St Peter's ride their luck to emerge as winners of penalty shoot-out

FOR the second round running in the Leinster Junior Cup, St Peter's relied on the lottery of penalty kicks to continue their involvement in this year's competition. The Athlone side, who reached the FAI Junior Cup final last season, stumbled through this contest against a Mullingar side who will feel deeply aggrieved to have exited the competition, having produced a sprightly performance at McCarthy Park. An own goal by Mullingar defender David Masterson set St Peter's on their way in the opening moments, but Athletic deservedly equalised through Stephen Fadian. The visitors then enjoyed the greater clear-cut chances during the remainder of a very open and stretched game, but, in the end, St Peter's held their nerve during a penalty shoot-out to secure a place in the last 16. St Peter's had beaten Sheriff in the previous round after a penalty shoot-out, and also progressed in similar fashion on a couple of occasions in last year's FAI Junior Cup, so they would have been confident of success once the contest went to penalties. Adrian Carberry, Declan Fallon, Brian Caldwell, Tom Silke and Mark Sherlock all proved successful from the spot, and the Athlone side's progress was ensured when Stephen Fadian put Mullingar's fifth spot kick past the post. It was a very cruel way for Athletic to go out following such a positive performance, but football throws up such hard-luck stories on a very regular basis. St Peter's were hit recently by the departure of the influential Niall Scullion, who has returned to Athlone Town, and they have also lost Stephen Mullan, Paul Murphy and the injured Brian Carr from last season's squad. However, defender Rory McGowan, a key player last season, was back in the set-up after returning from London. But the home side didn't let this affect them early on, taking the lead after just three minutes. Mark Sherlock and Dave Donohoe worked the ball out to Aidan Warde, whose low cross into the six-yard box was turned into his own net by David Masterson. Masterson, under little or no pressure, seemed to completely lose his bearings at the back post, and tucked the ball into the bottom of the net instead of around the post for a corner. Five minutes later, Sherlock manufactured a chance for himself but dragged his effort across the face of goal and wide. Damien Rushe, Declan Fallon and Donohoe then worked a slight opening, but Donohoe's right-wing cross was too high for Sherlock. From then on, Mullingar came into their own and pretty much took control of the rest of the opening half. Stephen Fadian shot low and hard, but his cross-goal strike drifted narrowly wide, before a deserved equaliser came in the 28th minute. Claudio Nardone picked out Michael Fadian inside the St Peter's box, and with St Peter's defending in a very static manner, Michael Fadian chipped the ball onto the boot of Stephen Fadian, who slid into the six-yard box and poked the ball past Lukasz Goraus. The visitors were flying now and Goraus had to produce a good one-handed save to deny Michael Fadian. Athletic looked far more likely to score during the final ten minutes or so of the first half, but St Peter's managed to stay level going into the interval. St Peter's raised their game slightly after the restart, with Tom Silke's header comfortably saved by Joe Martyn, before Sherlock's snap-shot from 20 yards was also well gathered by Martyn. Generally, Mullingar looked sharper and more threatening going forward, with left winger Darragh Kiernan and the two Fadians providing a constant menace to St Peter's defence. Indeed, St Peter's needed stand-in centre-back Patrick Craughwell to make a last gasp tackle to deny Kevin Keegan a goalscoring chance following a brilliant counter attack by Athletic. Just after the hour mark, Michael Fadian found himself clear through on the Peter's goal. His first touch took him a bit wide but he still managed to clip the ball past the on-rushing Goraus, however, the ball struck the St Peter's upright. It was fiercely unlucky for the dangerous Fadian. The sides then swapped half-chances. Silke headed into the path of Sherlock but his strike was excellently beaten away by Martyn, before Masterson had a chance to atone for his own goal, but sent his free header wide after a corner kick. St Peter's left-back Alan Kelly had to make a desperate late tackle to halt Stephen Fadian's run at goal, and then Pascal Dillon made a brave and timely block to deny the outstanding Kiernan. Mullingar were still carving out better chances, with Stephen Fadian's looping effort going just over the bar, with Goraus rooted to the ground, before the Polish 'keeper dived at his left-hand post to keep out a decent volley from Nardone. Donohoe then found himself in a good shooting position for St Peter's, but wrongly opted to square the ball to Brian Caldwell, and the chance disappeared - cleared to safety once again by the excellent Mark Syron. Athletic could have clinched a famous win on 84 minutes when Nardone's strike took a wicked deflection and looked set for the roof of the net, but Goraus produced a superbly acrobatic save to keep his side alive. There were only fleeting half-chances for either side during extra time, with Martyn making a very smart save from Fallon's long range drive. Athletic also could have won it but Tony Dunne missed his attempted volley after a neat lay-off by Michael Fadian. Onto penalty kicks and there was always going to be a villain. Unfortunately for Athletic, it turned out to be the otherwise excellent Stephen Fadian, who missed Mullingar's fifth spot kick after Nardone, Jimmy McEntee, Tony Dunne and Kevin Keegan all converted. St Peter's were immaculate from the spot, with Carberry, Fallon, Caldwell, Silke and Sherlock all making no mistake from eight yards, to send St Peter's into the last 16. ST PETER'S: Lukasz Goraus; Pascal Dillon, Alan Kelly, Tom Silke, Patrick Craughwell, Damien Rushe, Dave Donohoe, Declan Fallon, Brian Caldwell, Mark Sherlock, Aidan Warde. Subs: Rory McGowan for Warde (68 mins), Adrian Carberry for Dillon (76). MULLINGAR ATHLETIC: Joe Martyn; Dalibor Pesic, Jimmy McEntee, David Masterson, Mark Syron, Tony Dunne, Claudio Nardone, Kevin Keegan, Michael Fadian, Stephen Fadian, Darragh Kiernan. REFEREE: Paul Murphy.