High-flying Duleek ‘Clear' winners in local derby tie
KENTSTOWN ROVERS 0
Premier Division
A GOAL inside 15 seconds set Duleek on their way to a comfortable victory at home to local rivals Kentstown on Thursday night.
The win sees Duleek retain their position of second in the top flight, just three points behind league leaders Bellurgan.
Right from the kick-off Duleek broke forward, Cormac McGroggan slipped Dylan O'Boyle through and he finished with aplomb to give the hosts the perfect start.
After that Duleek continued in the ascendancy, no doubt buoyed by their early strike, and they went close on several occasions before eventually doubling their advantage on 25 minutes.
Another good piece of build-up play saw Jayden Clarke break down the wing before delivering a pass to Jamie McCarthy who duly scored his first goal of the season.
Kentstown, though, have been a dogged team this season and they started to get into the game. Jonathan Clear made some fine stops in the Duleek goal as the visitors enjoyed a purple patch.
However Duleek got to the half-time break with their two-goal lead still intact.
The game became somewhat of a war of attrition early in the second period, but Duleek boss Bryan Murphy rang the changes mid-way through the half and those switches soon paid dividends.
Matthew Noone and Josh O'Reilly, who had both come into the game, combined for Duleek's third goal. With Rovers pushing forward more, Duleek countered quickly and Noone supplied the pass for O'Reilly to score his fifth goal of the season.
O'Reilly went close to another goal soon after, his effort going narrowly wide on this occasion.
Duleek, though, still saw it out in good style as Clear secured his first Premier Division clean sheet.
While they have a bye this weekend, Duleek will certainly be happy with their position on their return to the top flight. The season is almost at the mid-way point and they have won four of their seven games which has included almost all their trips to Dundalk.
Meanwhile Albion Rovers had no fixture this week and their wait for a first league win of the season will continue as they are in Challenge Cup action this Thursday at home to Kingscourt Harps.
They sides have already met this season, with the teams playing out a 3-3 draw in the Kilmessan Shield group stages.
Duleek: Jonathan Clear, Sean Kennedy, James Traynor, Ben Boyce (Robbie Daly 83), Morgan Browne, Jamie McCarthy, Bobby Brady (Karl Dyas 83), Tom Reilly, Dylan O'Boyle (Josh O'Reilly 52), Cormac McGroggan (Matthew Noone 77), Jayden Clarke (Sean O'Halloran 77).
ENFIELD CELTIC 3 DULEEK 2NDS 1 Division 2 Duleek 2nds suffered a defeat away to Enfield Celtic on Friday night as the hosts recorded their eighth win of the season. It was always going to be tough for Duleek against the runaway leaders and they were forced into an early change as Eoin Tierney got injured inside 15 minutes and was replaced by Heuston Stanley. Enfield went on to hit the front on the half-hour and probably just about deserved it at that stage, although Duleek had their chances. As the game went on it looked like Duleek may sneak a leveller, but on the hour mark Enfield capitalised on a defensive mistake to score a second goal. The visitors pushed forward and pulled one back on 77 minutes as a sublime solo effort from Breno Araujo set up a grandstand finish. Duleek hit the post inside the final 10 minutes, but they were caught on the counter-attack deep into stoppage time as Enfield put the result beyond doubt. Duleek: Daire Moore, Aaron Seery, Craig Brodigan (Craig Clarke 86), Kyle Boland, Leon O'Leary, Eoin Tierney (Heuston Stanley 14), Kyle Byrne, Robbie Duff, Leon Smith, Dylan Brodigan (Alan O'Brien 67), Adam Courtney (Breno Araujo 60).
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