Johnstown 6
Oldcastle 1
Thursday nights in the MDL are proving to be a feast of entertainment when Johnstown are playing at home. For the 3rd successive Thursday, their home match produced plenty of goals as they overcame Division 2 side Oldcastle 6 goals to 1 in the LMFM Kilmessan Shield.
The opening quarter of an hour did not see much between the 2 teams with the visitors edging it slightly until Wayne Cahill opened the scoring for Johnstown. A superb ball played over the top by Sean Challenger, found the late run of Cahill who lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper into the net.
This helped settle the home side and 10 minutes later they doubled their lead. A neat combination between Adam Ivers and Aaron Mooney saw the latter feed Cahill to make it 2-0.
With a pre-match requirement of a clear 4 goal victory to progress in the shield, Johnstown were half way there, with well over an hour left to play. In fact, their half time lead should have been greater had their attacking players timed their runs a bit better as they caught offside on numerous occasions.
The first attack of the second half, ended with Johnstown’s 3rd of the night. Aaron Mooney pounced quickest following a fine save by the Oldcastle keeper from an Adam Ivers shot.
On 52 minutes, Johnstown made it 4-0. Dylan Bollard and Ivers combined well down the right to set Vinny Murphy free. His pinpoint cross found the unmarked Aaron Mooney at the back post who headed home his second of the night.
Having opened up the 4 goal margin they needed, Johnstown seemed to ease off a little and with 22 minutes remaining, Oldcastle pulled one back.
Showing the levels of spirit and performance so praised by manager Iain Sheridan after the final whistle, Johnstown lifted their game again.
With 10 minutes left, Wayne Cahill completed his hat trick. Sean Challenger, instrumental yet again, dissected the defence with the pass of the night. An intelligent dummy by substitute Peter Dempsey, saw Cahill run free onto the ball and finish neatly making it 5-1.
With time running down, Shane Kelly broke through the Oldcastle back line. Looking odds on to make it 6-1, he was unceremoniously hacked down on the edge of box by the last man. Once the red card was issued, it was time for Johnstown’s free kick.
Seeking the goal his performance deserved, Sean Challenger stepped up and hit his free kick. Having beaten the wall, his attempt was destined for the back of the net until the keeper dived desperately to get a hand to it and keep it out. Unfortunately for him, Peter Dempsey, reacting quicker than men half his age, was on hand to tap home, showing there’s life in the old dog yet, to make it 6-1 giving Johnstown the extra cushion to see the game out comfortably.
“Having leaked so many goals in recent games, we worked on our defence this week and are lucky to have great players who took our advice onboard” beamed assistant manager Christy Kanavagh.
Johnstown FC Team: K. Zeberek, D. Bollard, J. Colton, D. McQuillan (c), M. Grumley, W. Cahill, J. Connolly, S. Challenger, V. Murphy, A. Mooney, A. Ivers
Subs: P. Dempsey for Mooney, S. Kelly for Bollard, C. Murphy for Ivers
BY JULIAN LEE
