Salthill Devon 2
Mervue United 2
a.e.t Salthill Devon win 3-0 on penalties
Salthill Devon booked a tie with Galway United in the EA Sports League Cup after a hard-earned preliminary round victory over Mervue United in Drom on Monday, where penalties were required to separate the sides after 120 minutes of lively football.
Devon had given themselves the ideal start in the midst of a scrappy opening. A penetrating James Whelan throw-in on 15 minutes was met by a looping Marcin Maranek header which somehow managed to negotiate itself past Eoin Martin in the Mervue goal to give Devon an advantage.
Buoyed by the early goal the home side asserted themselves in the tie and enjoyed the bulk of possession and territory that was on offer in the first half hour. Rocked by the first goal, Mervue took time to settle and it wasn’t until the half-hour mark that the away side began to make an impact.
Mike Tierney and Rynal Browne both were both denied by near misses at this juncture and it seemed the home team would retire in the ascendancy until Rory Gaffney snatched an equaliser on the stroke of half time when he latched on to a sharp Martin kick-out after the goalkeeper had collected a corner kick.
The goal saw the sides retire at the break in a merited stalemate. After the turnaround the tempo increased. Salthill took the game to Mervue but it was the away team who stole the lead in the 49th minute when David O’ Dowd slipped the ball home following a quick break from the back.
Mervue seemed to rest on their laurels after this goal, and although they had chances to snatch a sealing third, the introduction of Mikey Gilmore by Salthill provided the catalyst for them in taking the game to the away team. The substitution provided dividends in the 85th minute when the tricky forward stole down the left to cross for an advancing Ryan O'Donnell, who steered a perfect cut-back in to send the tie into extra time.
After 30 minutes of dull fare subsided the sides were forced into penalties. A slew of misses on both sides prolonged the drama before Shane Browne coolly slotted home in the seventh round of spot kicks to give the home team a precious success over their League of Ireland opponents.
