Wolohan weaves magic
Hat-trick helps Hibs to comfortable win over local rivals
A HAT-TRICK from Des Wolohan helped steer Courtown Hibs safely into the third round of the Creane and Creane Wexford Cup after an action-packed 5-2 win over local rivals Gorey Celtic in Sunday’s second round tie at a fresh Ounavarra Park.
With Hibs operating a division higher than Celtic this season, although both sides currently sit second from bottom in their respective leagues, they were expected to make home advantage count, and they lived up to that tag of favourites with a straightforward victory.
While Wolohan will quite rightly gain most of the headlines with a collection of strikes of different levels of difficulty, this was far from a one-man performance, as James Fleming posed plenty of trouble down the left flank, twin brothers Michael and Colum Kinsella brought steady leadership to midfield, and Cormac Moore defended solidly.
That said, it was the visitors who struck first, in opportunistic fashion too, as Robin Canavan’s kick-out fell to Marco Santos on 13 minutes, and the ex-Hibs striker lobbed the ball back over the goalkeeper for a clever opener.
Darren O Maionagh began in inspired form between the sticks at the other end, pulling off a string of excellent saves to repel constant Hibs pressure, particularly when tipping over Wolohan’s strong header on 29 minutes.
But it was only a matter of time before the hosts broke their duck, and it arrived on the half-hour mark when Fleming’s inswinging cross found the head of captain Colum Kinsella to power home.
And they struck ahead immediately after Celtic’s re-start, as possession was quickly turned over for Yaw Aboagye to slide through for Matty Kavanagh, and he dinked over O Maionagh to stun his former team-mates.
Hibs then had the opportunity to score again when Fleming was tripped in the box, but Michael Kinsella hit the post from the subsequent penalty.
Nonetheless, they were sitting comfortably at the break after a long pass from Adam Roche released Wolohan and he dispatched neatly into the top corner for a 3-1 lead.
Their best-designed goal came on 54 minutes when Niall Keyes cut back to Kavanagh, who teed it up for Wolohan to hammer home a header at the back post.
Celtic pulled a goal back against the run of play two minutes later when Lee Cullen tucked home at the near post as the gap was cut to 4-2.
But the victors finished in style when Wolohan poked in after a pinball scramble as Courtown advanced without too much hassle.
COURTOWN HIBS:
Robin Canavan; Jack O’Brien, Cormac Moore, Adam Roche; Niall Keyes, Michael Kinsella, Colum Kinsella (capt.), Matty Kavanagh, James Fleming; Des Wolohan, Yaw Aboagye. Subs. - Wayne O’Reilly for C. Kinsella (50), Daniel O’Brien for Aboagye (55), Thomas Cloake for Kavanagh (60), James Byrne for Fleming (60), Conor Fortune for Keyes (65).
GOREY CELTIC:
Darren O Maionagh; Robbie Ballagh, Gavin Goodwin, Kenneth Byrne, Owen Byrne; Michel Szymanski, John Kavanagh (capt.), Jakub Konkel, Grazffan Dettlaf; Marco Santos, Lee Cullen. Subs. - Caleb Murphy for Kavanagh (HT), Seán Cathaz for Ballagh (56), Ryan McGurk for Santos (56).