Fenit Samphires …2, Listowel Celtic …2

FENIT Samphires and Listowel Celtic must meet again after their semi-final ended all square and Dynamos must wait for at least two weeks to find out who their opponents will be in the Castle Bar League Cup.

Listowel Celtic are a proven cup side and are tough nuts to crack in the latter stages of cup competitions. Fenit themselves have been building some good young sides of late and in fact a number of this side will face their biggest test on this coming Saturday night when they face Cherry Orchard in the FAI Youths Cup semi-final at Mounthawk Park.

Fenit played some fine football and passed the ball well in windy conditions but Listowel defended soundly and in goalkeeper Aidan Carey they had their man of the match as he kept them in it with some super saves.

Listowel lost Johnny Keane in the first half through injury, which did not help their cause, and with Declan Leahy looking rusty at midfield after a long lay off it was left to Tommy Sweeney, Kevin Beasley and Alan Keane to keep Fenit at bay when they applied the pressure in both halves.

Fenit were solid at the back with John Murphy and Shane McMahon playing well at the heart of the defence while James O'Shea and Shane Griffin were winning the midfield battle against Leahy and Keane.

However, it was on the wings that Fenit did most damage and both Mike Moloney and Pa McCarthy were quite outstanding as they provided lots of crosses into the heart of the Listowel defence. However, while Ray Curley always looked a threat Fenit did not convert their good possession into scores.

Overall, a draw was probably a fair result though it took a great save from Aidan Carey to deny Fenit a winner in the final seconds and with that FAI Youths Cup clash next weekend this replay will not be played until the following weekend at the earliest.

Fenit began well with Moloney and McCarthy raiding down the flanks while Johnny McCarthy and Terence Crean were not afraid to attack from the full-back positions, and this meant that Listowel were under pressure from the start.

In the ninth minute Pa McCarthy raided down the wing and put over a fine cross which caused problems for Listowel but the ball was knocked behind. Straight from the kick-out Aidan Carey sent a long ball downfield with the aid of the wind which Alan Keane headed on and Jimmy Clancy volleyed to the net for a superb "route one" goal.

Straight from the kick-off, play swung to the other end as Mike Moloney sent in a cross and as Kieran O'Sullivan attempted to head the ball back to his 'keeper Ray Curley intercepted it and his shot was brilliantly saved and turned behind by Carey for a corner.

Fenit continued to press and when Moloney sent in another cross this time it was only half cleared by Kevin Beasley, and Terence Crean forced Carey to make another superb stop from his 25 yard effort.

It was now real end to end stuff and Fenit had lots of the play particularly in midfield but they found the Listowel defence, in particular Keane and Beasley, difficult to get by while Carey was assured in his handling in goals. James O'Shea and Shane Griffin were really playing well but the final ball was just letting Fenit down as Listowel held on to their one goal lead.

In the 23rd minute, Pa McCarthy, who was probably man of the match sent over another superb cross which James O'Shea managed to meet, but he headed over from about four yards while under pressure from Kieran O'Sullivan.

Again, it was Fenit, ten minutes before halftime, who nearly scored but O'Shea's effort was saved by the 'keeper at the expense of yet another corner. Listowel somehow managed to hang on to their slender advantage until half-time but the second half produced some more exciting stuff. Fenit continued to pressurise Listowel, and at times they appeared to take just that extra move out of the ball when on the night a more direct approach might have worked.

However, they struck for the equaliser in the 65th minute and it was some goal created by Pa McCarthy who went on a great run before finding Mike Moloney. Moloney's shot was brilliantly saved by Carey but not held on to, and when the ball broke out Raymond Curley rifled the ball to the Listowel net for a fine equaliser.

However, this goal acted as a wake up call to Listowel who responded four minutes later with a fine goal of their own that came after a decent three-man move. It finished with Mikey Paul Kelliher gaining possession wide of the goal and with no danger imminent, he somehow managed to squeeze an angled drive between 'keeper and post to give Listowel a 2-1 lead leaving Fenit on the back foot once more.

However, Fenit were not going to be denied and they went forward in waves throwing everything at Listowel and despite the best efforts of Tommy Sweeney and Brian Carty, Listowel conceded the equaliser in the 78th minute. It was another move started by the unstoppable Pa McCarthy and when his cross broke in a forest of bodies in the Listowel box it was John Egan who was quickest to react, and he rifled the ball past a helpless Aidan Carey.

It was now down to who could grab the winner in a frantic final ten minutes of non-stop action and Listowel had one chance which saw Quirke deny Kelliher while at the other end Carey had to be on his toes to deny Curley but there seemed no way through.

Then in one final throw of the dice, in the 89th minute, Fenit, in one final assault, almost snatched victory when that deadly duo of McCarthy and Moloney combined. It was Moloney's shot which appeared to be going into the top corner but somehow Aidan Carey managed to dive full length and get a glove to the ball which was enough to turn it around the post and keep his side in the cup.

In the circumstances and in the conditions that prevailed a draw was about right but Fenit certainly created more chances. At both ends the number of clear cut chances that strikers had were at a premium and it was a game that was played between the two penalty areas.

Fenit were definitely on top at midfield and probably should have been able to take advantage of the fact that both Pa McCarthy and Mike Moloney produced some excellent crosses but unfortunately they were not rewarded with a clinical finish.

The replay is eagerly anticipated and it is a difficult one to call.

Listowel Celtic: A Carey, T Sweeney, K O'Sullivan, J Keane, K Beasley, T Rahilly, A Keane, D Leahy, J Clancy, M P Kelliher, M Kelleher.

Subs: B Carthy for J Keane, C Lyons for J Clancy, D Lyons for M Kelliher.

Fenit Samphires: G Quirke, T Crean, J Murphy, S McMahon, J McCarthy, M Moloney, J O‚Shea, S Griffin, P McCarthy, R Curley, G McCarthy.

Referee: N White.