Snugboro United 3
S Gavin 39, D Roughneen 42, J Capriani 78
Westport United 2
D Conway OG 48, K Joyce 73
Neill O’Neill
Snugboro
IT might be early in the season for controversy and drama, but there was plenty in Conway Park last Sunday, where Snugboro opened their Super League campaign by taking three points from champions Westport United.
The visitors will not be happy with this defeat, especially at the manner in which some of the goals were conceded, but they may take some solace from their resilient comeback to pull level from 2-0 down.
The first goal of the game came on 39 minutes. Danny Scahill lost possession outside the Westport box and Stevie Gavin skipped past David Horkan and sent the ball flying into the top corner of Danny Fadden’s net. It was a wonderful way for the Snugboro player/coach to put some momentum into his club’s league challenge.
Just three minutes later and Snugboro manager Johan Collins was hopping with delight on the sideline. Joe McDonnell played Paul Curry down the wing and he crossed the ball in for David Roughneen, who was waiting to meet it on the edge of the Westport area. In one swift movement he sent a slick side-footed shot into the far corner of the net, though the ball did take a deflection off the advancing Colin Navin, which served to lift it over goalkeeper Fadden.
Westport had lost their captain Joe Lawless after he hurt his knee in a tangle with Paul Curry. Before half time, however, they were handed a numerical advantage. The performance of referee Damien McGrath last Sunday will draw inevitable criticism from both sides. While refereeing is a tough and thankless job, football would be the real winner if officials – at every level – used their discretion and adopted a common sense approach when applying the rules of the game in some situations.
Snugboro striker Paul Curry was dismissed just before the break for two bookable offences – his second second yellow card was for shooting at goal after the whistle had blown for offside. He pleaded that he had not heard the whistle but was sent for an early shower anyway. Curry had caused many problems for Westport, and his dismissal allowed the visitors to regroup at half time and get back into the game.
Westport were back in the game within four minutes of the restart, after David Hoban’s shot across the face of goal was turned into his own net by Declan Conway. The away side began piling pressure on the Snugboro goal, and hit the crossbar and post and had two chances cleared off the goal line, before Kevin Joyce collected the ball at the edge of the area from a throw in and equalised on 73 minutes. His shot was a mis-kick but the ball somehow found its way through a maze of players and crawled over the line.
With their eye on the prize, Westport seemed to take their foot off the gas, and just five minutes after equalising were behind in calamitous circumstances.
Brian Kennedy passed the ball back to Danny Fadden in the Westport goal – but at the same time Fadden was advancing to meet it. The Westport custodian fell as he struggled to beat Joel Capriani in the race to the ball, and the Snugboro substitute had the easiest of tasks to tap into an empty net for the winner.
There was still time for a bit of controversy, and in declining a call for a penalty after an incident late in the game, the referee infuriated the Westport bench. David Hoban was sent skyward under a challenge from the advancing Snugboro goalkeeper Leo Coyne. Every Snugboro spectator in the ground said the keeper got the ball, every Westport fan felt Hoban had been taken clean out of it, and the referee swiftly waved play on. Westport United co-manager Padraig Burns was sent to the dressing room for remonstrating with the referee’s assistant over the incident.
Snugboro United
L Coyne, P Walsh, D Flynn, D Conway, A Healy, J McDonnell, B McLoughlin, S Gavin, D Roughneen, S Curry, P Curry. Subs used: E Conway for Flynn; J Capriani for S Curry; J McCarthy for McLoughlin.
Westport United
D Fadden, C Navin, R McLoughlin, A O’Malley, J Lawless, D Cameron, K Joyce, D Scahill, D Horkan, D Hoban, D O’Malley. Subs used: V O’Malley for McLoughlin; B Kennedy for Lawless.
Referee: D McGrath (Inver)
