Soccer Round-Up with Mike Rafferty

Salthill Devon have been handed a home tie in the Fourth Round of the FAI Junior Cup, but Galway’s two other representatives in the national stages of the competition, Mervue United and Craughwell United, have been handed tricky away ties.

Devon will welcome Trim Celtic of Meath to Drom in the Last 64 of the competition in a tie scheduled to be played on or before the week ending Sunday December 1. Mervue United face a trip to Dublin to take on the winners of the 3rd Round tie between Montpelier FC and Blackforge FC; while Craughwell United have been drawn away to Ballyoulster United AFC from Loughlinstown in Kildare.

FAI JUNIOR CUP

Mervue United 1

Bearna Na Forbacha 0

On paper this should have been an easy task for Mervue United with a home tie against a side 34 places and three divisions below them in league terms, but against all of that, Bearna Na Forbacha played way above their station as they made the home side work very hard for their win.

While Ollie Neary’s side certainly bossed the opening half exchanges in Fahy’s Field, just a Kody McCann goal set up by Adam Healy on 43 minutes separated the teams at the finish.

Mervue certainly forced the pace in the opening half as Bearna Na Forbacha goalkeeper Mairtin Conneely was certainly kept busy, but the visitors defended well as Tadhg Faherty, Daniel McComiskey, Rob Talbot, and Caomhan Feeney played their part.

Aaron Neary, Mark O’Halloran, and Oisin Coyne mainly kept the home side on the front foot in this spell, but the resumption saw a bit more balance brought to the occasion as Sam O’Gorman, Jordan Powell, and substitute Sam Golden played their part as Bearna Na Forbacha offered more of a contribution from an attacking point of view.

Efforts at opposite ends by Conor Keady and Cian Hernon were off target, while a Neary shot never really troubled Conneely. A through-ball by O’Gorman almost released Golden, but goalkeeper Peter Healy advanced to gather.

Conneely tipped over a header from substitute Jason Molloy; while Golden went for glory at the near post when he should have pulled the ball back across the face of goal. A crucial interception in the last minute by Daragh McGrath denied Golden a free run on goal as he cut out an attempted through ball from Hernon.

Pictured: The Mervue United side that beat Bearna na Forbacha Aontaithe 1-0 in the FAI Junior Cup at the weekend. Back row, from left: Kody McCann, Oisin Coyne, Peter Healy, Conor Keady, Mark O’Hollaran, and Lewis Waweru. Front: Adam Healy, Aaron Neary, Dara McGrath, Kasper Zatonski, and Daniel Brennan. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.