Keeper Martin saves the day for Duleek
DULEEK........................... 1 ALBION ROVERS............. 0
Recent signing Glen Fitzpatrick in action for Drogheda United against Gareth Whelan during Shelbourne's 1-0 pre-season friendly win last Thursday. Credit: Picture: Larry McQuillan
DULEEK, the dark horses in the MDL Premier title race, have moved into a very promising challenging position where they can overtake longtime pacesetters Rock and Carrick, and this could turn out to be a crucial result come the end of the season.
Thanks to an outstanding goalkeeping display by Keith Martin and a really disciplined and resilient defensive performance, they gained the points on Sunday against a most unfortunate Albion who surrendered a six-game unbeaten run.
The visitors laid siege in the Duleek half in the final 20 minutes after the Meath side scored what proved to be the game's only goal in the 69th minute, with Ian Devine cashing in on a mistake by centrehalf Gavin Mooney to send an angled 12-yard shot to the net.
Two evenly matched sides cancelled each other out in the first half, with not a clear-cut chance at either end as defences held sway, although Mickey Mullen in the Albion goal had to be smart to keep out a Devine free kick.
But Martin showed exceptional form in the second half, pulling off half a dozen or more saves to keep his goal intact, including one was from a free kick mid-way through the half from Ian Cusack. Another stop worthy of note came when Padraig McDonagh got in behind the defence and shot low and hard across goal. Martin managed to get a vital hand to the ball to deflect it away from danger with help from a defender.
The one time Martin was beaten – from an 80th-minute header by Colin Maguire – the crossbar came to his and Duleek's rescue.
