Renmore still in driving seat thanks to late Boyle winner

Mervue United 3

Loughrea 2

WHEN Loughrea created something of shock with a 3-0 away win over second placed West United early in December, it was the first win for the newly promoted side in the Western Hygiene Supplies Premier Division.

It was an occasion when Loughrea played well, took the chances that came their way and were rewarded for their efforts with a merited outcome.

However, the same good fortune has eluded them on many other occasions this season and such a situation occurred in Fahy’s Field on Sunday morning when they went down against Mervue United.

For the majority of the game, Loughrea were the better side and led by 2-0 at the break. Allied to that they had loads of other opportunities, but their failing in front of goal was to come back to haunt them.

Indeed, it was only the second occasion in nine league games that they scored more than one goal and when you are at the foot of the table that sort of form only leads to a season long struggle.

According to Mervue United manager Gareth Gorman afterwards, “we played for 15 minutes today when we got the three goals and no doubt Loughrea deserved some reward as they were the better side for most of the contest.”

The reality is Loughrea are much better than their lowly standing in the table, but points have to be earned and there are few soft games out there. Now, they are three points adrift of Salthill Devon and Corrib Rangers who lie directly above them, while three other sides in mid-table will be looking over their shoulders as just six points separate the bottom six teams in the table.

On Sunday, the visitors were the dominant side from the off and were rewarded with the lead when Neil O’Leary finished a Darren Creaven cross at the far post, before they added the second when Gary Madden released Gavin Shaughnessy behind the cover and he duly got the better of Lorcan Doyle in a one-on-one situation.

If those gaols were the highlights, there were many other opportunities that went abegging. Brian McGee, Creaven and Shaughnessy spurned chances as they deserved much more than a 2-0 interval advantage.

In contrast, Mervue United’s rich goal scoring spell was kick started by the decision of referee Vincent Carew to award a free kick against visiting goalkeeper Chris O’Shea for delaying his clearance. It was a harsh call for an infringement that is rarely penalised in the current game and Carew’s decision was punished in full by Barry Moran as he fired home the resulting set piece.

As heads dropped in the visitors camp, very quickly further goals by Dave Smith and Simon Walsh put the home side 3-2 ahead and it was enough to give them a win and close the gap to leaders Athenry to just four points at the top of the table.

The closing stages were played out in the Mervue half and deep in additional time, Loughrea goalkeeper O’Shea powered a header goal wards following a corner, but was denied a merited equaliser when Keith McHugh somehow cleared off the line. It just wasn’t their day, with their downfall set in motion by a referee’s decision that changed the course of the game.

Premier League

Aided by a second half Shane Concannon hat trick, Corrib Celtic blew away the challenge of Corrib Rangers as they emerged 4-0 winners at Westside.

With the Annaghadown based side fielding their strongest selection for some time and also boosted by the return of Mike O’Malley they were dominant for the majority of the action, with Laurance Forde finishing a Cian Forde cross to give them an interval advantage.

The fortunes of St Bernard’s are much changed from last season as the defending champions are finding life much tougher. The concession of a last minute penalty resulted in a 2-1 loss against ten-man Salthill Devon in Drom on Friday night.

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