Champs in mood for ‘Mor’ success
GLENMUIR produced perhaps their poorest performance since Wayne Conroy took over at the helm but in a game dictated by the elements they came from behind to extend their unbeaten run to five games on Sunday at the North East League headquarters.
The home side had the aid of the strong wind in the firsthalf, but didn’t trouble Glenmuir much.
In fact the visitors had a chance after five minutes to go ahead, but Brendan Sheils was thwarted by a point blank save by the home goalkeeper as he broke clean through the home defence.
Five minutes later John Byrne had a great effort from outside the box which sailed over the crossbar.
Sean Murray was a big threat for Glenmuir on the right flank and he beat two players to put in a lovely cross to the far post for the incoming David McComish to put it over the bar.
Clear-cut opening were at a premium, but Glenmuir had a lucky escape when a long clearance by the Kells goalkeeper cleared everybody and bounced over David McKenny and also the crossbar.
McKenny was a mere spectator in the second-half, but Glenmuir couldn’t create scoring opportunities despite owning possession in the first 15 minutes.
Then on the hour Kells rather fortuitously went in front when a free kick from 40 yards went in off Willie Kelly into the visitors net.
Glenmuir made a couple of changes, bringing on Ronan Molloy and Luke Murray, and they yielded a quick dividend with the equaliser five minutes later.
Like the Kells goal there was an element of luck to it with Sean Murray’s cross cum shot deceiving everybody and ended up in the home net.
Before the ball was centred, both sides were reduced to ten men, with each with a player dismissed as a result of a melee, with Sean Murray making an exit after only five minutes on the field.
Eibhin Caldwell nearly snatched victory for Glenmuir with a great strike from the edge of the box that hit the crossbar. GLENMUIR: David McKenny; Willie Kelly (Ronan Molloy), Edgar Bitainis, Óisín Murray, David McComish, Seán Murray, David O’Donovan, Mark Molloy (Luke Murray), Éimhín Caldwell; Brendan Sheils, John Byrne. Other subs Ciaran McKeown, Danny Mullen, Keith Harris, Ashraf Bin Jamal, Liam McKenny.
MUIRHEVNAMOR QUAY CELTIC 4 1
THE champions moved into a three way tie at the top of the premier division of the North East League with this win, the margin of which in this local derby perhaps was a little flattering to the winners.
However, it is a highly significant result providing a big boost to their chances of retaining their title, while Quay‘s prospects of succeeding in this season’s race looks highly improbably as their three match unbeaten run was abruptly ended on Friday night.
Lying a point behind the hosts in fourth place prior to kick-off with a game more played this was a pivotal test of the credentials of both teams credentials neither of whom could afford to lose points with matches running out.
Quay got off to a dream start with Sean Hand putting them ahead with a diving header inside the opening couple of minutes.
However, Muirhevnamor hit back to overturn this deficit with goals by Stephen Fisher and Thomas McShane, who returned to the home team.
Michael Cooney was also back in goal after missing the win over OMP the previous Sunday due to a shoulder injury, and he played an important part in the win, with a number of valuable saves at crucial stages, not least when Quay were pressing hard to get back on terms after surrendering their early lead.
The result was that Mickey O’Kane went and increased the home side’s lead and
Quay couldn’t have been happy about the manner in which they conceded a number of these goals.
Then to make matters worse for the visitors just before the break they gave away a penalty. Billy Smith converted from the spot to leave Quay with a mountain to climb.
The visitors wrung the changes at the interval, introducing Dean Sheil, Pictures: Ken Finegan Shaun O’Connor and Conail McArdle to try and conjure a way back.
They exerted most of the pressure and made a number of clear openings which they didn’t take with Cooney in goal more than equal to the task when called upon, bringing off one outstanding acrobatic save to tip Conail McArdle ferocious drive over the crossbar.
Both sides made extensive changes, virtually using all the permitted number of substitutes, which also was a factor in no further addition being made to the half-time scoreline.
This will please the champions and increase their confidence as they enter the final stretch of the season. MUIRHEVNAMOR: Michael Cooney, Brian Begley, Adrian Rafferty Chris Caulfield(Niall Hearty), Nathan Murphy (Steven Smith), Thomas McShane ( Conor Gorman), Colin Hoey, Ben McLaughlin, Stephen Fisher ( Paudie Hearty), Billy Smith ( Brendan Hughes) Mickey O’Kane.
QUAY: John Rogers, Stefan McKevitt, David Redmond, Gary Shevlin (Shaun O’Connor), Padraig Brown, Denis Cholach (Dean Sheil), Sean Hand, Eanna McArdle, Vinny Smith (Drew Duffy), Sean Matthews (Conal McArdle) Martin Smith.