Late heartbreak for Devon

Salthill Devon 2Limerick FC 3

Mike Rafferty

Salthill Devon let the chance to put their first points of the season on the board in Drom on Saturday night when they let a two goal lead slip as Limerick heaped more misery on a home side that has now lost seven games on the bounce in the league.

The one redeeming feature for the home side was that they regained their competitiveness after their hammering against Monaghan the previous week, and maybe if they had a full quota on the park they might have picked up their first point, or points, of the season on Saturday.

Two up after 38 minutes, they allowed Limerick to level matters before the break, before conceding a late winner, and the defeat could have been bigger as Shane Tracey missed two penalties for the visitors.

It was the dismissal of Sean Murphy for a red card offence on 62 minutes that was to end any chance of winning, The midfielder, who formed a solid central unit with Shane Stenson, can feel hard done by as his challenge seemed hard but fair, but referee Sean Grant took a different view and dismissed Murphy.

With Daryl Horgan back to create his usual mayhem down the right, Devon were always shaping up for a positive outing and took a deserved lead on 36 minutes when a Mikey Gilmore shot was kept out by Dave Ryan, and Mike Kennedy was first to the rebound to open his seasonal account and make it 1-0.

Salthill made it 2-0 minutes later with a stunning second. Shane Browne will live off the back of this one for a while as he took down a Paddy Quinlan delivery just inside the angle of the box and in the same movement let fly with his left and buried a rocket into the far top corner of Ryan’s net.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.