Griffeen move into second after Glenamalure win

A NARROW 2-1 win for Griffeen Valley FC over Glenmalure Rovers 2nds in Walkinstown Park last Saturday saw them move into second place in the UCFL Division 3B section, reports John Mooney.

There’s still a bit to go in this Division but the Valley have the all important points in the bag, despite both Larkview and Mid Sutton Sportslink having games in hand.

Last Saturday saw them start at a frantic pace, so much so that I thought they would blow Rovers away but they failed to do so.

Inside the opening 20 minutes they had created three clear cut chances that all went close, and it looked like only a matter of time before they opened their account.

Not long after the opening whistle they created their first chance, when Eoghan O’Boyle slipped the ball to Jack Rampersaud and he shot inches over.

Griffeen Valley FC had a narrow win over Glenmalure Rovers to move to second in the table

That was quickly followed by an effort from Robert Murray that was cleared away by a defender, with the keeper Marcel Mitrica beaten.

While on 23 minutes Ross Byrne almost caught Mitrica out with a clever free kick from outside the area, but Mitrica reacted at the last minute to turn it over the bar.

Rovers were digging in deep and on the stroke of half time shocked the visitors when they opened the scoring through Eoghan Walsh, after Griffeen failed to clear a corner.

It was a goal to give the visitors something to talk about at the break and, when they returned, they set about getting back on level terms.

On 50 minutes they did just that, when Luke Mayers was on hand to drive home from a flicked on corner.

It was just what the doctor ordered and 11 minutes later it got even better, as Rampersaud finished off some great work on the right hand side by Daniel Hui.

But they seemed to take their foot off the gas after number two and handed the initiative to Rovers, but the home side just couldn’t create a clear enough chance to bag an equaliser and the Valley returned home the happier.

GLENMALURE ROVERS: Marcel Mitrica, Caylum O’Grady-Sheeran, Daniel Kelly, Aaron Redmond, Jonathon Sheridan, Paul Cullen, Callum Gurr, Eoghan Walsh, Daniel Kelch, Lee Murphy, Ethan McNevin, Paul Lynch, Aaron Matthews, Henry Lopez Mendez, Joel Gurr, Eamonn Sweeney, Keith Comerford, Ben Walsh.

GRIFFEEN VALLEY FC: Alan McEvoy, Glenn Sammon, Luke Myers, Patrick Grattan CP, Jack Corcoran, Eoghan O Boyle, Daniel Hui, Craig Chu, Ross Byrne, Robert Murray, Jack Rampersaud, Mark Burke, Ilya Obadau, Keith Ryan, Robert John Cherubini, Karl Slevin, Mark Steinmann, Keith Smith.