Blues close in on title showdown with Boyne
THE cup holders march towards regaining the title received a big fillip with a second half mauling of the side that they defeated to win the Tully bookmakers trophy last June and record the biggest win of the season in the premier division.
The title looks all set to be decided when they meet pacesetters Boyne who have a 100 per cent record, with Muirhevnamor’s only blemish a draw with Ardee Celtic and the loss of two points.
In the pelting rain on Friday night at the Muirhevnamor Astro pitch they rattled in seven goals in a totally one-sided second half in total contrast to when the sides met in the cup final when a lone goal by Thomas McShane decided the outcome.
Muirhevnamor have become much stronger with the acquisition of players like Martin Smith who supplied his customary goal a game, and could take on the likes of other new additions like Vinny Smith and Colin Finan plus Tiernan Mulvenna, with the latter pair bagging three goals between them.
Bellurgan are re-building and for their largely young and inexperienced side this will be a salutary lesson, but should be a valuable learning exercise. They will just have to disregard the second half when two goals in the first ten minutes tore the heart out of them.
There were mitigating and debatable circumstances. They fell behind to a penalty by Billy Smith after ten minutes when a weak pass back resulted in Robert Arthur mis-timing a challenge. They lost then young forward Shane O’Brien with an arm injury before the break and ace striker Ciaran Sheelan’s shot from outside the box whistled just past the post.
Strong appeals for offside by the Peninsula side went unheeded as Martin Smith tucked Mickey O’Kane’s through ball into the penalty box into the corner of the net to increase his side’s lead.
They hadn’t got over that blow when there was a question mark over whether Billy Smith kept the ball from crossing the end line in the lead up to Mickey O’Kane hitting a cracking shot from outside the 18 yard box to make it three nil with the aid of a deflection..
Before that Stephen Finnegan wasted a golden opportunity to put his side back in the game when he was sent bearing down on goal with only Michael Cooney standing in his way. His shot lacked conviction and was too close to the goalkeeper who blocked it and the danger was cleared.
O’Kane made way for Tiernan Mulvenna a couple of minutes after the former made it three nil, and within the space of 12 minutes Bellurgan banged in three more goals, two within a minute.
The first and the winners fourth resulted when goalkeeper Arthur fumbled a cross by Philip Duffy and the ball went in off the lurking Billy Smith.
Gary Clarke, another substitute to make his mark, stretched the lead to five nil before Mulvenna hit the first of his two goals from the spot after being taken down.
He added his second when he broke clear and lifted the ball over Arthur in the penalty box and guided it into the empty net.
Finan scored with a fine shot from outside the box. MUIRHEVNAMOR: Michael Cooney, Brian Begley, Robbie Gavigan Adrian Rafferty, Jimmy Cooney, Philip Duffy, Cody Magill,, Brendan Hughes (Gary Clarke), Billy Smith (Vinny Smith), Mickey O’Kane( Tiernan Mulvenna) Martin Smith (Colin Finan).
BELLURGAN: Robert Arthur, Owen Traynor, Colm Matthews, Mark Murphy, Stephen Finnegan, Sean Maguire ( Joe Finnegan), Shane O’Brien (Diarmuid Murphy) Owen Armstrong, Ciaran Sheelan, Tadhg O’Connor, Saheed Ogunfuworo.