PREMIER DIVISION

A storming second half saw Carnew surge to victory over St Peter’s in this Division 1 clash at the Back Alley in Carnew on Sunday morning.

Having been largely frustrated for the opening half and early stages of the second a Conal McCrea curler from the edge of the box finally broke the deadlock, after which a couple of quick fire goals propelled Carnew to victory.

Carnew were the dominant team in the first half in terms of time spent in their opponent’s box and chances created. They didn’t have much fluidity of stringing passes together but put Peter’s under pressure with crosses and balls over the top and started with real intent and physicality.

Cillian Gilligan was inches away from giving them a spectacular lead in the opening minutes but his 25 yard free-kick clipped the top of the crossbar and went harmlessly into the ditch behind.

Peter’s on the other hand were a smaller team overall and looked to play things through the middle more. The likes of Darren McAteer, Killian O Carroll and Seán Devlin worked some good positions with intricate passing.

Peter’s though created very few chances of note throughout the match and found the Carnew backline impenetrable for the most part with Carnew centre backs Dan Nolan and Justin House outstanding both as a pair and individually.

Gilligan was once more unlucky not to open his account, seeing a left footed effort ricochet off the post after lovely control of a high ball inside the box. It didn’t seem to be the diminutive striker’s day as minutes later he rounded the keeper after a brilliant long ball form PJ O Keefe but was foiled by a last ditch Nathan Canavan cover tackle.

Carnew continued pressing for the remainder of the half but a precious goal continued to elude them. House was just wide with a header from a long range free and Ethan Crinion was forced into a top class save but Carnew at times looked one dimensional and lacked cutting edge up front.

Half time came and Carnew emptied the artillery and made all 3 of their allocated subs for the second half.

It was Peter’s however who restarted the quickest and came close with their first real chance of the match, a Nathan Canavan header at the back post.

The centre back will probably be disappointed as it was a good chance but his header lacked enough power to seriously test Seánie Kinsella who caught comfortably.

This fright seemed to force Carnew up a gear or two and the half time switches began to pay dividends as Brendan McCrea and James Behan in particular began to make inroads into and past the Peter’s back division.

McCrea almost worked the opener after a good run and cross from the right wing but Adam Doyle headed wide with a tame header.

Carnew’s opener finally arrived after 56 minutes. The move was instigated by a great run and ball forward by House to Jimmy Behan and after a scramble in the box the ball broke to Conal McCrea 17 yards out, dead central and he arced it to the left of Crinion to give Carnew a deserved lead.

Peter’s responded immediately as Jack Kane’s flicked volley had Kinsella beaten all ends up only to bounce out off the crossbar and away as the resultant effort drifted harmlessly wide.

PJ O’Keefe saw a rasping long ranger go just over before Peter’s chances of a comeback suffered a severe blow in the 68th minute when Killian O’Carroll saw red for a high footed challenge.

All of ninety seconds later the Bray outfits woes were compounded as Adam Doyle was tripped on the turn inside the area. Gavin Colfer pointed to the spot and James Behan made no mistake with a right footed finish to the right corner.

Two minutes later it was a case of déjà vu as Behan dispatched another spot kick following a handball and a disastrous 6 minutes was completed when Adam Doyle tucked away a close range effort at the back post following good work from Brendan McCrea to leave the score 4-0 after 74 minutes.

Carnew saw out what was a very long final quarter for Peter’s comfortably and could have added to their tally but once more Gilligan was denied as is effort deflected just wide.

A great win from Carnew with good performances from Dan Nolan, PJ O’Keefe and especially Justin House with Brendan McCrea and Jimmy Behan having a big impact off the bench.

Seán Kinsella, Eoghan Mulholland, Dan Nolan, Justin House, Robert Young, Conal McCrea, PJ O’Keefe, Will O’Neill, Graham Byrne, JJ McCrea, Cillian Gilligan. Subs: Brendan McCrea for Eoghan Mulholland, James Behan for Will O’Neill, Adam Doyle for JJ McCrea.

Ethan Crinion, Carl Troy, Nathan Canavan, Mark O’Sullivan, Darren McAteer, Seán Devlin, Jake Kane, Chad Vyan, Killian O’Carroll, Daniel McCann, Ross O’Brien. Subs: Ryan Smith for Seán Devlin, Seán McAteer for Daniel McCann.