Second half goals keep Bagenalstown in title hunt
Burrin Celtic’s Ryan Clarke clears ahead and Hanover’s Liam Ryan during their Nationalist Premier Division clash Photo: Michael O'Rourke
Bagenalstown battled hard to secure a win over a determined Killeshin side on Friday night to reduce the gap to New Oak at the top to just one point having played a game extra. It was far from a perfect performance from Bagenalstown and in the first half in particular failed to cause Daire Phelan in the Killeshin goal any problems. They grew into the game in the second half despite a few shaky moments. ‘Keeper Sean Treacy kept them in the game with a couple of great saves. Killeshin had chances and were well in the game for large periods but just couldn’t convert. This was a fourth successive defeat for Killeshin and with just two games left, three more than the teams around them, they could still be dragged into a relegation battle that is becoming more and more intriguing every week.
Bagenalstown were coming in off the back of a penalty shootout defeat to St. Fiacc’s. The return of Robbie Kane to the Bagenalstown side having missed the Fiacc’s game through injury can’t be understated, he’s been such a crucial player to them since coming back to the club in January, having spent a season at North End.
Robbie Kane tried an ambitious effort from tip off, chancing his arm at a long range effort and to his credit, it didn’t miss by much. With 13 minutes gone, Killeshin went close through an effort from Patrick Roberts at center half who put a ball in for Jeff Mannion but he just missed it. A Cian Doyle free from from halfway on the right was hit wide on the near side by Robbie Kane.
Roy O’Neill went close for Bagenalstown from the edge of the box, launching a shot off the crossbar. The ball was played back in for Nathan Curran but his effort was hit over the bar. Just before half-time, a fantastic effort from Reginaldo Santos on the right brought out a big save from the young Bagenalstown ‘keeper, Sean Treacy who palmed it onto the crossbar which kept them in the game.
Four minutes into the second half, Bagenalstown opened the scoring. Charlie Nolan made good ground into the box but was taken down. Robbie Kane stepped up to take the penalty and dispatched it into the bottom left hand corner, sending Daire Phelan in the Killeshin goal the wrong way.
Santos launched an absolute rocket goalwards but a fantastic save from Treacy denied him. Adam Farrell danced in between Bagenalstown defenders and laid the ball off to Xoli Stafford, who is just a goal behind Dean Kelly in the Golden Boot standings currently, in space but saw his effort saved by Treacy. To be fair to the American striker, he did hit his effort straight at him. One of the elder statesmen in the Bagenalstown team, Brian O’Rourke, who joined in the summer from rivals Kilree after being relegated, went close with an effort but saw his effort saved by the former CK United ‘keeper.
Midway through the half, Bagenalstown almost conceded in a moment of madness. A Killeshin effort came flying in and Fenagh footballer Padraig Hynes tried to clear the attempt but instead hit it off the crossbar.
With 20 minutes to go, Ailton Modesto fired a ball in for Jeff Mannion who had switched positions with Stafford but he headed just wide on the left.
Bagenalstown made sure the game was theirs with six minutes to go when O’Rourke found space just outside the box and instead of trying his luck, spotted Cian Doyle and laid it off to him and Doyle who had been struggling with an injury recently found the bottom left hand corner to ensure the visitors left with all three points, making amends for his missed penalty in the cup match last week.
Daire Phelan, Cormac O’Hara, Alan Brennan, Ricardo Maranhao, Patrick Roberts, Dawid Pawlowicz, Jeff Mannion, Dashiel Thurmond, Xoli Stafford, Reginaldo Santos, Adam Farrell.
Ailton Modesto, Felipe Modesto, Greg Sykula, Ian Brennan.
Sean Treacy, Jack McCullagh, Nathan Curran, Andrew Kane, Padraig Hynes, Cian Doyle, Eoghan Dowling, Roy O’Neill, Charlie Nolan, Robbie Kane, Tommy Bolger.
Conor Lennon, Neil Martin, Brian O’Rourke, Murt Bambrick, Jake McAssey, Aedan Byrne, James Hickey.
Jonathan Waters assisted by Phil Neenan and Artur Bienko.
Parkville and St Pat’s served up a tense but largely uninspiring contest as the visitors claimed victory and secured back-to-back league wins for the first time this season. Parkville started the brighter of the two sides but fell behind inside the opening 12 minutes when Callum Warfield was brought down by the Park goalkeeper and calmly converted the resulting penalty.
Much of the play was confined to the middle third with clear chances scarce. Parkville felt they should have had a penalty on the half-hour when Adam Cleary went down in the area, but appeals were waved away. Cleary later beat three defenders on the edge of the box, but his weak effort was easily gathered. Pats nearly doubled their lead before half-time when Jan Flejszar brilliantly blocked Shane Buggy’s goalbound strike.
The second half followed a similar pattern with neither side producing much quality. Parkville thought they had equalised when Tom Pollard’s cross found Cleary, but the striker was flagged offside. Pats continued to threaten sporadically with Dylan Doyle, Buggy and Warfield all going close.
The decisive moment arrived on 65minutes when Flejszar forced chaos in the Park area and the goalkeeper spilled the ball into his own net. The goalie later redeemed himself with an excellent save from Flejszar, but the visitors comfortably saw out the closing stages. Flejszar, Lord Afrifa and Brandon Kelly impressed for Pat’s, whose hard work and organisation proved enough on a day when quality was in short supply.
