Emphatic victory on the road for Moneyslane

‘Slane travelled to promotion hopefuls Dungannon Rovers, who play at Dungannon Swifts ground Stangmore Park.

The Moneyslane team wore a special poppy strip and observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect for Remembrance weekend before kick off.

The home team had been on a great run of form so it was going to be a test for the Jubilee Park men.

‘Slane got off to a fantastic start with a goal from the first attack. A free kick was awarded 20 yards out and Stevie Coulter stepped up to drive the ball past the wall and into the net.

Midway through the half the home team were level when a mix up in midfield gifted possession to an opponent who burst forward to the edge of the box before hammering the ball into the net.

Gregg Harrison was causing all sorts of problems for the Rovers defence with a number of runs to the bye line and good crosses.

From one of these Gareth Rees thought he had scored only for the keeper to produce an unbelievable point blank save.

Soon after Gregg Harrison yet again ran at the heart of the defence and after beating two opponents he was upended by the 3rd for a certain penalty, which was converted by Stevie Coulter.

It got better for ‘Slane when soon after Brian Quilty expertly flicked the ball into the path of Gareth Rees who curled the ball into the far corner of the net from 18 yards.

The next goal was always going to be important and it arrived for ‘Slane when Gareth Rees swung in a superb in swinging corner and Darragh Peden was on hand to fire the ball into the roof of the net.

The home team’s frustration boiled over and they were reduced to 10 men when a player tackled Brian Quilty with two feet off the ground from behind.

‘Slane were now on top and Ritchie Nesbitt headed over and then just wide form two corners and Brian Quilty saw a shot saved.

Johnny Kernaghan came on for Gareth Rees and soon after a great through ball set Gregg Harrison free and he tapped the ball around the advancing keeper and side footed it into the empty net to make it 5-1.

Right on the full time Ritchie Nesbitt was on hand to place the ball into the bottom corner to complete a comprehensive victory for the ‘Slane.

David Johnstone said: “This was a significant victory today as Rovers are among the clubs pushing for promotion so for us to win so convincingly I think makes a real statement as to where our team is at.

“We knew we had to be prepared to battle and I thought we showed a real commitment today in our work rate and willingness to put tackles in when it mattered. We were very solid defensively, in midfield we were very strong and again up front our pace and quality was clinical.

“It was an excellent squad performance and that makes it seven wins in eight league games which is a fantastic return, but we need to keep focussed and not get complacent.”

SLANE: White, Quinn, Taylor, Shilliday, Peden, Ervine, Rees. Stewart, Coulter, Quilty, Harrison.

Subs: Kernaghan, Nesbitt, Fairley, Boyd.