Slane Wanderers 2 Johnstown 5
Johnstown made it 3 wins on the bounce in the O’Neill’s Sportswear Division 1, coming out 5-2 winners over Slane Wanderers in Slane on Sunday morning.
The visiting team started brightest and deservedly took the lead inside 3 minutes. Arnold Ruksenas was tackled in the area but the ball broke to Obi Pilane outside the box. He made no mistake as he fired his shot into the net, scoring his first senior goal for the club.
It was not long until Slane were gifted an early chance to level the game. Jamie Cassidy was upended in the box by Jake McDermott leaving the referee little option but to point to the spot. Robert Cassidy took the resulting penalty but could only find the outside of the post, leaving Johnstown’s lead intact.
Slane were back on level terms soon after. A well timed run saw Robert Cassidy beat Johnstown’s line. He rounded the advancing Baltinas and finished from a tight angle.
Johnstown retook the lead in spectacular fashion. On the half hour mark, they were awarded a free kick. Kacper Zeberek dispatched his perfectly placed right footed shot into the back of the net from 30 yards restoring his side’s lead which they held going into the interval.
Slane upped their game in the second half and after ten minutes, deservedly got themselves level again. A free kick was cleared from the Johnstown area but straight to the Slane’s Jonathan McCarthy. His first time shot was deflected over Baltinas’ dive into the net.
McCarthy’s joy at equalising for his side was short lived as on 65 minutes he took Wayne Cahill down for the second penalty of the day. Unlike Slane’s in the first half, this one was duly converted by Johnstown’s Arnold Ruksenas.
With 12 minutes remaining, came 60 seconds that could have swung the game either way. Slane’s Jason Rock charged down Jay Connolly’s attempted clearance. The ball fell to Robert Cassidy who looked set to drag Slane level once again, until he fired over from close range. Baltinas took the goal kick quickly. Zeberek turned away from McCarthy’s despairing tackle on half way. He raced into the area and finished easily across the goal making it 4-2 to the visitors.
The game’s seventh goal came as the match entered stoppage time. Baltinas kicked long to the head of Zeberek. His flick-on went straight to second half substitute Andre Sirb. He finished his strong run by laying the ball across the area for Ruksenas to snatch his second and Johnstown’s 5th of the morning.
Johnstown FC Team: G. Baltinas, J. Colton, J. Connolly, D. McQuillan (c), J. McDermott, O. Pilane, S. Conroy, P. Dempsey, W. Cahill, A. Ruksenas, K. Zeberek
Subs:A. Sirb for Pilane, K. McQuillan for Cahill.
Slane Wanderers: S. Clarke, T. Fleming, M. Tully, J. Gibney, J. McCarthy, J. Cassidy, F. Benhura, R. Finneson, G. Kealy, R. Cassidy, J. Rock
Subs: D. Carolan
Bellow is a video of Kaspers Freekick
