Athletic come from behind to earn well-deserved draw

by Gerry BuckleyThe Mullingar Athletic first team was a party to its first draw of the 2010/11 CCL season at Gainstown on Saturday evening last, when recovering on two occasions to eke out a thoroughly-deserved 2-2 draw with a fine Clara Town side.On the overall run of play, the home side should have garnered maximum points, but they failed to put away a number of very good chances over the 90 minutes. Indeed, Athletic’s team manager, Gerry ‘Hanger’ Hynes will be disappointed with both of the goals conceded and this was certainly a case of points lost, rather than gained, by the side in traditional yellow and green.Clara started the brighter and were rewarded with a penalty after only 90 seconds, Darragh Kiernan fouling Alan Kelly as the winger attempted some nimble footwork in the box. Derek Coughlan duly converted the spot kick with aplomb. A crosswind was slightly favouring the visitors in the first moiety of what was a high-standard game throughout, played at quite an intense pace.The Mullingar lads almost equalised in the seventh minute, but Bob Mitchell did very well to head away Steve Markey’s header from Enda Matthews’ corner kick. Athletic were now on top but were unable to convert their dominance into goals. In the 17th minute, David Masterson spurned a great opportunity when he headed over from a great position following Darragh Kiernan’s pin-point cross. The latter player was playing well on the left wing but was foiled on the edge of the box by alert Clara ’keeper, Kevin Sammon. However, the home side deservedly equalised in the 19th minute, Kiernan this time giving Sammon no chance from a superb left-footed free kick taken from the arc outside the penalty area. Enda Matthews was also causing problems for the Offaly side’s defence with well-struck right-footed free kicks and one such free just needed a touch for Athletic to go ahead. On the half-hour mark, Alan Kelly volleyed the ball well wide from a half-chance, before Mikey Myers’s deft chip, after some wonderfully skilful approach play, just cleared the Clara crossbar. Myers soon teed up Michael Fadian, but the centre forward was unable to round Kevin Sammon and another chance was wasted. Twice, Joe Martyn had to be on his toes in the Mullingar goalmouth to keep the scores tied. The end-to-end nature of the contest continued with Mikey Myers failing to convert a great opportunity, following a Darragh Kiernan flick. Willie McGovern scooped the ball high and over the Clara crossbar following yet another Athletic corner kick. Directly from the goal kick, Mark Kelly’s snap shot was just off target at the other end. With four minutes of normal time remaining in the first half, Shane Kavanagh picked out Michael Fadian with a quickly-taken free kick and the latter was very unlucky to see his rasping shot from 20 metres kept out by a combination of Kevin Sammon’s fingers and the crossbar at the expense of another Athletic corner which came to nothing. At the break, the sides were level at a goal apiece.With exactly a minute gone in the second half, David Masterson’s clever header set up the inrushing Mikey Myers, but his effort went barely wide of the target. A powerfully-struck Enda Matthews free from 30 metres failed to trouble Kevin Sammon. At the other end, Deasún Baggott came close to netting for the visitors after a sweeping move. Michael Fadian had the ball in the Clara net but his ‘goal’ was ruled out for a handball offence. The latter player was much more prominent in the second half and his deft flick from Enda Matthews’ cross hit the crossbar before rebounding into the grateful arms of Kevin Sammon. The all-action contest continued with a near-miss from Derek Coughlan following Alan Kelly’s free. A few minutes later, thankfully both injured parties in a nasty-looking clash of heads between Willie McGovern and Gary Devine eventually walked away unscathed. A diving header from Mikey Myers lacked the power to trouble Kevin Sammon. Two very tight offsides went against Johnny Gavin and Darragh Kiernan respectively, before Athletic were made to pay a heavy price for their profligacy when a mix-up between Joe Martyn and Willie McGovern gifted Gary Devine the lead goal for Clara. Stephen Fadian snatched at a reasonable chance for the home team and more wing trickery from Darragh Kiernan followed, but the Clara rearguard cleared their lines. Clara sub Robert Bracken hit the side netting, before Athletic got a deserved equaliser from substitute Johnny Gavin who pounced to rifle the ball home from the edge of the box, with three minutes of normal time remaining. Both sides went in search of a late winner and Michael Fadian might have been better advised to square the ball, rather than try a shot from a tight angle in Athletic’s best chance of the closing moments. However, despite letting this game slip away, Gerry Hynes will be relieved to have stopped the two-game losing sequence, following an opening league win this season.Mullingar Athletic: Joe Martyn, Keith Gorry, Kevin Campbell, Steve Markey, Willie McGovern, Shane Kavanagh, David Masterson, Enda Matthews, Michael Fadian, Mikey Myers, Darragh Kiernan. Subs: Johnny Gavin (for Campbell, 64 mins), Stephen Fadian (for Myers, 64 mins), Dalibor Pesic (for Kavanagh, 76 mins), Joe O’Connor (for Gorry, 78 mins), Lee Scally (for M.Fadian, inj, 90 + 4 mins).Clara Town: Kevin Sammon, Bob Mitchell, Pa Smith, Derek Coughlan, Deasún Baggott, Paul Mitchell, Alan Kelly, John Fitzpatrick, Gary Devine, Mark Kelly, Thomas Quinn. Subs: Robert Bracken (for Baggott, inj, 64 mins), Sean Moran (for Kelly, 81 mins), Stephen O’Brien (for Quinn, 89 mins).Referee: Paddy Nolan (Longford).