Manulla's new management off to flyer
Manulla's new management team of Damien Joyce (football co-ordinator), Andrew shally (player/joint-manager), Roger Clarke (joint-manager) and Gary Heneghan (assistant manager).
Manulla moved on to the next round of the Connacht Cup with a comfortable home victory over Arrow Harps of Sligo in wintery conditions at Carramore on Sunday afternoon.
Despite finishing the game with ten men after Sean Corcoran was red carded in injury-time, alongside Harps forward Ben Tuohy for one of the worst hits you’ll see on a soccer pitch, Andrew Shally and Roger Clarke’s reign got off to a winning start.
Corcoran will be scratching his head as to how he saw red in the closing moments despite lying on the ground with a serious looking head injury but the flying winger had his day’s work done at that stage after hitting the net twice, once in either half.
Playing with a strong wind at their back the home side wasted no time in going for the jugular, Colm Murphy heading the ball inch wide off a Bryan Ralph free in the tenth minute and a snapshot from Corcoran on 19 minutes as close as they got to opening the scoring.
That was until the 22nd minute when the referee spotted an infringement in a crowded penalty area and immediately pointed to the spot. Corcoran would send former Castlebar Celtic goalkeeper Ultan McKenna the wrong way in the Harps goal. It was the least the home side deserved as they dominated possession in the opening stages.
Lee Lyons was unlucky not to double the lead when he saw a shot flash across the face of the goal on 38 minute and on their first real attack of the game the visitors should have levelled three minutes later.
Luke Flynn found himself behind the Manulla defence and two on one against Jack Livingstone alongside Ben Tuohy. The winger took the shot on himself and sent it wide when a simple pass across to Tuohy would have led to a tap in for the striker.
It was a let off for the home side, and that scare just before the break ensured Manulla would push hard for a second goal buffer. It came after just two minutes of the second half when Manulla’s two centre backs combined as Darren Fernandes headed the ball into the path of Odhran O’Connor who volleyed home from close range.
Manulla secured the win just after the hour mark when James Dunne played Colm Murphy through on goal and the big striker was cynically taken down in the penalty area by Colm Kenny. Sean Corcoran again stood over the spot kick and made no mistake.
Harps did pull a goal back on 71 minutes thanks to a Darragh McKeon free kick and they pushed for a second to set up a grand stand finish but just couldn’t get past Livingstone in brilliant form in the Manulla goal.
Harps frustrations boiled over in injury time when Tuohy, not long after being booked for diving in the penalty area, took offence to a sliding tackle and hit Sean Corcoran in the back of the head, leading to both teams and benches coming together on the pitch.
It put a dark cloud on the end of what had been a hard hitting but fair game throughout the 90 minutes but Manulla won’t be bothered about that as they move forward in the provincial competition.
