Arron Nunan continued his recent goalscoring purple patch this evening, bagging a brace to help his Janesboro side to a comfortable Tuohy Cup first round victory over Moyross United.
First half
Moyross, who were forced to take on the champions without three of their first choice back four tonight, were under the cosh from the off. Ten minutes in, Arron Nunan, continuing his run of games up top, did brilliantly to hold off one of the stand-ins, James Cleary, before laying it off to strike partner, Shane Clarke. I’ve often criticised Shane’s tendency to play against his strengths by dropping too deep in the past – here he answered this critic by delivering a beautifully weighted lofted through ball into the area for Shane Waters. The winger’s effort crashed off the bar, but Nunan ran in to finish the move he had started – his tenth in all competitions.
Clarke, who’s had his usual goal glut delayed by an early-season suspension, very nearly got on the scoresheet himself five minutes later. A Shane Waters cross during the second phase of a corner found the ‘Boro striker, whose miscued effort was brilliantly touched onto the post by Paudie Hickey at point-blank range.
Janesboro were guilty of trying to turn the Moyross defence too quickly and too often in the first half at times – which was weird given how easy Moyross were making it to play through them. The northsiders’ chosen eleven struggled to play as a cohesive unit – both in terms of limiting space in front of their defence and providing support to the isolated Barry Quinn. The second ‘Boro goal arrived as a result of this incoherence – Barry Quinn lost the ball as he struggled to hold it up with only the bright Alex Purcell within an asses roar of him, allowing Janesboro to break quickly and win a corner through Mike Hogan. From the resulting John Tierney corner, Paudie Hickey palmed it out to Clarke on the edge of the area, who powered it home emphatically past a sea of bodies.
Purcell was about the only positive for Moyross in this first half. It was his run and through ball – past the outstretched leg of the returning Aled Harkin – that found Barry Quinn in the area, just moments after Clarke’s goal. Quinn worked it onto his left, but shot just wide from the centre of the area. Great chance – Moyross’ best of the game really.
Although he enjoyed a much better second half, midfielder James Cleary struggled at times in an unfamiliar role in the first – up against Nunan, one of the league’s form players. Ten minutes from the break, the ‘Boro man outmuscled his marker again, before forcing a save from the legs of Hickey.
Nunan was presented with another great chance to double his tally just before the whistle – barely missing it on the stretch after a great run and cross from Mike Hogan.
Second half
Janesboro again came out of the traps the better of the two sides in the second period – creating two great chances to put the game to bed in the first ten minutes.
First, James Cleary lost the ball in his own half, allowing Nunan to play through Waters – who shot straight at Paudie Hickey. Then, moments later, Clarke played Hogan through, only for the ‘Boro winger to be foiled by a great last ditch tackle from James McNamara on the cover.
We had a moment of madness on the hour mark. Janesboro netminder, Stephen Walsh, made a great diving save to deny Adrian Power’s free-kick. From the resulting corner, Janesboro sprung a counter-attack, which resulted in Shane Waters again finding himself thwarted by Hickey. Moyross went right down the other end with a counter of their own – Colm O’Mahony looked to have found Power with his through ball, only to see Walsh come off his line quickly and smother. Phew!
Worth noting that the Power free-kick may have been Moyross’ only shot on target of the game – a testament both to how isolated Quinn was up top and how well John Boyle did at right-back up against Moyross’ top scoring left-winger.
Nunan got his second of the game with ten minutes remaining. Stephen Hannon, who had just been introduced as a substitute seconds earlier, suffered the ignominy of costing his side a goal as his first act on the field of play. “Munchy” misplaced a pass in his own half, allowing Tierney to round Cleary and cross to Nunan at the back post.
The remainder of the game was essentially Nunan attempting to bag his first hat-trick of the season and Paudie Hickey trying to stop him. Now operating off the left and looking even more dangerous – up against a stand-in right-back in midfielder Michael Guerin – Nunan was played through twice by Clarke in the space of a minute, only to blaze one effort over and force another save from Hickey with the other.
Hickey made another save from Tierney after a Nunan-led counter-attack in the dying moments, before foiling Nunan for the final time with an exceptional low diving save.
Conclusion
A result that was never in doubt from moment one, really. Aside from a couple of positive moments from Purcell, Moyross were toothless going forward and very vulnerable at the back – in the absence of Murphy, Josse Guerin and Corbett.
Janesboro, on the other hand, looked very good, without ever really having to leave second gear. Nunan continues his successful, Henry-esque, winger-to-striker transformation – the young forward has notched eleven in all competitions, including seven goals in only six league starts. He also looks like a natural partner for Clarke, which is very encouraging indeed for the ‘Boro – albeit they may wish to play only one striker in the bigger games. Waters continued his good run of form, as did John Boyle, whose performance tonight at right-back against Adrian Power comes at the right time – if Tino Nzvavra is indeed departing for pastures new.
Next up on these pages is the final Tuohy Cup first round clash, between Mungret Regional and Aisling Annacotty, on Thursday night. See you then.
Scorers
Nunan 9′, 80′, Clarke 26′
Man of the Match
Arron Nunan
Limerick District League 