Four sent off as Saints and Town clash in feisty Tipperary Premier League game

Clonmel Credit Union Premier League

St Michael’s 3 – 0 Clonmel Town  

In a really feisty and fiery encounter, St Michael’s ran out three goal winners against a Town side that completely lost their discipline by the end of the game, and will likely suffer even more when the fallout from this encounter eventually settles.

But it was the home side that saw the first of four red cards given out on the day, losing a defender in the first minute of the game, which looked like it would give the home side a mountain to climb. They dug deep however, and gave a battling courageous performance of character and application. By the sixth minute, and buoyed up by having an extra man, Town’s Jack French Davis crossed for Ashley Laslett who brought a save from Adrian Walsh in the home goal.

The same combination minutes later, saw Laslett go close again, but eventually the home side weathered the storm and played themselves back into the game. They were rewarded for their perseverance six minutes before the break, when a long ball over the visiting defence saw Jimmy Carr in on goal but he was tripped and brought down, winning himself a penalty kick. He stood up himself and fired it to the net, to give his side an unlikely lead at that interval.

The home side upped the ante following the break, and following a Colin Bargary free from the left three minutes in, the ball broke kindly for Russell Quirke who found the corner of the net to put the home side two up. A powerful shot from the left angle from Shane Ryan just before the hour mark, brought a save from Evan Comerford in the visitors goal.

And then they seemed to inexplicably lose their heads, seeing two players dismissed in short order on second yellow cards, before their day went from bad to worse, when they had another player reduced 20 minutes from the end.

Six minutes from time, the home side added the coup de grace when Shane Ryan rolled a free kick to Ashley Kelliher who hit a spectacular shot to the top of the net, and ensure they took all three points in what was a game that we may not have heard the last about.