Drogheda club are ‘Well in the race

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JOHN Kermode plundered his second hat-trick of 2017 to help reignite the NEFL title race as Newfoundwell stunned leaders Muirhevnamor on their own patch on Thursday night last.

This was sweet revenge for the Drogheda club who lost heavily to Tiarnan Mulvenna’s charges in the reverse fixture before Christmas, and it’s remarkable that the ‘Well have maintained their challenge given that they have been without a pitch since January.

That 4-1 reverse against Muirhevnamor way back in the first week of October was the last time they played a home league match in the town.

A lack of consistency and a shortage of clean sheets have been the ‘Well’s Achilles’ heel this year and recent defeats by relegation-threatened Boyne Harps and Duleek seemed to derail their push for Premier honours.

But crucially they managed to overcome Navan Cosmos a couple of weeks ago and this latest win puts them right back in contention, although still reliant on Muirhevnamor dropping points in one of their two remaining games.

Missing three of their first-choice midfield players, Newfoundwell were forced into a reshuffle that saw Ross Reid and Roy Kierans paired for the first time in the anchor roles, and after a bright start by the visitors it was Muirhevnamor who struck the first blow after 10 minutes.

Mickey Kane’s slide-rule pass released Paudie Hearty and caused hesitation in the mind of ‘Well keeper Keith Martin, who ended up bringing down the forward for a penalty. Billy Smith stepped up to beat Martin from the spot.

For large parts of the game Smith’s threat was stifled, however, as the decision to put the experienced Stephen Murphy on him proved to be a masterstroke by the management team.

The game turned the ‘Well’s way on 20 minutes when John Kermode but inside off the left wing and rifled a low shot past Muirhevnamor keeper David Cooney.

Two minutes later the Drogheda men were unlucky not to go ahead as Adam O’Connor set in motion a move that ended with a John Kermode cross and a Ciaran Carroll header which thundered off the underside of the bar.

Early in the second half the away side had to withstand a period of heavy pressure from the hosts, with Martin saving well from O’Kane and watching a couple of other long-range attempts go wide.

The ‘Well survived, however, and on the hour mark they were ahead as Reid sent a great cross to the back post for Craig O’Connor who took a touch before shooting to the bottom corner of Muirhevnamor’s net.

The Dundalk men were back on level terms almost immediately, though, as a corner kick was whipped in by Jimmy Cooney on top of Martin and Brendan Hughes scrambled the ball in from almost on the goal-line.

Danny Gartland’s team weren’t about to crumble, though, and on 75 minutes they went ahead once more. Again, Reid was the provider as he released John Kermode and, spotting Cooney slightly out of position, beat him at his near post with another excellent finish.

Carroll had a chance to seal the win shortly after when he went oneon-one with the Muirhevnamor netminder, only to place his shot just wide.

The home team pushed hard for an equalising goal in the last 10 minutes, but Murphy, Daryl McDonagh, Kevin Bull and Adam O’Connor were all excellent in defence and in stoppage time John Kermode completed his hat-trick after being set up by his brother Brian.