Albion’s five-star show in Enfield
ENFIELD CELTIC ALBION ROVERS 2 5
NEWLY-PROMOTED Albion Rovers made light of a significant number of absentees due to holidays and injuries as they picked up all three points from their longest trip of the season - to Enfield.
The Monasterboice side had collected a point from their opening game of the season against fellow Division 1 new boys Hazel Lane United on Wednesday evening, with United’s Conor Parkinson cancelling out Stephen Martin’s early strike for Albion.
Here again they were short a few players and had to play winger Ian Cusack at centre-half, but they dominated from the first whistle, with new signing Austin McCann pulling the strings in midfield.
Albion created chance after chance in the first half but somehow found themselves 1-0 down at the break as the Enfield number 8 latched onto a long ball cleared from a corner and finished past Daire Moore into the bottom right corner of the Albion net.
The away side came out in the second half and pinned Enfield back into their own box, forcing a number of free kicks and corners, and they eventually gained some reward when James Tester delivered a free low into the box and Martin made it two goals from two games from a few yards out.
Albion then took the lead on 60 minutes when a Niall Smyth shot took a wicked deflection off Evan Corlett’s back, leaving the Enfield keeper completely stranded.
Corlett scored a more orthodox goal shortly after, although unusually for him it came with his head after a pinpoint delivery by Smyth from the left.
Corlett went on to complete his hat-trick on 75 minutes when that man Smyth picked him out once again, from a corner on this occasion, and the striker made no mistake from just six yards out.
Enfield pulled a goal back with 10 minutes remaining on the clock after Albion failed to clear a long throw-in, but Corlett had the final say in the match when he latched onto a long clearance, rounded the on-rushing keeper and finished to an empty net.
Best performers on the day for Albion were Corlett, McCann, Smyth and man of the match Cusack.
ALBION ROVERS: D Moore, K Harding, J Walsh, D Starrs, I Cusack, S Martin, A McCann, S Kelly, J Tester, E Corlett, S Martin. Subs: A Gartland, G Maher, J White, N Smyth, D Kirwan, S Doherty.