Kildare County 0 - 1 Mervue United

A goal from an attempted cross by winger Pat Hoban with just under 20 minutes remaining was the difference between the two sides in this bottom-of-the-table clash at Station Road on Friday evening. A defeat here comes as a huge blow to Kildare County's chances of getting off the foot of the First Division and it means that will more than likely have to go into a play-off at the end of the season, with their opponents more than likely being Mervue's close rivals, Salthill Devon.

The opening half saw the home side enjoying the majority of possession, and they had their first opportunity of the match after just two minutes when midfielder David Jackson's speculative effort from distance flew just over the bar. The Thoroughbreds continued to have a lot of possession around the middle-third, and just four minutes later they would be presented with an even better chance, but Trevor Bowers' header from a tight angle following a Cathal Brady cross went wide of the near post.

It was taking Mervue a while to settle, but they eventually did begin to get a grip on proceedings with Hoban and Mike Tierney showing well in midfield and David Goldbey showing some nice touches up front. Chances were proving to be few and far between, though, and even though Colm Daly went close with a header from 12 yards, County had to wait for the final few minutes before they really posed a real threat to Eoin Martin's goal again.

On this occasion it was, unsurprisingly, captain Philly Hughes who came close to scoring when he rose above Martin to head towards goal but his effort seemed to hit a divot which prevented it from finding the back of the net. This was a real let-off for Mervue, as the Kildare dressing room would have been buzzing had they gone in ahead at the break, but they had to settle for stalemate at the mid-way interval. To be fair, this was probably a fair reflection on the first 45 minutes as Hoban and Rory Gaffney had gone close for the Westerners on the half-hour mark as well.

For the second half, Kildare County were forced into a change with Dean Lawrence coming in for the injured Eoin Powderly. Lawrence slotted in at left-back alongside young debutants Keith Walsh and Colm Coleman, and they would be put under pressure almost immediately as both Goldbey and Gaffney went close to finding the net inside the opening five minutes following the resume.

Kildare were still threatening though, and Hughes produced an excellent save from Martin, who turned away Hughes' left-footed drive from outside the box. However, after this lively start to the second period, the action did die down again, and it certainly was looking like a game that both sides were trying desperately not to lose.

County nearly broke the deadlock on 73 minutes when David Jackson's corner fell to the feet of substitute Lawrence, but his shot went wide to the left of the goal. In reality, this was only really a half-chance, but they were still left wishing that they had made better use of it as they found themselves a goal behind just a minute later when Hoban's attempt at an in-swinging cross deceived County 'keeper Darren Kelly, who could only watch as the ball ended up in the top right-hand corner of the home side's net.

This goal came at precisely the right time for Mervue, but it couldn't have come at a worse time for Joey Somerville's men as they couldn't afford to be behind going into the final quarter. They did make a gallant effort of it for the final few minutes, but they were beginning to feel the loss of their five suspended players as the game went on, as they didn't really have any quality on the bench to make the desired impact on the game.

Nonetheless, they never gave up and Liam Tiernan, who was by now playing more like a centre-forward than a centre-half, was unlucky not to get an equaliser with three minutes left when his close-range header was turned away by Martin. It was clear that Mervue were under a lot of pressure now, and they were particularly fortunate that they didn't concede at the end of normal time when County had numerous stabs at shots, but none of the attempts had enough conviction to find the back of the net.

This result makes life very tough for County but they will have to keep it going till the very end and they next match comes this Friday in Jackman Park against Limerick when they will be hoping to avoid bringing their win-less streak to three games.

Kildare County: Darren Kelly; Keith Walsh, Liam Tiernan, Colm Coleman, Eoin Powderly (Dean Lawrence h/t); David Jackson, Colm Daly, Gavin Kinsella, Cathal Brady; Philip Hughes, Trevor Bowers.
Subs not used: Jonathan Cashon, Pierce Connor, Sean Geoghan.

Mervue United: Eoin Martin, Nicky Curran, Damien O'Rourke, Paul Danagher, Kenny Farrell; Pat Hoban, Kevin Crehan, Mike Tierney, Rory Gaffney (Nigel Keady, 80); David O'Dowd, Dave Goldbey (Evan Connolly, 76).
Subs not used: Gary Traynor, Mixie Harty, Neil Keane.

Referee: S. Templeman.

Extratime.ie Player-Of-The-Match: Damien O'Rourke (Mervue United) – Was strong and uncompromising at the back and kept Philly Hughes relatively quiet throughout.