Arklow United B vs Aughrim

 Arklow United B 4

Aughrim Rangers. 0

Eoin Horkan 

Credit Union park

A Niall Higgins double either side of the break helped the home side to what turned out to be a comfortable victory in the end.

The opening ten minutes of this Friday night game saw both sides creating half chances but neither goalkeeper was really troubled as the efforts flew over the bar.

Just before the quarter hour mark United had two shots, the first from Niall Higgins before a minute later James McBride let fly, these two efforts were well saved by Sean Roche in the opposition goal.

Moments later and completely against the run of play the visitors broke away but Eamon Kennedy’s effort was smothered by Paddy Gannon before the rebound was cleared off the line by Nathan Carr.

The Arklow midfield of Connors and Higgins were controlling the play and eventually just after the half an hour mark a well worked free kick where Ray Davis fed Higgins whose effort found the far corner of the net.

The last few minutes of the half saw another Davis free from range well kept out before the whistle was blown.

The early stages of the second half belonged to the away side as they managed to wrestle back control of this tie. Their first strike on the goal was through midfielder Tim Ivers which flew over the bar.

Minutes later Aughrim broke away but Paddy Gannon rushed off his line to smother the attack the ball then landed at the feet of Michael Young and with the keeper miles away from his goal Young’s effort went wide of the post.

The last fifteen minutes of this tie belonged to Arklow as they emptied the bench and this seemed to work as they managed to control the play again. This control led to Higgins nearly doubling his tally but his sumptuous volley from outside the box was expertly tipped onto the post by Roche.

The young Arklow front three all sixteen years young were causing the most damage in the last few minutes of the game. With his first touch in the league Cody O’Neill had a goalbound effort kept out before Roche did the same again with a McBride strike .

The home side’s pressure finally paid off with twelve to go as Higgins pressured the opposition before managing to put the ball into the net from a narrow angle.

With five minutes left it looked like United were well in control and managed to extend there lead when McBride broke away and produced a cultured finish to get his first goal of the season.

With the final whistle imminent a  Davis free kick found substitute James Keeley in the box to ensure victory for the home side.

Arklow United B:Paddy Gannon,Naoise Treacy,Dillon Mordaunt,Ray Davis,Nathan Carr,Niall Higgins,Tomas O’Reilly,Tom Connors,Faysal Muse,Stephen Byrne,James McBride.

Subs Used:James Keeley for Tomas O’Reilly,Cody O’Neill for Faysal Muse.

Aughrim United:Shane Roche,Aron Gannon,Luke Brown,Dylan Lynch,Michael Duster,Tim Ivers,Kyle Moules,Michael Young,James Doyle,Eamon Kennedy,Adrian Stokley.

Subs Used:Dylan Stapleton for Eamon Kennedy,Keelan Stapleton for Michael Duster,Cormac Keegan for Kyle Moules

Referee: Dominique Lachaussee