Willow Park cruise to victory over St Peter's

There has been little to separate St Peter's and Willow Park in the recent past as the Athlone clubs have battled for supremacy, but the early advantage in this year's Senior Division campaign has swung Willow's way following a comfortable 3-0 victory at McCarthy Park on Sunday afternoon last. The visitors just shaded the opening half as they went in for the break a goal to the good, but an early second-half goal - coupled with the later dismissal of two home players - ended the game as a contest long before the final whistle sounded. Table toppers Willow remain the only unbeaten side in the division with full points from four games, while the Saints have just one win from their three games played. The opening half was evenly contested and it was somewhat of a surprise then when Willow Park took the lead midway through the half as the Saints had enjoyed a fairly good spell up to that point. The visitors had an early chance when they earned the first corner kick of the game on four minutes. Gary McHugh's delivery from the flag was met by Jimmy Mullally and although his header was fumbled by goalkeeper Keith Hynes, the danger was cleared by the home defence. At the other end, Mullally almost turned villain when his attempted clearance was blocked by David Donohoe but the number seven's shot from a tight angle was safely gathered at his near post by former Peter's keeper Lucas Goraus. The Saints earned their first corner kick when Ronan Frawley put behind a John McGowan left wing cross, while Willow's first meaningful chance fell to another former St Peter's player Brian Caldwell, but he shot straight at the keeper. The home side continued to enjoy lots of possession as the half progressed with Paschal Dillon firing over and Micky Kelly also off target from a Donohoe corner. Kelly then drove a free kick straight at the keeper but, midway through the half, the deadlock was broken at the other end as Willow hit the front following a corner kick. Brian Fogarty's in-swinger from the dressing room corner flag was headed back into the danger zone by Ronan Frawley and, with Peter's failing to clear their lines, Benny Magennis pounced to rifle a shot to the net from close range. The tempo dropped somewhat following the goal with the visitors having just a couple more chances before half-time, firstly from a corner kick and then a Fogarty effort which went wide. In contrast, the Saints had their best chance of the half after 32 minutes but Dillon failed to properly connect with a Donohoe left wing cross, with his header from the edge of the penalty area just clearing the crossbar. After a Peter's corner kick came to nothing, Willow headed for the half-time interval with a narrow lead. While the home side forced an early corner kick following the resumption of play, it was Willow who struck again on the score sheet as Mark McConnell made it 2-0 with a smart finish from inside the penalty box. With Noel Galvin penalised on the half way line after 49 minutes, Robbie Shine's resulting free kick was headed down by Frawley and McConnell reacted quickly to shoot low to the net. Caldwell almost made it three just before the hour mark had arrived but screwed the ball wide from a good position, following good work on the left by a busy Fogarty. The game was ended as a contest after 62 minutes when Ciaran McNally scored with his first touch, moments after coming on as a substitute in place of Mark Nicholson. Magennis had seen his opportunistic strike from the left hit the crossbar and McNally was alert to fire past the keeper and seal the Willow victory with the third goal. The home side's cause was now a lost one and got even more difficult when they were reduced to ten men after 71 minutes as Kelly was shown a straight red card following a lunge on Magennis close to half way. Enraged Peter's manager Derek Moran was also dismissed from the dugout following the incident by a busy Emmet Dynan, after engaging in conversation with the official with the home side now left with just pride to play for. McNally had a shot blocked while Hynes did well to deny Caldwell a goal as Willow went in search of further scores. With 10 minutes remaining the Saints had another player sent off when Donohoe picked up a second yellow card and, knowing his fate, the winger did not wait around for Dynan to flash the red card in his direction. Last season's top scorer Colm Hyland had joined the action for Willow Park at this stage as manager Tony O'Sullivan gave all his subs a run out. Amazingly, Hyland might have helped himself to a hat-trick with three good chances in as many minutes. Having fired the first effort wide the popular number thirteen was twice denied by Hynes as the visitors threatened to run riot over a ragged nine man home outfit. The Saints did rally somewhat as full-time approached and substitute Dermot Nugent almost grabbed a consolation score with two minutes remaining only to be denied by goalkeeper Goraus who pushed away his shot after another substitute Kevin Boland had created the opening. The last Willow chance saw McNally fire over the bar, with Boland also shooting over from the edge of the penalty area in the dying moments, as Willow earned the early bragging rights in Midland soccer circles following the first instalment of the big local derby. ST PETER'S: Keith Hynes, Micky Kelly, Michael Nugent (John McCrossan 60 mins), Eoin Fox, Rory McGowan (Sean Kenny 77 mins), David McHugh, David Donohoe, Noel Galvin, John McGowan (Dermot Nugent 73 mins), Ian Coffey, Paschal Dillon (Kevin Boland 60 mins). WILLOW PARK: Lucas Goraus, Jimmy Mullally, Peter Sherlock, Robbie Shine, Ronan Frawley (JP Stephens 72 mins), Gary McHugh (Brian Frawley 72 mins), Brian Fogarty, Mark McConnell, Benny Magennis (Colm Hyland 72 mins), Brian Caldwell, Mark Nicholson (Ciaran McNally 60 mins). REFEREE: Emmet Dynan (Roscrea).