Mullingar Celtic enjoy smash and grab win over Monksland

Mullingar Celtic 2 Monksland 1

By Connla McCarthy

Mullingar Celtic held out to taste the sweetness of victory in the warm and breezy Gainstown sunshine last Sunday morning as a first-half goal from Ricky Scally, and a superb second-half individual strike from Ryan Dempsey with 15 minutes to go sealed all three points.

In a lively encounter, Monksland had the chances to grab the win themselves, most notably in the second-half, but the only chance they managed to take was Shane Gavin’s bullet in the 42nd minute.

The visitors had all the chances in the opening 15 minutes, yet a common trend in the match was birthed here as this dominance wasn’t shown on the scoreboard.

The teams spent the opening few minutes settling into the match and getting an understanding of the opposition’s set-up.

The visitors' best chance in the opening quarter came 14 minutes in when Darragh Egan’s ball found Tomas O’Neill. His volley lobbed the Mullingar Celtic keeper but hit the crossbar. Celtic’s first opportunity came in the 16th minute when a deep free from Dean Scully was met by the head of Darragh Egan, but Monksland keeper Ben Manning saved.

The home side took the lead in the 27th minute. Ryan Dempsey’s swinging corner left the visitors scrambling for the ball, only for teammate Ricky Scally to take full opportunity and head the ball into the empty net. Advantage to the hosts, arguably against the run of play. Monksland's Shane Gavin missed a brace of opportunities soon afterwards, while Dean Scully got his head on the end of a Ricky Scally corner for the hosts, but the ball floated over Ben Manning’s crossbar.

On 38 minutes, David O’Brien couldn’t get enough power on his shot to score the leveller for the visitors. However, he played a part in his team’s goal in the 42nd minute. His pass found Shane Gavin at the back post and he connected sweetly with his strike giving Celtic keeper Bernard Glynn no chance to save.

At the half-time break it was all square.

For most of the second half Mullingar Celtic were on the back foot. Monksland's best chances fell to David O’Brien ten minutes into the half and substitute Charlie Kelly’s with 20 minutes to go.

There was also a penalty shout in the 60th minute when Oisín Canny went down in the box.

Mullingar Celtic struck for the killer goal in the 76th minute. Up until that point they had been soaking up all of the pressure that Monksland piled on them. When Ryan Dempsey received the ball in the middle of the field, he only had one intention. He went on a stampeding run and when he found himself with only goalkeeper Manning to beat, he showed his composure by sliding the ball into the far right-hand corner.

Monksland had a number of chances after this, but Mullingar Celtic held firm to secure a confidence-boosting win.

Mullingar Celtic: Bernard Glynn; Dylan Cannon, Ricky Scally, Gearóid Sheridan, Glenn Coffey; Mark Hickey, Pádraic McCoombe, Dean Scully; Andrew Donoghue, David McNamee, Ryan Dempsey. Substitutes: Rory Matthews for Ricky Scally (62), James Stenson for Dean Scully and Jamie Tarleton for Andrew Donoghue (84).

Monksland: Ben Manning; Eanna Henry, Tomas O’Neill, Abdul Ioris, Darragh Egan, Sammy Oliviera; Shane Gavin, Eoghan Galvin; Oisín Canny, David O’Brien, Mark Lennon. Substitutes: Charlie Kelly for Eoghan Galvin (62), Liam Ward for Mark Lennon and Thiago Souza for Abdul Ioris (73), Mark Freeman for Eanna Henry and Abdul Ishola for Darragh Egan (88).

Referee: Damien Conlon.