Cullen Lattin kick on in second half to win nine-goal west Tipperary soccer derby

Clonmel Credit Union League Division 1

Cullen Lattin 6 – 3 St Michael’s

There were nine goals in this west Tipperary thriller, which gave supporters plenty to cheer about throughout.
In the opening minuteSt Michael’s almost scored, but Cian O’Dwyer’s cross was narrowly headed wide by Antonio Rea.

This was a huge wake-up call for Cullen-Lattin and within 20 minutes they had raced into a two-goal lead. First Fiachra O’Grady drove home Darren McGrath’s pass in the seventh minute, and then Mickie O’Brien headed in a well-delivered Tony O’Neill corner ten minutes later.

On 29 minutes, Saints got back in the game when a Cian O’Dwyer free kick found Danny O’Brien at the back post and his finish was of the highest quality. Seven minutes later they were level, when Rea made up for his early miss after a mistake by a Cullen defender, and he showed great composure to finished well.

However, the home side were not to be denied a half-time lead and in the final minute of the half were awarded a penalty after Tony O’Neill was taken down. Up stepped Darren McGrath to stroke the ball to the net for 3-2.

The second half was dominated by the home side and four minutes in Fiachra O’Grady put Cullen two-up when he took advantage of a scramble in the box to steer his shot to the net.

Micheál Elligott made it 5-2 when he got on the end of a Tony O’Neill corner kick to tap home on 57 minutes, and O’Neill added a sixth 18 minutes from time with a left-footed strike.

St Michael’s got a late consolation goal four minutes from time when Danny O’Brien was fouled in the penalty area and the veteran striker got up, dusted himself down and smashed the penalty to the back of the net, but it wasn’t enough to make any difference to the final destination of the points.