Clane United’s confidence grew after breaking the deadlock and their attacking patterns
started to stretch the Suncroft defence with Clane United quickly following up the opener with four
more goals coming before halftime from Oscar Heffernan and a quick-fire hat-trick from Sean Byrne.
After the break, Clane United’s pressure continued as they controlled the match from midfield with
Patrick Doherty, Clane United’s Man of the Match, key to Clane United’s varied attacking patterns
across the whole pitch. Further goals followed from Mark Mullahy, Oscar Heffernan, Seanie Reilly,
Tadgh O’Leidhin, Patrick Doherty and Stephen Marron.
Clane now progress to the Quarter Finals of the KDUL Shield where they will play the winner
of Naas M vs Naas M1.
Team: Jack Christie, Conor Brennan (C), Aaron Reardon, Harry O’Reilly, William McNamee, Sean Óg
Finn, Jack Kinsella, Sean Jamieson, Mark Mullahy (1), Patrick Doherty(1; Man of the Match), Oscar
Heffernan (2), Seanie Reilly (2), Sean Byrne (3), Stephen Marron (1), Tadgh O’Leidhin (1).
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Match Report – Clane United U14M 5-1 Prosperous United U14M
KDUL U14 Umbro Cup Round of Last 16
Venue: Doctors Road, Clane
Date/Time: 2nd March 2024, 14:00
With heavy rain resulting in most of the matches across the county being cancelled, this match was moved from Prosperous United’s home ground to Clane United’s astro pitch. With this being a rerun of a recent league match between both sides, Prosperous United were no doubt looking to reverse the score in this local derby.
Windy conditions made the opening exchanges tight, as both sides settled into the match with Clane’s midfield to the fore in establishing control of the game. As the half went on Clane got their deserved lead with Stephen Marron finishing well after persistent work from Sean Byrne. First half finishing Clane 1 – 0 Prosperous.
Sean Byrne got on the scoresheet himself early in the second half, with an excellent finish to the top corner. Shortly after, Tadhg O’Leidhin was sharp footed and alert to score our third goal when the Prosperous goalkeeper couldn’t hold onto a shot on goal.
Prosperous got a goal back with a good finish from inside the box, but Clane quickly re-established their 3-goal advantage with a powerful strike from the edge of the box by Oscar Heffernan. Seanie Reilly got a thoroughly deserved goal at the near post at the end of the match and was our player of the day being a consistent threat down the right wing. Final score Clane 5 – 1 Prosperous.
The scoreline didn’t reflect the engaging contest between both sides with Properous battling until the very end. Clane now progress to the Quarter Finals of the Umbro Cup where they will play Athy Town or Sallins Celtic.
Team (goals): Jack Christie, Conor Brennan, Aaron Reardon, Harry O’Reilly, William McNamee, Sean Óg Finn, Jack Kinsella, Sean Jamieson, Mark Mullahy, Patrick Doherty, Oscar Heffernan (x1), MOTM – Seanie Reilly (x1), Sean Byrne (x1), Stephen Marron (x1), Tadgh O’Leidhin (x1)
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.
