Noonan’s strike sees Athletic through

Mullingar Athletic advanced to the third round of the LFA Senior Cup with a hard-fought 1-0 win over a resolute Glenmuir United side at Gainstown last Saturday night.On a cold, but very pleasant night, the visitors showed up a full half-hour behind schedule, but their indiscipline extended further than off-the-field matters, as they had a number of players on duty who took their tackling, and especially their verbal exchanges with the referee, to the limit. In the end they were reduced to ten men thereby, ironically, levelling the numbers game.The hosts had Jason Daly red-carded midway through the second half, the referee only managing to see the goalkeeper’s frustration after a team-mate had his jersey tossed over his head by an opponent in an off-the-ball skirmish.Despite the visitors having the aid of a strong wind blowing from the clubhouse side of the as-always resplendent ground, it was Gerry Hynes’ men who had the better of the opening exchanges, with wingers David Noonan and Darragh Kiernan both prominent.With exactly ten minutes elapsed, Glenmuir came close to taking the lead when a quickly-taken corner was not cleared and Paul Martin’s crisp strike was just wide of the target.Michael Fadian’s pace was troubling the Glenmuir central defenders but no scores resulted while, at the other end, an ambitious snap-shot from Jimmy Cooney was not far wide.A mishit shot from Darragh Kiernan ended with Kevin Keegan (who was the outstanding player on view) firing the ball wide for Athletic. On the half-hour mark, a cross-cum-shot by Michael Fadian shaved the crossbar.Five minutes later, what was to prove to be the decisive goal arrived, Michael Fadian deftly laying the ball off for the inrushing David Noonan to rifle a daisy-cutter from 15 metres low to the Glenmuir net.The celebrations which ensued centred on wishing Athletic’s great servant, Oliver Holmes a ‘Happy Birthday’ outside the clubhouse perimeter!Athletic almost doubled their lead as half-time approached, but a marginal offside against Michael Fadian was blown by the referee, who had no official linesmen to assist him for this tie.Less than seven minutes after the resumption, Michael Fadian struck the side netting when a goal looked on, following Kevin Dunleavy’s astute through ball. The latter player’s cross then almost dipped in for what would have been a fortunate goal and agile Glenmuir ’keeper, Eamonn Rowe did well to keep out Kevin Keegan’s shot with his feet in the 65th minute.Three minutes later, came the aforementioned dismissal of Jason Daly, with Stephen Markey donning the number one jersey. The regular centre half was soon tested in his unfamiliar role, but Markey managed to hold substitute Darren Tuite’s snap-shot at the second attempt.Mark Syron was well wide from a header, albeit the ball from Darragh Kiernan’s free arriving at a difficult height. Despite their numerical disadvantage, the home side still looked the more likely to score.With six minutes of normal time remaining, Aidan Grier’s persistent infringement of the rules saw him receive a second yellow card and the County Louth team was down to ten men.Kevin Keegan was unlucky not to double Athletic’s advantage as the minutes ticked away, ‘Hagi’ skilfully chesting the ball down but side-footing it narrowly wide from just inside the Glenmuir box.The respective goalies, Eamonn Rowe and Stephen Markey both did well in the closing stages, but at the final whistle it was the men in gold and green who had qualified for the next round of the O’Neill’s-sponsored competition.Mullingar Athletic: Jason Daly, Stephen Brennan, Mark Brady, Stephen Markey, Willie McGovern, Mark Syron, David Noonan, Kevin Keegan, Michael Fadian, Kevin Dunleavy, Darragh Kiernan. Subs: Dalibor Pesic (for Dunleavy, 72 mins).Glenmuir United: Eamonn Rowe, Chris Feehan, Jimmy Cooney, Ciaran Cullen, Dermot Grier, Mark Nolan, Aidan Grier, Paddy Reilly, David Taaffe, Paul Martin, Michael Olulu. Sub: Darren Tuite (for Taaffe, 63 mins).Referee: Paul Murphy.