Mountney inspires Town's seventh victory with vintage goal

Tuesday, 29 June 2010 09:58

Ballina Town maintained their push for a successful defence of the Super League title with a resounding victory over Manulla at Carramore on Saturday.
Three second half goals by John Mountney, substitute Benny Lavelle and Tom O'Connor sealed their seventh win of the campaign with eight rounds remaining.
The result saw Town leapfrog Westport United into second spot in the title race, two points behind leaders Iorras Aontaithe who have a game in hands.
Manulla, for their part, are being sucked into a relegation battle after slipping to their fourth defeat in nine outings.
There was little to separate the sides in the opening half with Dessie Campbell and James Cunningham displaying sharp attacking instincts for the home side, the former of whom forced Town goalkeeper Kieran O'Malley to produce a fine save after 11 minutes.
Town always looked threatening on the counter attack and Philip Devers was denied a goal in the 35th minute by a brilliant Cillian McGlade block.
The match changed utterly six minutes into the second when Mountney struck a goal of the highest quality.
His free kick from 30 yards was hit with power and precision into the top corner of James Jennings's net. It was an outstanding strike and tilted the issue firmly in Town's favour, although Manulla were unhappy with the awarding of the free in the first place.
Ballina manager Brendan Kenny introduced consistent striker Benny Lavelle and he made it 2-0 with virtually his first touch.
He hooked the ball stylishly over the head of Jennings after being played through by the busy Devers.
Malachy Byrne made a strong impact after coming on as a substitute at the start of the second half and he surprised Town custodian O'Malley with an audacious effort from the half-way line when his side touched off after the second Ballina goal.
With Derek Tansey and Sean Kelly in authoritative mood at the back for Ballina, there was no way back for the home side.
Town put the final gloss on their win before the end when O'Connor executed his side's third goal.

Ballina Town - 3
Manulla - 0

Ballina Town: K. O'Malley, D. Helly, D. O'Hara, S. Kelly, D. Tansey, D. O'Connor, B. Giblin, T. O'Connor, M. Duffy, P. Devers, J. Mountney.
Subs used: B. Lavelle, G. Hynes.
Manulla: J. Jennings, D. Gallagher, C. McGlade, B. Cuffe, P. Canavan, A. McHugh, J. Cunningham, L. Alworthy, G. Durkan, R. Clarke, D. Campbell.
Subs used: M. Byrne, S. Fadden.
Ref: M. Walsh (Castlebar).
●Star rating: John Mountney. . .memorable goal.