Westport send statement with first half demolition of Glenhest
Westport United's Evan Durkan and Eoghan Wright of Glenhest Rovers duel to get the ball, with Glenhest's Paul McLoughlin watching on. Picture: John Corless
Westport United had this one wrapped up well before the half time break; the only question remaining was what the final score would be.
In the first half they played their customary beautiful football on the green baize of United Park. It was different in the second, however. The wind, and the substitutions they made, disrupted the flow, and Glenhest, to their credit, kept chasing a game that was long gone, eventually getting some reward for their toil when Paddy Mulchrone drove home a solitary effort with an hour gone.
Westport were four points ahead of their visitors before the match at the summit of the Mayo Super League - both having won their previous five league games. The game was spoiled by a strong, swirling crosswind. It blew up and died down unpredictably and coupled with heavy showers at the start and the end of the game, was in sharp contrast to the weather of the past few weeks.
Despite the climatic challenges, Westport settled from the start and moved the ball crisply with a combination of one-touch football and energetic running. The goals came, as we knew they would, from all directions and from a range of players. Time and time again, the youthful Westport side filleted the Glenhest midfield and defence. It was a long first half for the visitors.
Harrison Quinn got the first. He went up for a corner and bundled the uncleared ball home on 18mins to open Westport’s account. The goal followed a period of intense pressure which saw them win successive corners. Five minutes later they were two up, when Dylan O’Malley powered a low header past Nathan Barrett in the Glenhest goal, following Alex Halpin’s precision cross.
Two minutes afterwards, Westport were applying the pressure again, when Kevin Kitterick set up O’Malley, but his effort was smothered by the Glenhest defence.
When player of the match, Cian Halpin finished a textbook move, involving Caoimhín O’Toole and O’Malley, on 29 minutes, it was game over.
If the third goal was a case study in creating and finishing, the fourth was even better. Again, it involved the mesmerising first-touch and energy of the young Westport side. It started when Mikie O’Brien fed Kitterick down the wing. He went to the endline before crossing to Halpin. O’Malley made a dummy move to distract the beleaguered Glenhest defence, while Halpin netted his second. The footballing intelligence of O’Malley is a joy to watch – unless you are trying to defend against it.
O’Brien and Kitterick combined again for the fifth. Kitterick, a superb young footballer, brilliantly dummied Adrian Rowland, switching feet and steeping over to add his name to the scoresheet. Damien McGrath’s half-time whistle couldn’t come quick enough for Glenhest.
Glenhest don’t give-in easily, and if they were under constant pressure in the first half, and five down, they gave a better account of themselves in the second half. Added to that was the changes Westport manager Anthony O’Neill made, which disrupted the flow. His starting eleven is his preferred line-out, all establishing themselves in their respective positions, and when he took some of them off to vary things, and give other players game time, the magic didn’t happen as it had for the first forty-five. It wasn’t that the players weren’t as good – they are - but the cohesiveness of the first half was missing.
And then there was Glenhest. They play their own game, and despite the impossibility of the task, they didn’t give up. When Mulchrone finished Levi Barrett’s pass, everyone knew it wasn’t a comeback, but rather a reminder that they were still there and wouldn’t surrender. They hadn’t climbed to second in the table, by giving in.
“It was a bit of a battle now in fairness,” Cian Halpin told the . “The first half was really good, we started really well. We were happy with our performance at half time. We came out in the second half, we were sluggish, didn't get going. But we still managed to get the result and we're happy with the overall performance. It was nice to chip in with a couple of goals. It was a bit of a drought recently now but it's nice to get back on the score sheet. The wind was a powerful. It was hard to play in at times. It was going across from right to left. But look, that's some of the conditions you've got to play in. You've got to get on with it.”
Anthony O’Neill said it was a game of two halves. “I thought we were excellent in the first half,” he said. “I thought that was probably the best we've played this season in terms of our attacking play and our movement off the ball. We scored some very, very good goals. We played really good football in the first half. We certainly didn't play anywhere near as well in the second half, which I'm a little bit disappointed with. I thought we would have kicked on a bit more, but we were excellent in the first half. We scored some very good goals and we're happy with that. We've won by four goals. If you said to me this morning that we were going to beat Glenhest by four goals today, I certainly would have taken it.”
All of Westport’s starting eleven played well. Cian Halpin was the pick of them but it could have gone to any of them. Glenhest’s defence has had better days, but they don’t face this type of firepower every week. Mulchrone, Chris Rowland and Eoin Wright were their better performers.
