West topple Mervue Utd to throw title race wide open
Mervue United 0
West United 2
Soccer Wrap with Mike Rafferty
Meet West United manager Rodney Grant on the street or have a chat with him on the phone about football, and he will be down playing his sides chances and he will be lamenting about the shortage of players and the number that will be missing from the next game.
Some of it might be true, but the reality is that whatever team he fields, they play with a spirit and commitment that comes from the management; and on Saturday last, they proved what they are about with a merited but surprise success over the home side at Fahy’s Field.
It was the second game in succession that Mervue United bit the dust, following their Connacht Junior Cup exit against Manulla the previous week and they certainly did the defence of their league title little good with an inept performance.
As to be expected, they enjoyed their fair share of opportunities, but there was a lack of a cutting edge about them. Andrew Connolly did test John Cotter with a snap effort in the opening half, before Keith McHugh headed a Barry Moran free-kick over the top. Enda Curran and Jonathan Hanrahan were also off target with shots, and by the interval, there was no reward for their endeavours.
It appears that West saved all their energies for the second-half, as they were the better side for the majority of it. Limerick-born NUI Galway student, Ruairi Casserly, was hugely influential in the centre of the park and with young legs, he was getting forward to support Nathan Ward and Jay McPhilbin up top.
Barry McEntee also played his part in their midfield supremacy in the early stages and while they threatened a lot, Mervue goalkeeper, Dara Geraghty, was only called into action to deny Ward and McPhilbin.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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