Controversial injury time spot kick wins day for Mervue Utd

Corrib Rangers 1

Mervue United 2

EIGHT minutes into additional time Dara Ryan slotted home the match winning penalty as Mervue United reclaimed the top spot in the Premier Division at Laurel Park on Sunday morning.

That is the edited version of what summed up a chaotic few final minutes as a good sporting contest was decided by a controversial decision in the latter stages of a contest between the top two in the table.

The game was in the 95th minute when a Simon Walsh shot struck the hand of Gary Murray in the box. The defender’s hand was down by his side and while both players were in reasonable close proximity to one another – it certainly was a case of ball to hand.

To the surprise of most, referee Mark Lynch pointed to the spot and awarded Mervue United a penalty. Amid the turmoil, he issued red cards to Murray (second yellow) and goalkeeper Martin Rice for unsavoury comments directed at the match official.

In a competitive contest, it was the visitors who enjoyed the greater opportunities in the opening half, as the home side struggled to get out of the blocks. However, Rangers certainly offered the greater finishing threat on the resumption but they missed a number of chances to kill off the match.

Former Rangers player Barry Moran was in the midst of the early Mervue chances as a 10th minute shot was saved by Rice before a Jason Murphy goal line clearance also denied him a breakthrough. The visitors made it 1-0 on 21 minutes when an Alex Lee corner caused chaos in the home rearguard and after various rebounds, it appeared to enter the net off the body of Murray for an own goal that he could do little about.

Mike Tierney headed an Arron Finnerty cross wide, while at the other end Mervue custodian Peter Healy had a comfortable half, with just a Martin O’Connell shot extending him before the break.

While the home side offered a greater challenge on the resumption, they never extended Healy until he had to pick the ball out of the net on 74 minutes. David Goldbey provided the assist with a pass to Brian Connolly and he drilled the equaliser beyond the goalkeeper.

Mervue threatened a response as a Concannon strike from 25 yards got the better of Rice, but rebounded off a post on 81 minutes. That let off appeared to sting Rangers into a reply and a Ger Bane advance from the back, culminated in a shot that was saved by Healy before the goalkeeper excelled with a stop to deny Goldbey in a one on one situation on 84 minutes.

Three minutes from time, the striker had another chance to win it when his header drifted just wide of an open goal, after a Healy clearance dropped to him on the edge of the area. At the other end, Adam Lee and Simon Walsh reigned in unsuccessful shots on goal and the visitors continued to threaten as the game entered the surprisingly lengthy period of additional time.

Four successive Walsh corners were all dealt with by the home rearguard before the late penalty drama was all the talk of the ground nas Mervue escaped with a win that saw them return to the top of the table for the first time since the early weeks of the season.

Corrib Rangers: Rice, Preston-Kelly (Clarke h/t), Murray, Bane, Embulie, Murphy, Sibanda (Smith 85mins), Barbu, Goldbey (Yaho 97mins), Connolly, O’Connell.

Mervue United: Healy, Finnerty, Browne, McHugh (Adam Lee 83mins), Connolly, Deacy, Alex Lee (S Walsh h/t), McWalter, Tierney, Moran (Ryan 67mins), Concannon.

Referee: Mark Lynch.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.