MILFORD UNITED WON this afternoon’s local derby against Rathmullan Celtic in the FAI Junior Cup.
Milford United 3-2 Rathmullan Celtic
It was the visitors who took the lead through Niall Carruthers on the stroke of half-time. However, Milford levelled at the start of the second half through Joey Cullen before going in front through Mark Flood.
Photo caption: The Milford United team that defeated Rathmullan Celtic in the second round of the FAI Junior Cup at Moyle View Park
Kyle Black then made it 3-1 before Mark Connolly pulled one back for Rathmullan. Milford’s Damien Casey was sent-off for picking up a second yellow card late on.
[adrotate group=”76″]Mark Gallagher, the Rathmullan goalkeeper, made a fine stop in only the fourth minute from a Cullen header before, at the other end, Dara Patton was unable to control his shot when six yards out.
Gallagher made two more decent saves before the first half was out. Firstly, he parried a Darren McLaughlin shot before getting the better of Adam Serrinha.
However, just before the interval, Rathmullan got their noses in front, somewhat against the run of play when Carruthers shot past Coalan McGettigan as Milford only half cleared a corner.
Two minutes after the restart, Milford were level when Cullen headed home a McLaughlin free-kick.
Then, on 61 minutes, the side from Moyle View Park got in front when, from an excellent corner delivery from Gary Merritt, Flood turned in from close range.
[adrotate group=”38″]Just a minute later it was 3-1 when Cullen’s flick on set Kyle Black away and he prodded past the advancing Gallagher.
Milford netminder McGettigan then made a couple of useful saves to ensure his team’s two-goal cushion remained intact. Firstly he stopped from Dara Patton before also doing enough to keep out a header from Shaun Patton.
But McGettigan was beaten on 71 minutes by Connolly, again as Milford didn’t get a corner away.
[adrotate group=”37″]After Milford lost full-back Casey to a second yellow card on 73 minutes, the 10 men had to hang in as Rathmullan pressed. However, despite creating a number of half-chances, the away team just couldn’t get on terms so it was Milford who came out on top in an entertaining contest.
Milford United: Caolan McGettigan; Damien Casey, Chris Duffy, Mark Flood, Adam Salhi (Ciaran Gibbons 80); PJ Hagan (Kyle Black 52), Johnny Logue (Anthony Hegarty 87), Joey Cullen, Adam Serrinha; Gary Merritt, Darren McLaughlin (Brendan Murray 66).
Rathmullan Celtic: Mark Gallagher; Alan Boal (Shane Barclay 80), JP Doran, Shaun Patton, David Millar; James McCahill, Eoin Sheridan, Niall Carruthers (James Gallagher 66), Dara Patton; Kevin Doran, Paddy Sheridan (Ryan Connolly 66).
Referee: Patrick Martin.
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