Better-balanced Melville on top in Westmeath derby

After the euphoria of a 4-0 away win in their first league game of the season a week earlier, Mullingar Town were brought back down to earth in Dalton Park on Sunday afternoon last when Melville Utd headed back to Athlone with full points from an entertaining game.The visitors deserved their win and looked more likely scorers throughout the match, which was played in a very good spirit and was very well refereed by Dermot Tone, whose low-key officiating added to the enjoyment of the small crowd, many of whom watched from the vantage point of the Town’s excellent new all-weather pitch.After a minute’s silence was observed in memory of the recently-deceased duo of John Conlon’s grandfather and Liam Sherlock’s uncle, Melville, aided by a useful wind blowing directly towards the dressing room end of the ground, got off to a tonic start when Colin McCormack was taken down in the box by Town ’keeper Darren Quinn, as he chased a perceptive through ball. Michael Rafferty fired the resultant spot-kick past Quinn, who managed to get a touch to the ball but was beaten by the sheer power of the shot. Both sides had half-chances over the ensuing ten minutes, but neither goalie was threatened. Jason Duff was called back for offside in what looked a very marginal call, but his hard-working colleague Joe Cassidy soon equalised, when he applied a deft left-footed finish from ten metres to Mark Coyne’s fine left-wing cross. Melville began to dominate at this juncture and were rewarded with a succession of corner-kicks, all very well swung in from both corner positions by William Fitzmaurice, but none of them came to anything in terms of the scoresheet.Darren Quinn did well to hold a cross from Gary Stephens before Melville were blown for a very tight offside, with Michael Rafferty the player penalised. Trevor Barr had to be alert to hold a snap-shot from Joe Cassidy and, moments later, a close-range strike from James Nevin. At the other end, Jason Charles timed his challenge superbly as Michael Rafferty threatened. Just past the half-hour mark, Town almost conceded an own goal but only a corner resulted. With six minutes of normal time remaining, Mark Coyne shot wide from a tight angle. Shortly before the half-time whistle, the Town had the ball in the net via Michael Grimes following Jason Duff’s cross, but the referee had whistled for a somewhat dubious foul on ’keeper Trevor Barr. In the last action of the first moiety, a fine three-man move ended with Ethan Scally firing the ball wide, leaving the sides tied at 1-1 at the interval.Exactly a minute after the restart, Jason Duff was pulled up for another marginal offside. William Fitzmaurice’s striking of the dead ball remained of a high standard and his 25-metre curler went narrowly wide. In the ninth minute of the second half, Darren Quinn was penalised for stepping outside the box as he kicked the ball and the home team paid a big price for this indiscretion when Michael Rafferty struck a superb free kick into the top of the Town net. The men in red and black were soon awarded their first corner, but Mark Coyne’s inswinger was headed clear. The losers applied a degree of pressure on the Melville defence but were unable to add to their earlier goal. In the 18th minute, Robbie Doyle did extremely well to hook the ball off his own goal line, after Darren Quinn had kept out Gary Stephens’ initial effort. Quinn then managed to claw away Michael Rafferty’s looping header, but the Town netminder was powerless to keep out Kenneth McCaul’s powerful header from close range following Michael Rafferty’s well-struck free. Mark Coyne almost pulled a goal back when his shot flew just over the Melville crossbar. The winners had a ‘goal’ by Gary Stephens disallowed with ten minutes remaining for an offside in the build-up. The home side battled gamely to the last whistle but, on the day, the better side undoubtedly triumphed.Mullingar Town: Darren Quinn, Christy Nevin, Robbie Doyle, Damien Groome, Jason Charles, Michael Grimes, Ethan Scally, Joe Cassidy, James Nevin, Jason Duff, Mark Coyne. Subs: Lee Massey (for Cassidy, 67 mins), Darren Massey (for Groome, 82 mins), Joe Doyle (for J.Nevin, 86 mins), Michael Kiernan (for R. Doyle, 88 mins).Melville United: Trevor Barr, John Conlon, Wayne Flanagan, Paul Stephens, John Paul Stephens, Kenneth McCaul, Jaydean Nicell, Colin McCormack, William Fitzmaurice, Gary Stephens, Michael Rafferty. Subs: Liam Sherlock (for Fitzmaurice, 66 mins), John Murray (for Flanagan, 66 mins).Referee: Dermot Tone.