Trim Celtic edged out in cup thriller

There was heartbreaking disappointment for Trim Celtic at United Park, Drogheda on Saturday night when their dream of a second Meath & District League (MDL) Challenge Cup was ended in a thrilling final by Glenmuir. During a very disappointing season which sees the Trim men still involved in a battle to avoid relegation from the Premier Division their excellent cup run was a source of great satisfaction, but that joy turned to disappointment. Leading at half-time courtesy of Paul Gilsenan"s excellent 27th minute half-volley, Celtic sat back after the break and invited pressure from Glenmuir and paid the price. Eventually, the rock solid Trim Celtic rearguard was undone by two defensive errors that allowed Glenmuir a sniff at goals and the Dundalk took both chances to justify their 4/5 favouritism and claim the cup for the first time. Lady luck certainly didn"t shine on Trim Celtic as they hit the crossbar with a thunderous Derek Donohoe header and saw a super Aaron Newman header scream over the bar when the sides were tied at 1-1. Down at the other end Glenmuir"s equalising goal was a stroke of good fortune as Colm Smart"s tame effort dribbled towards the back post and despite the gallant efforts of Keith Jones and Barry O"Callaghan the ball crawled over the line. The winning goal, 10 minutes from time, was a mixture of excellent play and hard luck as the outstanding pace and trickery of Stephen Fisher left Ciaran Rispin trailing. When the Glenmuir man cut back for a better angle and shaped up to shoot, Mark Gilsenan was forced to challenge, but caught Fisher and left referee Conor Byrne with no choice but to award a penalty. Fisher converted with ease. It really was cruel on Trim Celtic because they had played excellent football against a side that many considered would be too good for them. Glenmuir shaded the verdict on possession, but when it came to clearcut chances Celtic restriced the Louth men with Mark Gilsenan excelling in the centre of defence along with David Conway. Celtic looked to hit Glenmuir on the break and were very effective in the opening period as Michael Corrigan set the tone with a superb first 45 minutes at midfield while Paul Gilsenan offered a decent focal point in attack. However, after the break Glenmuir settled more into the contest and began to boss proceedings. Mark McGeown was exceptional as he nullified Corrigan and then grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck to turn it Glenmuir"s way. The opening 10 minutes were tetchy with plenty of probing and shadow-punching, but with no real penetration from either side. The first serious opportunity fell to Glenmuir when Smart dispossessed Conway, but Mark Gilsenan made a magnificent saving tackle. Such was Mark Gilsenan"s excellence that Glenmuir managed just three shots on target, which produced two goals and a floated free kick that O"Callaghan did well to tip over. McGeown had a chance to open the scoring after 11 minutes when Celtic failed to deal with Dermot Grier"s cross, but Newman put the Glenmuir man under enough pressure and he shot wide. Glenmuir continued to create the better chances in the early stages when Grier skipped by Keith Jones to set up Fisher, but his half-volley sailed over the bar. Seconds later Celtic had their best chance when Donohoe almost made a sweet connection to Colm Harte"s centre, but the ball fell kindly to Eamonn Roe. Trim Celtic started to come more into the game and were pulled back a couple of times for marginal offside decisions. When one offside appeal didn"t go Glenmuir"s way David Hoey complained bitterly to assistant-referee Peter Burns, but referee Byrne admonished the Glenmuir defender with a yellow card and awarded Trim a free from outside the box. That dissent was costly for Glenmuir as Paul Campbell drilled the free to the back post where Paul Gilsenan drifted in to connect with a sweet half-volley and put Celtic into the lead. That goal sparked further protests from Glenmuir manager Alan Clarke and he was sent to the stand, the first man to be sent-off in the Challenge Cup final as a player and a manager. Celtic had a great chance to double their advantage four minutes later when Corrigan broke from inside his own half. Glenmuir were outnumbered four on two, but Harte"s cross to Donohoe found the striker in an offside position. As the opening half came to a close Campbell had a tame effort saved by Roe and both Donohoe and Gilsenan failed to connect with headers. Celtic had to be content with a slender interval advantage. The second-half was always going to be a rearguard action for the Meath side as Glenmuir upped the tempo. Conway almost gave Trim a dream start to the second-half when his deft header only found Roe, but after that it was mostly Glenmuir. Cormac McArdle was narrowly flagged offside when in a good position, but after 17 minutes Glenmuir were level courtesy of Smart"s fortunate goal. Newman tested Roe with a long range effort and from the resultant corner Donohoe powered a header onto the crossbar while Harte struck the follow up over. At the three-quarter stage a mix up at the back allowed Smart pull the ball into space with O"Callaghan stranded, but Mark Gilsenan again cleared the danger. Alan Larkin and former Tranmere player David Fairclough both troubled O"Callaghan with long range frees while Newman went close to restoring Trim"s lead with a header. However, then came the winning goal from Fisher"s penalty. Trim switched to a three-four-three formation with Alan Douglas replacing Rispin, but despite late half chances from a Campbell free and a Conway volley, Celtic"s dream was over. Glenmuir - E Roe; D Hoey, C McArdle, D Fairclough, A Browne, D Grier, A Larkin, M McGeown, J Clarke, C Smart, S Fisher. Subs - M Nolan for Clarke, P Reilly for Larkn, B Casey for Smart. Trim Celtic - B O"Callaghan; C Rispin, K Jones, M Gilsenan, D Conway, A Newman, P Campbell, M Corrigan, P Gilsenan, D Donohoe, C Harte. Sub - A Douglas for Rispin. Referee - Conor Byrne; assistants - Camillus Perry, Peter Burns senior; fourth official - John Regan (all Meath Branch ISRS).