Monaghan United 3 - 0 Salthill Devon

• Peter Hughes
• Fri, Mar 25 2011


The tenth-minute sending off of Salthill Devon midfielder Mike Quirke was the decisive event in this ultimately one-sided and anticlimactic encounter at Gortakeegan which saw Roddy Collins’ new-look Monaghan United side secure their second home win of the new season.

Quirke pushed petulantly out at United’s Sean Brennan under the nose of referee John Grimes, and his early departure presented Devon with the proverbial Everest to climb. They were already behind – Brennan weaving his way through the visitors’ defence in the ninth minute before knocking the ball nonchalantly beyond Ronan Forde. That after a first-minute Brennan free-kick saw a completely unmarked Eric Foley cannon a header off the crossbar. The nightmare start for Salthill didn’t immediately improve. Forde had to make alert diving saves as Brennan – twice – and John Reilly strafed his goal with efforts from distance as United threatened a rout.

Monaghan lost their impressive early momentum for a time, but regained it emphatically in the 36th minute when Foley flighted a dream of a pass into the box which Brennan deftly turned into the path of Jason Marks, who unleashed a first-time left foot volley that left Forde helpless.

Brennan made it 3-0 on the stroke of half-time, another smooth finish after a sweet interchange on the edge of the box with Marks.

Salthill salvaged some pride with a tenacious second half performance to prevent United adding to their tally. At times it was a close-run thing – Mons full-back Paul Whelan blasted wide from close range after a cheeky steal of possession off Etenda Nkololo, and Cian Fadden had to sweep the ball off the line when John Reilly’s angled shot beat Forde.

But overall it was a rather disjointed second half showing by the Mons, with boss Collins taking the opportunity to examine the depth of his squad by affording Philip Byrne, Andy Haran and local U-16 player Kevin Loughran a run. Loughran, who impressed from the bench on his debut appearance at Finn Harps last week, looked at ease on the ball and almost scored late on with a powerful drive that drifted just wide.

Gabriel Sava’s only save of the night came in the 68th minute when Nkololo’s weaving breakaway run took him to the edge of the Monaghan box, but his shot arrived at an easy height for the United goalkeeper.

The Mons looked set to exploit the fatigue of the visitors as the game entered added time, but Forde remained defiant to the last, flinging himself across his goal to deny Sean Brennan his hat-trick with a splendid save.

Monaghan United: Sava; Whelan, Rogers (Haran half-time), Collins ( P Byrne 64), Grimes; Foley (Loughran 76), McMahon, Reilly, Marks; Brennan, Fitzgerald.
Subs not used: Rossiter, Fallon, Isichei, McKenna.

Salthill Devon: Forde; Conlon, Whelan (Quinlan 76), Fadden, O Leidhinn; Nkololo, Quirke, McBrien, Greaney; Straut (McConnell 83), Collins (Lyons 84). Subs not used: Dolan, Geraghty, Howley, Power.

Referee: John Grimes