Late goals by McConnell and Shine finally see Willow through

With 90 minutes played in this LFA Junior Cup fifth round tie, a highly-rated Willow Park were looking down the barrel of their first defeat of the season in any competition. A comfortable first half in which Aidan Hyland had given the home side the lead was suddenly turned on its head when Park Celtic struck two goals in the 43rd and 45th minutes. It was a lead the Dublin side would hold right up until second-half injury-time, when goals from Mark McConnell and a Robbie Shine penalty gave Willow a dramatic, but thoroughly deserved, passage to the sixth round. The dramatic finale belies the fact Willow should really have been more comfortable in this one. Once their opponents had equalised, and then taken a shock lead, they completely went back into their shell, showing little intent on attacking, and allowed Willow to push men forward in search of the equaliser. Willow themselves were nowhere near their best but were still far superior. Park Celtic may feel hard done by to have conceded so late but, in reality, a Willow side on top-form could have hit them for four or five. The game started off at a slow pace with neither side creating much by way of goalscoring opportunities. Willow enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening stages, as they would do for the half, but it wasn't until the 16th minute that they really should have broken the deadlock. An Aidan Hyland cross from the left missed everyone and fell to Mark McConnell, who skipped inside a challenge before shooting from the edge of the box. His shot was weak but was trapped by Benny Magennis, who, in typical fashion, turned his man in a flash before shooting unhindered from twelve yards. But his effort was saved by the outstretched arm of goalkeeper Conor Banahan. On 22 minutes, the two Hyland's, Colm and Aidan, combined in a move that found the latter closing in on goal from the right side of the box. But, having been closed down by Banahan, he shot into the side-netting at the near post. Four minutes later, Jimmy Mullally rose high in the box to meet a Colm Hyland corner but his powerful effort flew just wide of the top-corner. The opening goal wasn't long in coming, however, and when it did it was no surprise that it was Willow who found the net. Mark McConnell received the ball in the inside-right channel and spotting the run of Aidan Hyland, played the ball perfectly into his path. Taking it in his stride, Hyland then had a clear run at goal before finishing calmly to the bottom corner of the net. Gary McHugh went close with a long range effort on 33 minutes but as the half drew to a close, Willow would be stunned by a two-minute double salvo by the visitors. On 43 minutes, Paddy Boyle went flying down the right wing to the by-line, before drilling the ball across face of the goal. There, Mark Cullen got in front of his man and was able to finish to the net from close range. Just two minutes later, Willow goalkeeper Ian Bolger was picking the ball out of the net for a second time. In an almost identical move to the first goal, it was Paddy Boyle who got on the end of a low pull-back from the by-line by the skilful Javier Henderson to finish from close range. Unsurprisingly, Willow re-emerged for the second-half looking to up the pace of the game. But, for the most part, it was to be a frustrating 45 minutes for the Athlone side. Despite Willow's renewed urgency, it was, in fact, Eoin Banahan who nearly netted a third for Park Celtic in the opening stages of the half, when Nico Murphy got to the by-line and pulled back to the striker. The Willow defence was, this time at least, alive to the danger and cleared. That was to be the height of Park Celtic's attacking ambition for the remainder of the game as they retreated further and further back in the hope of hanging on. By the 65th minute, Willow were continuing to boss possession, but were still struggling to make in-roads on the visitors' goal. A Robbie Shine drilled free-kick was as close as they had come to breaching what was by now two banks of four, intent solely on hanging on to a slender lead. On 75 minutes, Mark McConnell went down in the penalty-area under the challenge of David Robertson. There were calls for a penalty but referee Joe Cassidy took the view that McConnell had gone to ground far too easily and opted to book the big midfielder. As the game entered it's final ten minutes, Michael Harney squandered two good chances to score with his head in quick succession, both from Colm Hyland corners. In the 87th minute, the home side came very close to an equaliser, McConnell curling a beautiful shot over Conor Banahan. But just as the ball looked destined for the top-corner, the crossbar came to Celtic's rescue. Benny Magennis followed up the rebound but his effort was blocked by the brave diving challenge of Ross Connolly. Aidan Hyland then managed to get in behind the visiting defence only to see Paddy Boyle pull off another great intervention just as he was about to pull the trigger. It looked like Park Celtic's day. But as the game ticked over into time-added-on, Willow finally struck. A long ball into the box from the right-wing position by right-full Robbie Shine was missed by everyone. The ball then hopped invitingly in front of an unmarked McConnell, who stooped to nod the ball home at the far post. Extra-time loomed but by the sixth minute of stoppage-time and still no sign of the final whistle, Willow amazingly found a winner. Picking the ball up in centre-midfield, McHugh picked out the run of Aidan Hyland with a superb ball down the left-wing. Hyland jinked his way past two Park challenges before being felled in the penalty-area by David Robertson. This time there was no hesitation from Cassidy who pointed straight away to the penalty spot. Robbie Shine then stepped up confidently to send Banahan the wrong way, the ball to the net and Willow into the next round. Willow Park: Ian Bolger; Robbie Shine, Peter Sherlock, Earl Gaylard, Jimmy Mullally, Gary McHugh, Mark McConnell, Mark Nicholson, Colm Hyland, Benny Magennis, Aidan Hyland. Subs: Michael Harney for Nicholson (28 mins), Brian Frawley for Gaylard (73). Park Celtic: Conor Banahan; John Kennedy, David Robertson, Ross Connolly, Hugo O'Doherty, Nico Murphy, Javier Henderson, Paddy Boyle, Peter McGee, Eoin Banahan, Mark Cullen. Subs: Darragh Robinson for E. Banahan (69 mins), David Simmons for Henderson (78). Referee: Joe Cassidy.