Greg Cunningham enjoyed a winning start to his managerial career as Salthill Devon overcame Letterkenny Rovers 4-1 in their first-ever game of the new FAI National League at NFP Park on Saturday.
Devon started strongly but it was Letterkenny who opened the scoring against the run of play in the first half when midfielder Adam McCaffrey picked the ball up on the edge of the area and rifled a shot into the back of the net to stun the home crowd into silence.
Salthill reacted well with winger Ben McDonnell a constant threat on the right flank, and it was his run that led to a prompt equaliser when he was brought down in the box by Keith Cowan leaving referee Ray Conlon with no choice but to award a penalty. Timmy Molloy stepped up and calmly slotted past Patrick McGarvey to make it 1-1 heading into the half-time break.
Cunningham’s side came out with renewed purpose and the Salthill support didn’t have long to wait before their side took a deserved lead, McDonnell again instrumental as he broke free down the right-hand side before cutting the ball across for Cole Connolly to slide in and double Devon’s lead.
Both managers emptied their respective benches as they vied for a vital three points on opening day, but Letterkenny’s dreams were dashed when McDonnell turned from creator to goalscorer as he cut inside before curling a beautiful left-footed strike into the bottom right corner to make it 3-1 to Salthill. Substitute Joshua Keane Quinlivan then wrapped things up in injury time to make it 4-1 on the day and hand Cunningham his first three points to send Salthill Devon top of Group 2 in the FAI National League.
Salthill Devon: David Gavriliak; Al-Amin Obasa, Jamal Sow (Osakpolor Omorodion 75’ ), Cameron Crowe (c ), Shane O'Rourke, Nnabuike Nneji, Timmy Molloy, Jacob Carroll (Joshua Keane Quinlavan 72’ ), Ben McDonnell, Ricardo-Miguel Lapointe-Guevara (Ronan Kerin 72' ), Cole Connolly (Darren Darcy 85’ ).
Letterkenny Rovers: Patrick McGarvey; Padraic Gilsenan (Luke Parke 72' ), Brendan McCafferty (Ultan O’Grady 85’ ), Dean McCarry, Keith Cowan, Adam McCaffrey, Ryan Shields,Adrian Delap, Zach Gorman (Gareth Doherty 82’ ), Shane McNamee (Cathal McGeever 85’ ), Ronan McHugh (Jamie Harris 77' )
Referee: Ray Conlon
