Flowers treble not enough for Melville as Kinnegad bite back

Melville 3 Kinnegad Juniors 5

By Eamon A. Donoghue

Kinnegad Juniors scored four late goals to beat hosts Melville at Sarsfield Park last Sunday, thereby moving a step closer to the top of the CCFL Division 2 table.

Both sides came into this fixture having aspirations of possible trophies and promotion later in the season.

Kinnegad got off to the perfect start. Eimhin Whelan created the opening for Scott Clynes to cross into the box, the ball was handled in the box and the referee signalled for a penalty. Ciaran Bracken made no mistake from the spot kick and the visitors were in the ascendancy after just five minutes.

Twice more in the first half, Kinnegad had the ball in Melville’s net but both goals were ruled out because of offside. They did cause some anxious moments in the hosts defence in the early stages.

Gradually Melville grew into the game and the Athlone side equalised in the 20th minute. Mark Duffy did the spade work and his cross was met by Liam Flowers to finish past Adam Gavin in the Kinnegad goal.

Melville then extended their lead in a bizarre way. From a free kick near the sideline, Flowers swung in the ball and it deceived the keeper Gavin and bobbled over the line.

Flowers then scored his hat-trick. A tackle by Cian Hayden won back the ball for his team and as the move developed, Flowers let fly and his shot beat Gavin. With those three goals from Flowers, Melville were halfway to a victory, with the hosts leading 3-1 at half-time.

The second half struggled to come to life. Melville lost their vociferous manager; he had to depart for personal reasons and Melville’s energy went with him.

Kinnegad had seemed to accept defeat and didn’t take advantage of Melville’s dip in performance for long spells. The next 30 minutes was played out without either goalmouth or keeper tested. It looked like a game where both sides had accepted what they had.

But then Kinnegad brought on Mark Armstrong and he seemed to want to give his management a reminder of his capabilities. The visitors seemed to find some new energy.

Clynes slid past a number of static bodies before finishing past Dean Tyrell in the Melville goal. Kinnegad, now just the one goal in arrears at 2-3, suddenly looked like a side that believed they could get something from the game.

A now buzzing Kinnegad side manufactured a free kick for themselves just outside the box. Bracken swung in the kick and the tall Dara O’Reilly headed past Tyrell for the equaliser.

Moments later, Bracken had the ball in the Melville net again but it was ruled out for offside. Buy the visitors soon took the lead for the first time since the fifth minute. The quicksilver Bracken turned over possession from Tyrell and then kicked the ball into the empty net.

Things then got worse for Melville as substitute Armstrong made it 5-3 when he finished past Tyrell after being set up by Enda Kenny on the right.

From 3-1 down with just over 20 minutes left, Kinnegad pulled off an excellent turnaround. Overall, there wasn't much between the teams but Kinnegad did put the ball in the Melville net eight times in the game, with three efforts disallowed. Considering the other opportunities they created, they probably deserved the win.

Melville will wonder why they were so subdued in the second half. Was it the loss of their manager for the second half or did they think they had done enough in the first half? Whatever it was they will need to move on quickly and get back to winning ways.

Player of the match: Ciaran Bracken (Kinnegad Juniors). Dara O’Reilly and Eimhinn Whelan were both influential but Bracken’s speed and enthusiasm proved the difference in the end. The striker stayed hungry for goals when the game went flat and his forays helped Kinnegad to push on for the win. For Melville, hat-trick man Liam Flowers was unlucky to be on the losing side.

Kinnegad Juniors: Adam Gavin, Enda Kenny, Dean Gavin, Adam O’Meara, Conor Plunkett, Patryk Mawryluk, Dara O’Reilly, Sam O’Mahoney, Ciaran Bracken, Eimhin Whelan, Scott Clynes. Subs used: Craig Tallon, Mark Armstrong and Steven Bambridge.

Melville: Dean Tyrell, Dylan Dempsey, Adam O’Brien, Tommy Stephens, Gregg O’Flanagan, Eric O’Donoghue, Liam Flowers, Cian Hayden, James Martin, Jack Sheehan, Mark Duffy. Subs used: Ryan Murray, Ian Francis and Nathan Nugent.

Referee: Paul Malone (Mullingar).