NEFL | Clinical first-half seals the deal for Muirhevnamor in local derby with Quay
NEFL Premier Division | Muirhevnamor 4–1 Quay Celtic
A clinical first-half display saw Muirhevnamor come out on top of Friday night’s NEFL Premier Division Dundalk derby with Quay Celtic.
After taking five points from the previous three meetings between the sides, the Clancy Park outfit were looking to extend their good run against the league champions on a bitterly cold night on the astro-turf surface.
And they got off to a dream start when Sean Hand putting them in front with just 60 seconds on the clock, the midfielder stretching to divert a Martin Smith cross — which just eluded Eanna McArdle — into the roof of the net.
Muirhevnamor equalised six minutes later when a delivery from the left was only partially cleared by Dave Redmond. The ball fell kindly to Stephen Fisher on the edge of the Quay penalty area and his controlled half volley beat the unsighted John Rogers.
Ben McLaughlin hit the side netting two minutes later after he was initially denied by the big Quay net-minder but Muirhevnamor did pull ahead on the quarter hour when Harry McShane guided a tidy finish across Rogers to find the bottom corner after Quay invited more unnecessary danger on their backline by conceding a needless free.
The Point Road side responded in positive fashion and Michael Cooney did well to deal with a Martin Smith free before the officials waved away what looked to be a valid penalty appeal when Vinny Smith went down with Chris Caulfield holding onto his shirt.
They were let down at the other end, however, as some woeful defending left them with a mountain to climb before the break.
Despite playing with a five-man defence, Quay were opened up far too easily in the 35th minute when Billy Smith collected a Nathan Murphy ball on the inside left channel to pick out Mickey O’Kane in the six-yard box. As always, the Mor skipper made no mistake.
The game was put to bed two minutes before the interval when referee Colin Halligan pointed to the spot after Gary Shevlin inexplicably pushed Fisher in the back with the ball heading nowhere. Billy Smith lashed the spot kick past Rogers to make it 4–1.
Player-manager Martin Smith read his Quay players the riot act at half-time, making a triple substitution in a bid to pull it out of the fire and, to their credit, Quay kept going in the second-half and passed up a couple of half chances that might have made things interesting with Michael Cooney denying Eanna McArdle late on with the best of them.
With the three points in the bag, Muirhevnamor operated in second gear with Sean Maguire using the opportunity to empty his bench and the depth — and quality — of the Muirhevnamor panel will not have gone unnoticed by their title rivals.
This win moves Maguire’s men joint top of the pile with Trim Celtic and Boyne Harps. Next up is a home game with Newfoundwell which could well dictate where the title will rest at the end of the season.
MUIRHEVNAMOR: Michael Cooney; Brian Begley, Chris Caulfield (Niall Hearty 52), Adrian Rafferty, Nathan Murphy (Stephen Smith 85); Stephen Fisher (Padraig Hearty 68), Colin Hoey, Harry McShane (Conor Gorman 63), Ben McLaughlin; Mickey O’Kane, Billy Smith (Brendan Hughes 70). Sub not used: Craig Dixon
QUAY CELTIC: John Rogers; Stefan McKevitt, Gary Shevlin (Dean Sheil HT), Dennis Cholach (Conal McArdle HT), Pairic Browne, Dave Redmond; Sean Matthews (Shaun O’Connor HT), Sean Hand, Vinny Smith (Drew Duffy 75), Eanna McArdle; Martin Smith.
REFEREE: Colin Halligan.
Before you go…
If you Like this article, click the 👏 button below or maybe Share it on Facebook or Twitter or leave a Comment below.
