Munster League Champions Cup semi final, 17th December
Peake Villa 1 – 2 Villa FC (Waterford)
There was heart break for TSDL champions Peake Villa on Sunday when they were knocked out of the Munster League Champions Cup at the semi final stage, to a late late goal at the Tower Grounds in Thurles. But when they look back on the game, they will probably conclude that they had a part in their own demise, conceding late goals both in normal time and extra time, and for not being as clinical in front of goal as this side normally are. The game was played at a frantic pace from the start, with both sides going at it, and the home side had a few early chances with when Pippy Carroll came close and Sean Wade headed over from a corner. The Waterford side had some chances of their own, but on the rare occasions they managed to get a shot away, they came up against Willie Tierney, who was in fine form in the home goal. The opening goal of the game came six minutes before the break, when sustained pressure from the hosts saw Ronan McGuire send over a cross to the back post, and Kieren Hennessy was on hand to score from close in. Mc Guire had a great chance just before the break to make it two, but his shot went straight at Craig Dunphy in the visitors goal, and the chance went a begging.
The second half was a cagey affair with Peake defending well and counter attacking in numbers. This was working well with McGuire and Carroll going close. The Tipperary side really should have doubled their lead before full-time but they just couldnt find that second goal. Things got more difficult from them twenty minutes from time when they went down to ten players, but they still looked like they were going to get away by the skin of their teeth until they conceded in the ninety third minute when Conor Kilgannon scored to send the game to extra time. The home side continued to put in a great performance in extra time to keep Villa Fc at bay and came close to winning it themselves when McGuire almost scored. It looked eventually like the tie was going to have to be decided by penalty kicks, but just as they were preparing, the home sides heart was broken when Conor Whittle scored a minute into time added on in the second period of extra tie, with an absolutely brilliant strike that Tierney could do absolutely nothing about. That meant heartbreak for a Villa side who left nothing out on the field and deserved at least a shot at penalties, but being down to ten men for the last forty minutes of the game was probably their undoing. There are some massive games ahead in the New Year, so there is plenty to play for in the second half of the season.
