Mervue United crowned champs as U-19 league to be revamped
THE Airtricity U-19 League action presented a weekend of contrasts for Mervue United and Salthill Devon, for while the former were collecting the First Division Southern Division trophy after topping the table, the campaign ended in disappointment for Devon as they finished second from bottom of the Elite Division.
Losses in their last three games added to their downfall, but a continuously changing side could win just twice in the second half of the season and the lack of a regular goal scorer added to Salthill’s woes as they just picked up eight from 33 points in that period.
However, there might be a reprieve on the cards for both Galway sides – for it is believed a new format is to be put in place for next season – where there will just be two divisions instead of the current three.
While Mervue United topped their lower division as champions – they did not secure promotion via the ongoing play offs while Devon could avoid relegation as the participating teams would be based on a geographical spread. There is no official word from the FAI on the matter yet,
Sligo Rovers 3
Salthill Devon 2
In a game played on the Astro Turf at Sligo IT, a typical Devon start saw them three down before they started to warm up and despite a good second half performance, the gap was just too much to bridge.
An early Cian Brennan brace was added to by Gary Armstrong as Sligo got the better of Kevin Horgan for the third time by the 24th minute and the only sign of a comeback at the other end was a Morgan Lyons effort which hit the target.
The second half was a different story as Devon generally controlled the exchanges and on 51 minutes pulled one back as Antaine O’Laoi drilled a free kick from outside the box into the top corner.
They were denied a second moments later when Rafa Lubinski crashed an angled effort off the crossbar before the woodwork came to the home side’s rescue once more when an O’Laoi corner was met by the head of Jason Lyons only to clip the bar.
With Lyons now in a central role, there was more of a cutting edge about the visitors and he wasn’t far off the mark with a shot that was deflected out for a corner.
Devon continued to press on as O’Laoi and Lubinski offered the greater threat. The latter was denied, as yet another shot was deflected wide of goal, before he eventually got his reward on 74 minutes.
Cormac Raftery provided the delivery with a ball down the line and Lubanski displayed great skill and composure before making it 3-2 as he cut in and slotted home, but they were unable to engineer an equaliser.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.