MervueÕs Youths and U12 sides complete Connacht Cup double

Mervue Utd 5Renmore 0

MERVUE Utd’s Youth team retain the Connacht Youth Cup after a 5-0 defeat of neighbours Renmore in the provincial final played at Abbeycarton in Longford on Sunday.

Justin Neary and Colin Nolin’s side got off to a flying start as Thomas Gleeson converted a Conor Byrne cross after just six minutes to open the scoring for Mervue. Byrne then doubled the lead as he beat the Renmore offside trap to advance and slip the ball under the keeper for 2-0.

Thomas Gleeson doubled his tally for the afternoon as he added the third when he converted from the penalty spot to give Mervue a 3-0 interval lead.

The goals kept coming just after the break as Richard Fahy headed home following a corner kick just two minutes after the re-start. Ryan Manning completed the scoring with two minutes remaining after an excellent run from Luke Tully set him up for 5-0.

It proved a great weekend for the club as the Youth team completed a Connacht Cup double following on from the Under 12s great win on Saturday afternoon with the Manning brothers, Ryan and Ronan, also scoring in their respective finals.

After the game, Mervue captain Dylan Thornton accepted the Connacht Youth cup for the second successive year for the club and a tenth provincial Youth title.

Mervue Utd 3Westport Utd 2

Two smashing first half strikes from Ronan Manning and a third from Niall Murphy in the second half were enough as Damien Brennan and Rynal Browne's Under 12 team captured the Connacht Cup in Longford on Saturday.

Mervue’s young side had to come from behind as they conceded an early goal after a slow start on a terrible pitch which surely did not justify the showcasing of the best juvenile talent in the province.Despite the ground conditions, the game was credit to both sides as they produced an excellent game of football which entertained the large crowd.

Westport took an early lead after as Daniel McGovern fired home the opening score after just three minutes when he picked up a clearance by Wilson Waweru after a spell of pressure from the Mayo side.

Sean O’Hanlon almost doubled the Westport lead two minutes later but Cian Mulryan produced an excellent save pushing the effort over the crossbar for a corner kick. Mervue were almost level after 13 minutes when Ronan Manning flicked the ball onto Colin Kelly who rounded the keeper but shot into the side netting from a tight angle.

A minute later Manning did well again on the right before crossing into the danger area where an unmarked Ryan Lally couldn’t direct his header on target.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.