Roche and Kennedy keep St Bernard’s at the top

ST Bernard’s maintained their Premier Division challenge on Sunday as the table toppers had to dig deep to overcome Mervue United by 2-0 at Fahy’s Field and along with Salthill Devon, they look to be the major contenders in the closing weeks of the season.

Chasing a first ever title, the Abbeyknockmoy outfit have put themselves in prime position with a series of impressive performances and a goal in each half was enough to see off a home side who made them battle every inch of the way.

The visitors gave an early indication of their intent as Jason Finn struck the butt of a post with an effort, before Craig Kennedy extracted a smart save from Peter Healy. St Bernard’s made a crucial breakthrough midway through the half  when Finn provided the cross and after taking a touch, Adrian Roche applied the far post finish for a 1-0 lead.

The resumption saw Mervue offer more of a threat in the last third of the park, but despite forcing a series of corners and set pieces, they seldom directly threatened goalkeeper Kevin Ruane, whose handing and control of his area was a real confidence booster as he maintained a clean sheet. Now, mind you, he knew little about Simon Walsh’s effort that crashed off the crossbar on 68 minutes in one of their few clear opportunities of the day.

The same player was just wide with a far post header in the closing stages and with the home side doing the majority of late pressing, the visitors were depending on some rapid counter attacking to secure a second breakthrough. Indeed, it was from such a route that they made it 2-0 on 89 minutes.

Substitute Shane King and Craig Kennedy combined with a series of passes down the right, before Kennedy displayed great composure in the box as he rounded Healy and side footed into an empty net to a chorus of massive cheering from the Bernard’s bench.

Meanwhile, in Drom there was an equally competitive encounter as Salthill Devon came from behind to defeat previous leaders Corrib Rangers by 2-1. The dismissal of four players in the closing quarter just added to the intrigue as the visitors lost three in a total lack of discipline.

It was Rangers who enjoyed supremacy in the opening half and they deserved more than David Goldbey’s stunning strike on 28 minutes, but the second half saw the home side take over and they levelled matters just past the hour mark as Oscar Sibanda made it 1-1. Eight minutes from time, Jose Garcia struck the winner for Devon as they maintained their distant challenge for league honours.

Maybe Athenry had their eye on Sunday’s Connacht Cup final as they were held to a scoreless draw by a committed and young Hibernians side. The home team enjoyed the best chances, but on a frustrating occasion they just struggled to hit the target.

Ciaran Duggan was on the mark twice for Corrib Celtic as they drew 2-2 with NUI Galway. Ian Kent and Sean Gavin scored for the students, who picked up a valuable point in their quest to avoid the drop to the First Division.

Indeed, three clubs are in the relegation mix as Colemanstown United, NUI Galway and Tuam Celtic all vie to avoid the drop. They all have to meet in head to head challenges and the outcome of these games will decide who stays up and who goes down.

Meanwhile in the title race, all roads lead to Abbey on Sunday morning as St Bernards host Salthill Devon at 11am.  While the home side have a little room for error, the visitors have none as they cannot afford to drop points as they chase the leaders. They trail Bernard’s by nine points, but have two games in hand.

Further to our story in the Connacht Tribune last week, Athenry and Corrib Rangers have appealed their loss of points for using suspended players in wins over Mervue United and St Bernard’s.

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