Mervue United 0 - 0 Salthill Devon

• Terry Flaherty
• Sat, May 21 2011


Mervue United failed to claim all three points against Salthill Devon on Friday night as they contrived to miss a penalty in either half and also failed to convert a late opportunity to record a second win of the season over their city rivals at Fahy’s Field.

Ronan Forde was Salthill’s hero in this Galway derby as he denied the home side, not once but twice, with excellent saves as Mervue found the Devon keeper in top form on the night, while sub David Goldbey also missed a very late chance for the hosts.

Johnny Glynn’s side started brightly with a lot of possession and showed their attacking intent from the off but without really threatening Forde’s goal. Noel Varley fired over on nine minutes following a well worked corner kick, while Rory Gaffney did the same after a Nicky Curran cross from the right found its way to him as the visitors failed to clear on 29 minutes.

Three minutes later and Ronan Conlon upended Dan Cunningham in the box and Darren Coombes had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Jason Molloy took the responsibility for the spot-kick and he saw his well struck effort brilliantly touched onto the crossbar by Forde.

As Mervue continued to dominate in terms of possession, Tom King was denied a minute later when the excellent James Whelan cleared his effort off the line following a Molloy through ball. Devon almost stole the lead on the stroke of half time when Etanda Nkololo switched play to Conlon, and as Luke McConnell raced in on goal he was foiled by the alert Cunningham.

After the restart, Mervue began to turn the pressure on as they searched for their third consecutive home win as Gaffney, King and Molloy all spurned chances to find the elusive goal. Irish underage international Colm Horgan had replaced the ineffective Shane Browne for the restart as Paul McGee made his first change.

Varley shot over on 63 minutes while King ended another good run down the right with a shot across the face of the Devon goal seven minutes later. With fifteen minutes to go, the visitors almost found themselves in front when Eugene Greaney flicked a Conlon corner onto the angle of the crossbar.

Mervue quickly responded as they counter-attacked with Cunningham racing into the box from a Gaffney pass and he found himself being upended by Paddy Quinlan for another penalty. Cunningham dusted himself down and decided to take the spot kick only to see Forde save again this time diving low to his left much to the dismay of the home side.

The hosts continued to press as James Casserley, who had another excellent game at the back for Mervue, had a header from close range tipped over by Forde with ten minutes remaining. With just two minutes left King raced away down the left before picking out sub Goldbey at the back post with a brilliant cross, but the striker saw his header slip narrowly past the post with the goal at his mercy.

Devon, to their credit, finished the final few minutes strongly as sub Gerry Dolan was released into the box by a Ciprian Straut pass but he struck his low effort straight at a relieved TJ Forde in injury time. The visitors then had a strong shout for a penalty three minutes into the extra time period as Dolan went down in the box while being challenged by both Cunningham and Martin Conneely but referee Coombes waved away their claims.

The home side will be bitterly disappointed to not have taken all three points as they had the opportunities on the night but failed to take them, while Paul McGee will be delighted with another point on the board as his tenure has got off to a great start following their win over Wexford last week.

Mervue Utd: TJ Forde; Nicky Curran, Dan Cunningham, Martin Conneely, James Casserely; Noel Varley, Tom King, Mark Ludden (David Goldbey ’76), Mike Tierney (John Mountney ’76); Rory Gaffney, Jason Molloy (Peter Dravins ’89).
Subs not used: Eric Browne, David O’Brien, Kevin Crehan, Eoin Martin (GK).

Booked: Cunningham (89).

Salthill Devon: Ronan Forde; Luke McConnell, Patrick Quinlan, James Whelan, Gearoid O’Leidhinn; Eugene Greaney, Ronan Conlon (Enda Dunne ’65), Shane Browne (Colm Horgan ’46), Etanda Nkololo; Ciprian Straut, Victor Collins (Gerry Dolan ’77).
Subs not used: Julian Howley, Cian McBrien, Mike Quirke, Bernard Power (GK).

Booked: R Conlon (24), Quinlan (76), O’Leidhinn (76).

Referee: Darren Coombes (Dublin).
Attendance: 604
Extratime.ie Man of the Match – Ronan Forde (Salthill Devon) provided the highlights in a poor game with two penalty saves to earn a point for his side.