Mervue and Hibernians come through tricky Byrne Cup ties

MIKE RAFFERTY

While Mervue United, Hibernians and Corrib Rangers all registered victories in the Michael Byrne Cup over the weekend, some of the scorelines give a false impression of the outcome as all three ties were pretty competitive for the duration.

In the Jack Lillis Cup, Bohemians, Knocknacarra and Athenry B all advanced with slender margins, while Corrib Celtic advanced to a fourth round Connacht Junior Cup meeting with either Carbury or East United.

Mervue United 4Oranmore 1

The outcome might look decisive, but the reality is that it took two cracking strikes from outside the box by Tommy Walsh in the closing minutes to seal this Michael Byrne Cup win for the holders.

Despite the poor conditions, Mervue certainly held the edge in the opening half and led by two at the break.

Finn Creedon opened their account with a close range finish and Stephen Cunningham drilled home the second with a low finish from the right side of the area.

Oranmore did their fair share of pressing as Sean Boyle and Alan Barrett impressed, but home custodian Ryan Griffin was seldom overextended.

The visitors did pull one back on the resumption when Boyle converted from the spot, after Ger McGrath was penalised for a bit of holding in the box.

However, in the closing quarter, Mervue closed out the game and Walsh cracked home a stunning left footer from outside the box to make it 3-2 and moments later, as Brian Meaney set him up, he repeated the dose with the right peg as Conor Leydon was left helpless on both occasions.

In the closing minutes, Eddie Morrisey set up further opportunities that were spurned, but the reality was that Mervue had already done enough to advance.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.