Kilnamanagh saw off Mount Merrion to progress to the next round of the Noel Ryan Cup.
Photo by Leslie Evans
Kilnamanagh’s Saturday side progress to next round of Noel Ryan Cup
KILNAMANAGH’S Saturday side progressed to the next round of the Noel Ryan Cup after defeating Mount Merrion last week.
The game saw Kilnamanagh go down by a goal within the opening ten minutes of the fixture. Mount Merrion continued to pile on the pressure and Kilnamanagh were saved from further goals by some heroic saves from keeper Andy McCarton.
They would find an equaliser through Jake Fallon at the 20th minute mark and would hang on without conceding for the remainder of the half.
The second half would see a quick turnaround with Luke Feighery firing home against his former club to make the game 2-1 and bring the Rockets into the driver’s seat.
It would ultimately be Kilnamanagh’s fitness that would prove paramount on the day and allow them to pick up the win as they would benefit from further second half goals by Ross Hanevy & David McBride.
Manager Keith O’Neill spoke on the performance after the game.
“We were under pressure for a good chunk of the first half to be honest, we made one or two changes and I was hoping that the second half would see us come back into it, which we did. Fitness played a big part in the second half. We got a little bit lucky in the first half, they had a couple of chances they didn’t counter.”
The win sees Kilnamanagh progress to the last 16 of the cup with their next opponent currently unknown.
The side are also doing very well domestically in the league as they currently sit in fourth place. With only two points separating them from league leaders Bangor Celtic, they are fighting amongst the top of the table.
This is particularly positive given that the club just got promoted to this division last year and a mid table finish would have been expected or even hoped for by many.
The side will hope to strengthen their title challenge even further as they take on two tough games over the next week or so against Crumlin United and Portmarnock.
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