Mervue United fall to four-goal defeat for second time in a week

Date Published: {J}

Shelbourne 4

Mervue United 0

Promotion chasing Shelbourne proved far too strong for Mervue United in Tolka Park on Friday night, striker Philip Hughes bagging a hat-trick as the home side made it 10 wins from 13 games this season.

The visitors had lost all seven previous meetings with the one-time kingpins of the domestic game, but they will have to wait until September to break that duck as two goals in either half were enough for Shels to take all three points.

Mervue were missing a number of players for the game, with Nicky Curran, Dan Cunningham, James Casserley and Gerard Hanley all ruled out for a variety of reasons, and the home side made them pay as Mervue fell to a 4-0 defeat for a second consecutive weekend.

Conditions were made very difficult by the driving rain, but it was the home side who coped better, and Hughes fired them into the lead in the 18th minute, getting on the end of Chris Mulhall’s cross to fire home, and he doubled the lead four minutes later, heading home a Lorcan Fitzgerald cross via a deflection both off the post and Mervue ‘keeper TJ Forde.

Mervue were struggling to get into the game, but had a glorious chance to halve the deficit in the 30th minute only for Rory Gaffney’s shot to be taken off the line by Stephen Paisley with Dean Delany stranded.

That marked the start of a decent spell for Johnny Glynn’s side, but they failed to make their pressure count, and it was Shels who should have scored next, but Forde denied Kevin Dawson with a good save.

Hughes had a couple of chances to claim the match ball early in the second half, but he fired his free-kick straight into the wall in the 49th minute, and then headed wide in the 51st minute after Paisely’s initial effort was blocked, but it was third time lucky for the striker, who finally beat Forde for a third time in the 58th minute.

That goal sealed the outcome, but the home side added a fourth in the 76th minute, Conan Byrne getting in on the act to head home after Forde saved Mulhall’s initial effort.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.