Barry Peelo: Continuing to look back on season 2009-10 (Oscar Traynor)
Much was expected of the Cork AUL Oscar Traynor side for this season - especially after winning it last time out.
Here is a brief account of how it all panned out in the end:
The first major
competition to kick-off the 2009-10 season was the FAI Umbro Oscar Traynor Cup in
October.
And of course as
everyone knew at the time, the Cork AUL, holders of this trophy had the huge
task on hand to retain their title for the second year running.
After Richard “Minty”
Fitzgerald stepped down as Manager following a successful 08-09 season where he
guided the Cork AUL to glory by winning the Oscar Traynor Cup, Niall O’Regan
was appointed by the league as the man to take up the reigns for the current
season.
Their first task was a
trip to Mounthawk Park in Tralee where they had to take on the Kerry District
league.
Failure to
convert chances that night proved costly and they went down 2-1 in a game that
saw the Rebels dominate throughout the 90 minutes but failed to deliver.
Ger Harrington
was Cork’s scorer that night.
So, roll on the
next game against Limerick and what a big ask it was of the Cork team to win by
two goals or more.
But, that they
did in the Mayfield United complex in December when goals from Richard Holland
and Johnny Barrett sent Cork into the next stages of the competition after a
hard battle with a well-drilled Limerick side that night.
The next date up
for the Oscar Traynor team was an encounter with a formidable Tipperary SDL
side at Cooke Park.
This was always
going to be a tough task for the Cork side, but a blood, sweat and tears
performance plus two fantastic goals from Shane O’Neill helped by a superb
goalkeeping performance from Alberto Pulimeno saw Cork struggle through to win
out 2-1 in the end to reach the semi-finals with a home fixture awaiting them
against Clare.
Everything was going according to plan up
to then, but unfortunately in May, the Cork AUL bowed out of the competition
after suffering a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Clare in the semi-final at the Cross.
Cork never really got going that day and
although they had some chances to even things up despite falling behind, the
performance overall was one of disappointment.
With two minutes to half-time, disaster
struck the Rebels when Clare nosed in front from a corner after slack marking
in the Rebel’s defence.
Cork’s woes were further compounded when
they were reduced to ten men after goalkeeper Alberto Pulimeno was sent off for
handling the ball outside his box.
This prompted Manager Niall O’Regan to
replace Brian Sullivan with substitute goalkeeper Stephen Deasy.
The incident seemed to have injected vigor
into the Cork side at that point and what a chance Sean Moynihan had when he
latched on to a glorious ball over the top from Mick Bradfield, but he went for
glory instead of composing himself and as a result - rifled the bar with his
effort to waste one of the best chances in the game.
A couple of more chances fell for the
Rebels, but they failed to take advantage and Clare held on to qualify for the final.
So, it ended up being – SO NEAR, BUT YET SO
FAR FOR THE CORK AUL SIDE THAT SEASON.
MORE LOOK-BACKS FOR THIS SEASON TO FOLLOW
LATER.
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