Albion pile the misery on lowly Harps
KINGSCOURT HARPS ALBION ROVERS 0 2
ALBION Rovers played two tiers below Kingscourt last season but still proved too strong for their Cavan hosts last Friday night.
Despite being without a number of first-team regulars due to work commitments and injuries, the Monasterboice outfit dominated throughout as centre-half pairing Neil McEvoy and Eoin McDonnell easily dealt with Kingscourt’s long-ball tactics.
Albion’s first chance of the game came after five minutes when there was some great work down the right by Karl Harding and Sam Kelly and the latter whipped in a cross for Shane Lowney who nodded wide of the upright from 10 yards.
The away side took the lead on 15 minutes when Helder Mota dropped deep to pick up possession and switched the ball in behind the opposition full-back for Sam Kelly to run onto and his cross fell inch-perfect for Lowney to hammer home his first Albion goal from close range.
Kingscourt had a couple of long-range efforts during the half, but Albion netminder Mickey Mullen easily dealt with them and his team were unlucky not to double their advantage just half-time as Mota seemed to be beat the offside trap and took three touches before chipping the oncoming keeper - only to hear a late whistle from the referee.
The second half started at a very fast pace and within 10 minutes the referee had booked five players for rash tackles.
In the meantime the away side missed another great chance as Dylan Kirwan sent his shot from the edge of the box high over the fence, with one onlooker speculating that the ball had since been spotted in Drogheda.
Albion eventually scored their second goal with 10 minutes to go when Gary Maher delivered a fantastic ball into Mota who headed into the top corner from 12 yards, giving the Harps keeper no chance.
Best for Albion on the night were Mota, Sam Kelly, McDonnell and star man Lowney. ALBION ROVERS: Mickey Mullen, Karl Harding, Kevin Kelly, Neil McEvoy, Eoin McDonnell, Shane Lowney, Sam Kelly, Danny Starrs (Steo Martin 75), Helder Mota, Niall Smyth, Dylan Kirwan (Gary Maher 70).