Kavanagh’s the key man as Duleek advance in Leinster

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FORMER amateur international Barry Kavanagh demonstrated once again his value to Duleek by bagging all three of their goals in this Leinster Junior Cup victory on Sunday afternoon.

The NEFL side faced an experienced Willow Park from Athlone at the Tollstone and a very tight first half ensued, with both teams creating a few half-chances and finding the respective goalkeepers and defences in good form.

The best chance for Duleek in the first half was Jamie Flaherty’s header from a Cormac Reid corner which the Willow keeper tipped over the bar.

However, after that scoreless first half it was the home team who sprung to life two minutes after the restart when some good football released Karl Dyas on the right-hand side and he pulled the ball across goal for Kavanagh to tap home from six yards.

However, the away team continued to play some excellent stuff and they were awarded a spot kick for a trip in the box. The resulting penalty was expertly dispatched, giving Keith Carolan in the Duleek goal no chance.

There was no panic in the Duleek ranks, though, and they soon restored their advantage when Conor Branigan found space on the left-hand side and played in Kavanagh who smashed a low drive past the Willow keeper.

As the Westmeath side pressed for an equaliser it was the home team who scored the goal of the game on 75 minutes following some very neat onetouch play between several players. Eventually the ball was fed into Robin Clarke in the box and he picked out Kavanagh who placed his shot beyond the Willow keeper to complete his hat-trick.

On a day when Duleek weren’t at their best, their star men were captain Bryan Murphy, Flaherty, Sean Kennedy and man-of-thematch Kavanagh who keeps turning in performances week after week and is a fantastic role model for any young player.