O'Neill scores the only goal as Parkville secure much needed win
Parkville’s Jack O’Neill is about to be lifted by Mitch Kelly after scoring the only goal of the game against Hanover Harps Photo: michaelorourkephotography.ie
With Parkville struggling near the bottom of the table, Jack O’Neill’s goal secured a huge three points for Parkville on Sunday morning, as they all but guaranteed their Premier Division safety. It was a battle and there wasn’t much between the two sides, in fact a draw would have probably been a fair result but Parkville fought and got the win to secure just their fourth win of the season. This ended Hanover’s five match unbeaten streak and probably just rules them out of title contention.
Hanover went closest early on as an Adam McCarron free from the right from the halfway line on the right was hit over the bar by Aaron Cunningham-Burke. Three minutes later, a Cian Ray corner from the right was cleared. Craig Staunton hit a cross in from the right into the middle but it was dealt with by the Hanover defence. On 15 minutes, a Ray free from the right was cleared. Two minutes later, a Ray corner from the right was hit over by Eoghan Byrne. Parkville had an effort saved on 24 minutes. The best chance of the match fell to Cunningham-Burke whose effort was saved with Eoghan Byrne’s rebound cleared off the line. Just shy of the half hour mark, Ciaran O’Sullivan had an effort saved for Parkville. Four minutes later, a Ray corner from the right was cleared, played in back to him and his effort from the right was hit into Jamie Farnon in the Parkville goal. Three minutes from the half-time break, Jack O’Neill struck an effort from the edge of the box on the right to give Parkville the lead. Byrne should have levelled for Hanover just before the break as he found himself in on goal but couldn’t quite beat the Parkville ‘keeper, taking too long on the ball. In stoppage time, O’Sullivan went close for Parkville, hitting a half effort across the box.
Two minutes into the second half, a Brian Byrne corner from the right was cleared. An O’Neill corner two minutes later from the right was cleared. With nine minutes gone, a McCarron free from the right was missed by two guys at the back post. A minute later, an O’Sullivan effort from the right was cleared by Kevin Power. The resulting corner from the right was cleared by Hanover. 20 minutes into the half, a Byrne free for Parkville was hit over the bar. Three minutes later, a McCarron free from the right was cleared, with Cunningham-Burke bundling the rebound wide on the right. With 20 minutes to go, a Cunningham-Burke free from the left was deflected wide. The resulting corner from the right from McCarron was headed wide on the left. Three minutes later, a McCarron free from the left found Byrne who couldn’t quite control his header and the ball was cleared. A Cathal Coughlan corner from the left was cleared. With seven minutes to go, a Byrne corner from the left was cleared. A minute later, Hanover should have levelled when a corner from the right found Power who headed wide on the near side. In the second minute of injury time, a Hanover free from the left was cleared. At the death, Cunningham-Burke hit an effort towards goal and Roland Sanni fell over the ball as he went to try hit it in.
Hanover Harps: Ben McCarron, James Horohan, Adam Nolan, Kevin Power, Adam McCarron, Cathal Coughlan, Scott Dunne, Cian Ray, Eoghan Byrne, Kieran Nolan, Aaron Cunningham-Burke. Subs: Mark Davis, Luke Murphy, Roland Sanni, Stephan Chalton, Lee Carpenter, Colm Hutton.
Parkville United: Jamie Farnon, Tom Pollard, Lorcan Canavan, Jack O’Neill, Ronan Byrne, Jake Hickey, Robert Bulmer, Eoin Brennan, Ciaran O’Sullivan, Craig Staunton, Brian Byrne. Subs: Lee Kavanagh, Mitch Kelly, Rory O’Connor, Luke Maher, Cillian O’Neill, Nicholas Nolan, Cathal Bailey.
