Shell-shocked leaders vow to put things Wright
BOYNE Harps manager Wayne Wright has vowed his team will bounce back after the leaders suffered a hammer blow in a remarkable match at United Park last Thursday.
The Drogheda men played host to a Trim team who knew victory would move them top of the table, albeit with three games in hand on their opponents, but they picked the wrong night to leave their shooting boots behind.
By contrast, the Meath outfit’s finishing was clinical and they must now be regarded as serious contenders for league honours this season, while the only consolation for Harps is that they created so many scoring opportunities themselves.
‘When the other manager comes in to you afterwards and says ‘that game could have finished 6-all’, it tells you what it was like,’ said a rueful Wright.
‘They had six chances in the game and took five of them, and for us it was a case of missing enough chances to win three games.
‘We’ve prided ourselves on not conceding goals, and at the other end we’ve been scoring a lot. But apart from missing a penalty, we had two goals disallowed - which probably were offside - and missed four one-on-ones.
‘It was soul-destroying, but up to now it’s been brilliant. The lads have been very good and we intend to bounce back on Friday
BOYNE HARPS TRIM CELTIC 0 5
night away to OMP.’
Harps conceded what the manager described as a very soft goal in the opening exchanges, but they should have levelled in the 10th minute when they were awarded a spot kick for a foul on Martin Kelly. With manager Wright turning away on the sideline, Darren McCann’s penalty was saved by the excellent Trim keeper, and the visitors soon doubled their advantage with a fine finish.
Number three came in the 25th minute when centre-half Luke McDonnell’s slip was punished by the Trim forward who fired home from 18 yards.
In the latter stages of the first period Harps were on top and a Manny Smith effort flew just the wrong side of the top corner before Kelly sent a piledriver narrowly off target.
The hosts carried that momentum into the second half and straight from the kick-off Tom Reilly broke through one-on-one, only to chip over the bar from nine yards.
Three more similar opportunities were created over the next quarter-hour, but twice Kelly shot tamely straight at the Trim keeper and Nathan Llewellyn also failed to hit the target.
Harps then shipped a fourth goal when Austin McCann lost possession in a dangerous area and keeper Ryan Brown was left exposed once more.
The home side continued to create openings, but the Trim keeper produced a great save to tip substitute Carl Dowling’s half-volley onto the post and Smith passed up another excellent chance.
It just wouldn’t go in for Harps, however, and the visitors rubbed more salt in the wounds near the end when they broke the offside trap and scored at the second attempt after a save from Brown. BOYNE HARPS: Ryan Brown, Kevin Walsh (Carl Dowling), Luke McDonnell (Alan Wilton), Austin McCann, James Traynor, Nathan Llewellyn, Darren McCann, Tom Reilly, Stephen Carter, Manny Smith, Martin Kelly. Subs not used: Dean Fitzpatrick, David Woods, Bryan Smith.