ROUND 5
Westport Utd 2
V O’Malley 26, 65
City Utd 1
Nibbs 74 (pen)
Daniel Carey
Westport
WESTPORT United are Mayo’s last men standing in this season’s FAI Junior Cup as, alone among the four clubs from the county who made it to round five, they lived to fight another day.
Vinny O’Malley scored twice as the Covies saw off City United, but the Sligo side did give them a scare before the end. Westport manager Barry Kilgannon described the last 20 minutes as “backs to the wall” stuff, and admitted they were “praying for the final whistle” in the end.
Not that they weren’t full value for the victory. O’Malley’s 26th minute goal had the 2005 champions ahead at half time, but the wonder was that there had only been one goal. Westport played some fine football in the opening period, and their approach work led to a hatful of chances.
Inside two minutes, Vinny O’Malley’s half volley had forced a good save from the excellent Tony Clarke. At the other end, Paddy Callaghan’s powerful downward header almost gave City the lead. Dave Cameron was buzzing – his free struck the post, while an effort from the edge of the box forced another fine stop from Clarke.
Westport’s Mark McNally had the ball in the net after ten minutes, but assistant referee Jimmy Cawley had flagged for offside. Three minutes later, O’Malley thought he had headed Cameron’s corner over the line, City thought they had cleared the ball before it crossed, and eventually a free out was awarded. It was edge of the seat stuff, and not entirely one-way traffic – Gareth Kelly’s header went just wide following Lee Marshall’s diagonal pass.
This reporter had just written the words “amazing that it’s still 0-0” into his notebook when the deadlock was broken. Seán Tagg’s high punt over the top found O’Malley in acres of space, and the 34-year-old striker took his opportunity. Some spectators wondered about offside, given the room he was afforded, but there were no protests from City, merely recriminations amongst themselves.
The decent-sized home crowd had plenty to admire in Westport’s first-half performance. Cameron and Kevin Joyce were very effective, while Mark McNally was chasing everything. O’Malley had the ball in the net again five minutes before the interval, but was penalised for his challenge on goalkeeper Clarke.
One-nil behind at the break, City had most of the possession and territory in the third quarter, but struggled to carve out chances, and found Joe Lawless rock solid. Indeed, they might have gone further behind just after the hour mark. Tony Clarke made a miracle save to deny McNally after committing a howler from a back-pass, but the second goal Westport sought came with 25 minutes left.
Again O’Malley was the scorer, unleashing a thunderbolt free kick which took a slight deflection en route. So game over, ball burst? Not quite. City United were denied what looked like a stonewall penalty three minutes later, but from the resultant play, Gary Rooney was tripped, and this time referee Kevin Cox pointed to the spot. Keith Nibbs, the man upended 60 seconds earlier, netted, and suddenly it was game on.
The visitors were in the ascendancy. Gareth Kelly’s goal was flagged offside, while Christy Kelly fired narrowly wide. Austin and Vinny O’Malley both put in big tackles, and the latter turned provider for McNally, who beat defender and goalkeeper but scuppered the finish. Right at the death, Niall Gallagher got a strong hand to a City cross, and moments later, Westport were in round six.
“The fact that we hadn’t played many competitive games over the last couple of months did tell against us,” said Kilgannon. “But if we can get a couple of more decent matches like that over the next couple of weeks, I think it’ll bring us on in leaps and bounds.”
The hopes of Mayo now lie with them.
WESTPORT UNITED
N Gallagher, K Joyce, J Lawless, A O’Malley, D Mulchrone, D Hoban, T McGing, S Tagg, D Cameron, V O’Malley, M McNally.
Subs used: D Scahill for McGing (53 mins); G McLoughlin for Hoban (70 mins); M Geraghty for Mulchrone (79 mins).
CITY UNITED
T Clarke, G McCormack, P Conlon, G Rooney, D Scanlon, D Adams, P Callaghan, C Kelly, K Nibbs, G Kelly, L Marshall.
Sub used: S Gilmartin for Conlon (h-t).
Referee: K Cox
