Hurley heroics send Willow Park into next round
Willow Park 5 Mullingar Town 2
By John Dingle
Willow Park advanced to the third round of the Combined Counties Cup after they edged out Mullingar Town following a seven-goal thriller at DPD Park last Sunday afternoon.
There was little between the teams up to the midway point of the second half but the hosts finished stronger as Tommy Hurley eventually claimed the match ball when completing his hat-trick in stoppage time.
Fog had forced referee Ray Conlon to abandon the last game involving Willow but, on the hosts’ return to action, the wind and rain created problems this time, though without any worries about the game ending prematurely.
Willow got off to the best possible start with a goal inside the first minute. There was just 45 seconds played when Neil Kenny found the net. James Fortune delivered a cross from the end line on the left and Hurley set up Kenny to open the scoring.
Hurley then directed a header wide with Ben Kilkenny also off target from long range as the home team looked to build on a good start. Mullingar’s first chance fell to David Dyer whose shot was saved by Shane McEnery.
The home goalkeeper was less than decisive after 14 minutes however when Mullingar made the most of a free kick. Liam Brennan’s strike went over the keeper and into the net to level matters.
Surprisingly it ended the scoring in the opening half, though Kilkenny had a good chance to restore Willow’s lead after 34 minutes. The finish did not match the build-up as the home midfielder fired his shot against the Town keeper. Before this, Nathan McCullagh shot over for Mullingar with Kenny coming closer at the other end when firing across the goal from the right.
As in the opening half, there was an explosive restart with two goals being scored in the first three minutes. Cian Johnson had an early shot blocked for Willow but the lead was restored from the hosts’ first corner kick after 47 minutes. Kilkenny delivered the ball into the penalty area and Bryan Hughes forced it home from close range.
The lead was brief though as Mullingar posted an immediate response. Greg Kozicki fired a low shot to the net as Colin Fortune’s men appealed in vain for offside.
It ended the scoring for a while and the tie remained delicately balanced up to the midway point of the half with extra-time always a possibility. Mullingar earned two corners in quick succession as Kenny and Hurley were off target for the Athlone team.
Willow scored a crucial goal on 68 minutes to regain the lead once more, Hurley with a fine individual effort after cutting in from the left.
But Mullingar were still in contention and soon earned another corner. The good work was undone though when Hurley scored again after 74 minutes. Kenny sent in a cross from the right and Hurley had a relatively straightforward tap in from close range to punish slack marking.
It may have been the first time there was two goals between the teams in the tie but the visitors were not about to make a tame early stage exit from the cup. Another corner was forced and David Mimnagh was out of luck when his cross-cum-shot from the left clipped the bar with ten minutes remaining. A draw had been earned on their previous visit to DPD Park and Mullingar tried hard to again make it honours even.
McEnery made up for his earlier handling error to ensure Willow progressed as Mullingar piled on the pressure late on. A great save after 81 minutes was followed by a penalty stop six minutes later. Substitute Dan Beyo was fouled inside the box and Mullingar had the opportunity to try and stage a grandstand finish by converting the penalty. Jason Charles stepped up to take the spot kick but McEnery dived to his right to push the ball away.
This all but ended the visitors’ hopes of forcing extra-time and Willow finished strongly. A rare mistake from Adrian Rapacki was capitalised upon as Hurley completed his hat-trick in stoppage time, shooting into an unguarded net after the Town keeper unintentionally played the ball to the Willow attacker.
Willow were not three goals the better team based on the play overall but enjoyed a couple of strokes of good luck on the day. The penalty save and the error from Rapacki swung the tie Willow’s way.
Mullingar finished with ten men when Paul Reid was red-carded for a last man back foul as the visitors were stretched at the back. It mattered little though and the additional seven minutes saw no further action as Willow sealed their place in the next round.
Man of the match: Tommy Hurley (Willow Park). A hat-trick was just reward for the home striker who was also prominently involved with the opening score.
Willow Park: Shane McEnery, Mark O’Connor, Conor Maher, James Fortune, Declan Fallon, Neil Kenny, Daragh Concannon, Bryan Hughes, Tommy Hurley, Ben Kilkenny, Cian Johnson. Subs: Brian McCormack for Concannon (21 mins); Rafa Shakhnazaryan for Kenny (91); Mickey Kelly and Andy O’Sullivan for Maher and Johnson (94).
Mullingar Town: Adrian Rapacki, Jamie Loran, Tristan Graham, Liam Brennan, Paul Reid, Greg Kozicki, David Dyer, Jason Charles, Nathan McCullagh, Shane O’Keeffe, David Mimnagh. Subs: Dan Beyo for Graham (55 mins); Darragh Kiernan for Mimnagh (90).
Referee: Ray Conlon (Athlone).