Dynamo Blues 0
Salthill Devon 0
It’s very rare you see an exciting scoreless draw but that’s exactly what we got at Tuam on Saturday afternoon. However, the home side will be disappointed they didn’t achieve maximum points from a game they should have won at a canter.
By the 17th minute Blues had already wasted three clear-cut chances, with Johnny Farragher, twice, and Mark Sweeney missing when one on one with Mike Forde in the Devon goal.
Minutes later they missed a trio of chances in the space of 10 seconds as Johnny Farragher had his shot saved by Forde, with the rebound falling on the head of Paul Kavanagh, who hit the post and Darren Kelly followed up only to blast over the bar.
In a half totally dominated by the Tuam side, Salthill Devon had to wait until the 35th minute to trouble the home ‘keeper. Then it was Peter Crouch lookalike Mike Lindsey who crossed for Dave Murphy but his headed effort rolled agonisingly wide of the goal.
Before the break both sides had excellent long-range efforts that looked like breaking the deadlock. First, Mike Ward let fly from just inside the halfway line and was just inches from the top corner. Then Conor Killeen had a shot on the turn that skimmed the top of the crossbar, with Johnny Trayers beaten all ends up.
The high tempo continued in the second half and Blues went close again as early as the fifth minute. Paul Kavanagh received the ball on the edge of the box and his left footed shot struck the underside of the crossbar before Kevin Stankard and Johnny Farragher got in each other’s way in their efforts to knock home the rebound.
Devon’s best chances fell to Mike Lindsey but twice he shot tamely at Trayers, who saved easily.
However the best chance of the half fell to Blues’ Darren Kelly, who was put through on goal with time running out, but referee Patsy Forde called him back for offside in what looked like a very harsh decision.
Dynamo Blues: J Trayers, K Stankard, F Fallon, M Ward, G Kelly, P Kavanagh, T Kavanagh, J Murphy, D Kelly, J Farragher, M Sweeney. Subs used: C Quinn for Sweeney, K Fleming for Farragher.
Salthill Devon: M Forde, R Silke, A McGee, E Cullen, R Gonzales, M Marianek, S Browne, R Gilligan, M Lindsey, C Killeen, D Murphy. Subs used: M Kassimi for Gilligan, K Kelly for C Killeen, J O’Connor for D Murphy.
Referee: Patsy Forde.
