Melville punished for defensive lapses by clinical Clara side

Melville Utd's harsh introduction to life in the Combined Counties Senior Division continued with a heavy defeat to Clara Town at Athlone IT on Sunday afternoon. With seven games under their belt - the most any Senior Division side has played so far this season - Melville have only managed a couple of victories in between five defeats and Sunday's loss leaves them just outside the relegation places at this stage of the campaign. Melville did play well at different stages of Sunday's match but ultimately defensive frailties proved their undoing. Clara took the lead on the half hour mark when Pa Smith broke Melville's offside trap and calmly lifted the ball over home goalkeeper Darren Fitzmaurice. The Offaly side went into the break with a single goal advantage but soon after the restart they more or less wrapped up the points, thanks to a double strike from Robert Bracken. Melville managed to give themselves some hope of a comeback when Mickey Rafferty hit his second goal of the campaign, but Clara proved too strong as proceedings continued and further goals by Alan Kelly and JJ Colsh put the result beyond doubt. Melville manager Derek Hussey was far from satisfied with his defenders after the game. "Unfortunately it's silly defensive lapses and mistakes that's costing us games and points at the moment," Hussey said. "A few of our defenders need to realise that they need to concentrate at this level. Perhaps they were getting away with silly things in Division 1 but that's not going to happen in the top division. You will get punished for mistakes and we've already seen this on several occasions this season," he added. Hussey will be hoping that the return from Chad of Gary O'Connor will boost his side in the coming weeks, starting at home to Mullingar Athletic this weekend. Key defender Gary Quinn is also currently out injured and his return, predicted for three weeks' time, should also assist Melville at the back. "Those players will help us out and are important," said Hussey. Victory for Clara Town moved them onto eight points from six matches and they currently lie safely in mid-table. Manager Martin Devine has returned to the club this season and is eyeing mid-table consolidation. "We're very happy to come to Athlone and beat Melville 5-1. Some of our goals were taken very well and I suppose it was comfortable in the end," said Devine. "We've had a poor enough start to the season but have a lot of young players on board this season. The team needed freshening up from recent years. There's not too much expected of us this season and I'll be satisfied if we keep our heads above water and stay in the division. Anything else will be a bonus and maybe a cup run would be nice," he added. Things will hardly get any easier for Melville this weekend. Mullingar Athletic have made a good start to the campaign and currently sit just behind leaders Willow Park in second place, although they have played a game more than third placed St Peter's. Hussey said: "We'll give it our best shot but Mullingar Athletic are a very good side. We will definitely have to improve." MELVILLE UTD: Darren Fitzmaurice; Buddy Stephens, Wayne Flanagan, JP Stephens, Mickey Greene, Eoin O'Connor, Davy Dowling, Graham Whittaker, Gary Stephens, Colin McCormack, Mickey Rafferty. CLARA TOWN: Kevin Sammon; Cathal Fitzpatrick, Mark Egan, Derek Coughlan, Colin Fitzpatrick, Dean Minnock, Alan Kelly, Sean Moran, Thomas Quinn, Pa Smith, Stephen Deehan. Subs: Robert Bracken for C Fitzpatrick (HT), Christy Minnock for D Minnock (70), JJ Colsh for Smith (75), Mark Kelly for Deehan (80). Referee: Paddy Nolan.