Johnstown made it 2 wins in 10 days with an emphatic 4-0 derby victory over local rivals Navan Town at the MDL on Sunday.
Right from the off, Johnstown dominated possession but could have been 2 down in opening quarter of an hour as Navan hit out on the break.
One of these chances needed Dan Shields to be at his most alert. A deep free kick was played into the area where it was steered goalward only for Shields to dive to his right and keep it out.
Johnstown’s dominance was rewarded when Arnold Luco opened the scoring with 19 minutes played. A strong run by the front man beat 2 Navan Town players. He passed to Dylan Bollard, who returned the ball for Luco to finish inside the area.
5 minutes later, Johnstown were 2 to the good. Kacper Zeberek unleashed an unstoppable shot from 20 yards that flew in at the keeper’s near post.
It could have been worse for Navan Town had first Luco, whose shot was cleared off the line, and then Bollard, denied by the strong hand of the keeper, converted chances late in the half, however it remained 2-0 at the break.
Soon after the restart Shields was called on again. A quick break up field by Navan Town required the intervention of the Johnstown custodian with a low save to preserve Johnstown’s clean sheet.
As the half wore on, Johnstown’s superiority was evident if not illustrated by the score line as the in-form Navan keeper thwarted efforts from Luco, Zeberek and Sean Challenger.
Reward for their commanding display came on 70 minutes. A neat combination between Challenger & Luco led to a corner which was swung into a packed 6 yard box. The keeper failed to claim the cross which dropped to Jonathan Forde to finish first time at the back post.
2 minutes later, it was 4-0 to Johnstown. Kacper Zeberek set off on a solo run beating a number of defenders before finishing comfortably, his second of the day.
Although Navan Town still posed a threat on the break, the superb display by the defence as a unit ensured a very pleasing first clean sheet of the season as they look forward to next week’s LFA junior cup tie at home to Fort Rangers.
Johnstown FC Team: D. Shields, J. Colton, J. Connolly, J. Forde, J. Gaffney, D. McQuillan (c), S. Challenger, D. Bollard, V. Murphy, K. Zeberek, A. Luco
Subs: P. Challenger for Murphy, D. Grumley for S. Challenger.
