Soccer Wrap with Mike Rafferty

It was honours even in Fahy’s Field last Saturday as the city derby between the top two in the Premier League, Mervue United and Salthill Devon, as the home side let slip a 2-0 half-time lead to draw with the visitors.

Elsewhere in the top-flight, Renmore extended their unbeaten run to five games with a 1-1 draw against Maree/Oranmore; Moyne Villa moved to third with a 3-2 win against Hibs; University of Galway lost 2-1 to Athenry; while Loughrea pulled off the shock of the weekend with a 2-0 win over Colga.

Premier League

Mervue United 2

Salthill Devon   2

Only time will tell if Mervue United will have regrets about losing a two-goal interval advantage, as Salthill Devon produced the expected second-half comeback to restore parity and in the end both sides left Fahy’s Field on Saturday evening with a share of the points.

With the home side having previously dropped four points in the campaign and Devon on full marks from their programme to date, it was Mervue who really needed to get a win from the encounter and get themselves back in the title race. The eventual outcome was not a disaster, but no doubt, it was a result that would have pleased the visitors more than the home side.

They certainly went chasing the game from the off with skipper Oisin Coyne leading the charge. He had an early effort blocked in a crowded box, before the home side were awarded a penalty on four minutes when Adam Healy was upended in the box and Aaron Neary neatly tucked the resulting spot kick into the bottom corner.

With Healy offering a threat down the left and Coyne getting forward at every opportunity, it was Ollie Neary’s chargers who continued to offer the greater finishing threat.

Coyne was twice thwarted in the box, while it took a crucial interception from Paul Scally to deny Lewis Waweru getting on the end of a Luke O’Gorman through-ball. With Mervue closing the space and not giving Devon time on the ball, little was seen of the visitors real attacking threat in the opening half.

Young Brian Tolan started in place of the injured Timmy Molloy and he looked very comfortable with his composure on the ball. After limited earlier attacking threats, a Mikey Fox free kick on 28 minutes brought a tip-over save from Peter Healy, and from the resulting corner, Scally had an effort blocked.

In the meantime the home side continued to threaten as O’Gorman, Coyne, and Neary kept them on the front foot. It took them some time to add the second, but on 45 minutes, a Waweru pass released Kody McCann on the right, and his cross was finished to the net by the inrushing Healy for a 2-0 advantage.

Pictured: The Corrib Rangers side that slipped to a surprise defeat to mac Dara in the Championship at the weekend. Back row, from left: Leo Da Silva, Marco Da Silva, Victor Onaga, Cian Boggans, Nazim Ishmolov, Shane Rafferty, Ollie Rafferty (manager), and Johnny Ward (mascot). Front: John Reynolds, Johnny O’Brien, Colm Carroll, Eddie Bennett, and Aaron Canavan. Photos: Iain McDonald.