Mervue United 1 - 1 Waterford United

• Terry Flaherty
• Sat, Jul 23 2011


Positions remain unchanged after this mid table clash between sixth and seventh as Mervue United and Waterford United played out a score draw at Fahy’s Field on Friday night in the Airtricity First Division.

The home side will look at this game as two points dropped as they created by far the better chances on the night and should have been ahead by more than Pat Hoban’s strike long before Waterford sub Paul Phelan level matters midway through the second half.

Both sides made a number of changes to their side as both came into the game following contrasting results last weekend. Mervue made two changes from the 2-1 away win over Monaghan as David O'Brien and Peter Dravins came into Johnny Glynn’s side, while Waterford made three changes to the team which lost to Wexford with Paul Carey, Gary Keane and Dwayne Wilson returning to their starting eleven.

A dull opening quarter of an hour was finally brought to life when the home side hit the front with an excellent strike from the returning Pat Hoban on 17 minutes. Peter Dravins made the space as he collected a ball from David O’Brien down the right wing before cutting the ball back inside for Hoban to run onto and as the Waterford defence stood off the midfielder looked up and struck a thunderous low left foot strike past Kevin Burns into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

Paul Walsh had Waterford’s only shot on target in the opening period after 22 minutes as Ger Hanley was not extended to collect his stinging shot after Walsh had cut in from the right to create the opportunity for himself. Rory Gaffney almost put the home side two up when his left wing cross almost flew in at the back post with both Alex Lee and Peter Dravins unable to get a vital touch on the ball.

They should have gone two up on 29 minutes following an excellent passage of passing football. Hoban played a lovely ball out wide to Gaffney who in turn sent a neat low cross field ball to release Dravins through on the right but his shot was straight at Burns as he held off Kevin Murray in the box.

Another good Mervue move ended with Gaffney, who had just returned from a week on trial in Scotland with Premier side St Johnstone on Thursday, picking out Kevin Crehan’s run from midfield but his flicked header flew over Burns crossbar on the half hour mark.

Just before the interval the visitors goal saw another close shave as Dravins advanced on goal from the left before shooting across Burns, but his effort just cleared the far post as the home side continued to search for a second before the break. Seamus Long picked up his first booking of the night as he halted the very impressive John Mountney with a trip two minutes before the break.

The second half resumed as the first had finished with the home side pushing hard to double their lead as Waterford’s exertions against Liverpool on Wednesday seemed to being taking their toll on the visitors. Mervue had a big shout for a penalty claim turned down by referee Rob Rogers four minutes in as Mountney burst into the box only to be halted by a challenge by Kevin Murray which sent him crashing to the ground.

On 51 minutes some excellent defending by the visitors prevented a certain second goal for the Galway side as no less than three times in the one attack they made crucial blocks to keep the score unchanged. Gaffney's run through the middle stretched the Waterford defence once more before Burns did well to save his initial effort with the ball breaking to Dravins who saw his shot blocked by Kenny Browne before Gaffney's second attempt was once again blocked by another last gasp block.

A Marc Ludden corner from the right picked out Hoban’s run and his bullet of a header just cleared Burns crossbar with the keeper static and Hoban himself ending up in the back of the net such was the momentum of his run on 58 minutes.

Waterford manager then made a telling double substitution as he replaced Gary Dunphy and Dwayne Wilson with Conor Sinnott and Paul Phelan just past the hour mark. Three minutes later and Phelan was in the right place to level matters against the run of play. A deep right wing cross from Paul Carey was headed away by O’Brien but only to the lurking Phelan and his low shot took two deflections of O’Brien and Crehan before nestling in the corner of the net for 1-1.

Mervue responded with a Gaffney lob from the edge of the box almost catching Burns out, but the keeper back peddled to gather the ball under the post on 69 minutes. Waterford were reduced to ten men six minutes later as Long needlessly challenged Mountney for a second foul in the middle of the park with Rogers showing him a second yellow card followed by a red card for an early shower.

The visitors in one of their few forays forward almost got their noses in front with ten minutes remaining as left full Brian Nolan picked out Adam McSherry in the middle but he couldn’t get sufficient power behind his shot to trouble Hanley as the keeper saved comfortably from close range.

Another good passing move from the home team involving sub Jason Molloy, Gaffney and Mountney set up Crehan for a shot on the edge of the box but he lifted his well struck effort too high as Burns’s goal remained intact.

With the advantage of the extra man Mervue continued to push for a vital second but a well organised Waterford back four defended well as they saw out the additional three minutes of injury time to secure a hard earned point.

Mervue Utd: Ger Hanley, David O’Brien, Marc Ludden, Martin Conneely, James Casserley, Kevin Crehan, John Mountney, Rory Gaffney, Peter Dravins (Jason Molloy ’62), Pat Hoban, Alex Lee (Barry McEntee ’77)
Subs not used: Noel Varley, Michael Collins, Paul Lawless, Daniel Tully and Eoin Martin (GK)

Waterford United: Kevin Burns, Paul Carey, Kenny Browne, Kevin Murray, Brian Nolan, Paul Walsh, Seamus Long, Gary Dunphy (Conor Sinnott ’61), Adam McSherry (Sean Maguire ’86) , Gary Keane and Dwayne Wilson (Paul Phelan ’61).
Subs Not Used: David Breen, Aidan McGrath and Adam Heaslip.
Booked: Seamus Long ’43, Kenny Browne ‘59
Sent Off: Seamus Long ‘75

Referee: Rob Rogers (Dublin)

Attendance: 325

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: John Mountney (Mervue Utd) – Very impressive in the middle of the park all night alongside Hoban and Crehan.