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Saturday, November 22, 2003
Soccer: Hibs come out on top
By Adrian Flanagan
HIBERNIANS 2 DUNGARVAN UNITED 1
HIBERNIANS are into the next round of the Munster Junior Cup following victory at home to Dungarvan, winning by two goals to one. Under the management of Brian O’Keeffe, the home side will have to question the decision of the referee to send off one of their players minutes before the half time whistle.
However, a goal shortly after the red card and a goal in unbelievable circumstances gave ten men Hibernians victory.
Referee Joe Kelly was at the centre of controversy in the meeting of the above two mentioned teams on Sunday morning last following an incident in the 40th minute of the game.
He was also in the thick of the action after 56 minutes when he ruled that a free kick from Pat Mc Carthy had not crossed the goal line when it looked a certain goal.
DUBIOUS DECISIONS
The first of the two decisions came five minutes before the half time whistle. Hibernians midfield Colin Delahunty seemed to be at the receiving end of a punch, thrown by an opposition player.
However, following that incident, a melee developed and when order was restored, referee Kelly brandished a straight red card to Colin Delehunty much to the dismay of himself and the rest of his players.
The real culprit who decked Delehunty did not even receive a yellow card when he should have been shown a red one for violent conduct. This incident sparked a poor game up to this point into life. In fact, it has to be said that the visitors to Mitchell Kennedy Park had the better of the opening exchanges and did have a number of chances to take the lead in the game. Nicky Donnelly, Shane Kelly and Mark Crotty were all guilty of missing some excellent opportunities for Dungarvan. But Hibernians keeper Liam Purcell did produce some fine saves to deny the visitors from the west the opening goal of the game.
The sending off spurred the home side into life and just three minutes after the dismissal of their midfielder, they took the lead and what a goal it proved to be. An excellent cross from the left wing from Joey Phelan saw keeper Alan Landers come out to collect but the ever waiting Pat McCarthy was on hand to side foot the ball into the back of the net from close range.
This was just what the home side needed before the sound of the half time whistle. The second goal of the game arrived 11 minutes into the second half. The home side were awarded a free kick 30 yards from goal. Up stepped Pat McCarthy, who thought he had found the net with his shot. In fact, not only did he think he had scored but so did the Dungarvan players. Keeper Alan Landers cleared the ball, which looked it had crossed the line by a long way but the referee waved play on.
DESERVED HOME WIN
However, thankfully from the home sides point of view, Eddie Walsh was on hand to tap home from close range. This time, there was no question about whether the ball had crossed the line or not and the goal was given. The home side outplayed their visitors with ten men but in the 81st minute, Ronan Keating found the back of the net with a fine right-footed volley following a short free kick from Alan Landers.
Two late scares from Dungarvan came to nothing and Hibernians held out for victory.
HIBERNIANS: Liam Purcell, David Mc Evoy, Emmett Doherty, John Boland, Nicholas Mackey (Walter Kennedy H/T), Ray Grant, Eddie Walsh, Pat Mc Carthy (David Murphy 75`), Colin Delahunty, Alan Delahunty (Brian Byrne 78`) and Joey Phelan.
DUNGARVAN: Alan Landers, Mark Whelan (Killian Lyons 71`), Colin Walsh, Aidan Landers, Ronan Keating, Kevin Walsh, Mark Hyslop, David Condon (Clive Crotty 71`), Nicky Donnelly, Shane Kelly and Mark Crotty.
Referee: Joe Kelly.
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