For the first time this season the Western Hygiene Supplies Premier League leaders’ West United dropped points as a spirited Mervue side fought back from the concession of an early goal to claim a deserved draw on Sunday morning.
This game was switched following Saturday’s torrential rain to the undulating surface at West Park, which turned out to be in great condition given the circumstances. Mervue manager Paugie Kilgannon had a threadbare squad of 12 to choose from, but they made the most of their limited resources, although West did look like they were going to steamroll them during a very dominant opening period for the “home” side.
Kilgannon opted to flood midfield with an extra body and left Eddie Lenihan to fend for himself in attack. Their top scorer Colie Kelly dropped back into the heart of defence alongside Ger McGrath and they were under pressure from the start as West poured forward.
In the fourth minute Ian Burke played a ball in behind the cover for Simon Murray to chase. Trevor Garvey, replacing the Australia-bound Eoin Martin between the sticks, dashed out but was beaten to it by Murray. An acute angle presented itself but Murray coolly rolled the ball across into the far corner to give West a dream start.
Four minutes later, Garvey redeemed himself with a smashing double save, first parrying Gareth Gorman’s free kick before clawing away Gary Fitzgerald’s attempt which looked destined for the net. Burke and Fitzgerald, although outnumbered, were controlling the midfield joust and it looked only a matter of time before West added a second.
But following a wild effort from Gorman when well placed on 29 minutes, Mervue gradually came into the game. The switch of Shane Maher into the centre of the park had a huge bearing on this as his energy lifted the side. Colie Kelly’s raking pass picked out Liam Roackall at the far post. His cushioned header was diverted goalwards by Lenihan but with John Cotter beaten, West were saved by the post.
Kelly continued to threaten with dead-ball deliveries while West continued to give him opportunities with some needless free-kicks. On the stroke of half-time they were punished when Kelly’s left-footed cross was met powerfully by his defensive colleague McGrath and he gave Cotter no chance.
As much as they deserved the equaliser, they could still have gone in behind when Murray chested into the path of Dara Ryan who got to the end line and pulled a ball across the face of goal but there was no one there to get a decisive touch.
The second half was a tense affair as West struggled to refind their early composure on the ball and Mervue kept the pressure on and forced mistakes. They could have taken the lead when Darren Smith poked Emlyn Coye’s cross inches wide, and then Kelly had a glorious chance on 53 minutes when the ball fell at his feet six yards out following a corner, but the end result was a search and rescue party for the ball on the other side of the road as his shot soared over.
Mathias O’Malley then played in former Mervue man Ryan on the right side of the box but his close range effort was again well saved by Garvey, who could well prove to be a more than able deputy for Martin.
As the clock ticked on, West huffed and puffed for a winner, but too often ran down blind alleyways or were thwarted by the dogged resistance of their opponents. In the sixth minute of injury time, Ryan did have a chance to snatch all three points but was wayward with his shot.
West stay top on the back of this result, two points clear of second placed Hibs, who they face in the FAI Junior Cup next Saturday. They also have a game in hand, albeit a tricky tie away to Dynamo Blues, so will remain confident that this could well be their year.
West United: J Cotter; J Egan, D O’Neill, K McHugh (M Nolan, 61 ), S Rabbitte; D Ryan, I Burke, G Fitzgerald, G Gorman (T Caldwell, 54 ); M O’Malley, S Murray (J Curran, 78 ).
Mervue United: T Garvey; A Finnerty, G McGrath, C Kelly, E Feeney; S Maher, L Rockall, S Larkin, E Coyne (D King, 82 ), D Smith; E Lenihan.
Referee: Vincent Carew.
