Byrne lights fire under the Gate
A Paul Byrne double and a first-half strike from Colin Neville was enough to put Glens through to the semi-final of the Galtrim Cup as they beat St James Gate 3-1 in Glenanne Park.
The win sees Cillian O’Neill’s side through to the semi-finals were they will face Monkstown in a repeat of last year’s final, a match the Rathdown side won 2-1.
Last night, the hosts produced a brilliant high-tempo first half display and created a number of early chances – David O’Malley fired high and wide on his reverse, Tadgh Murphy struck the keeper’s pads at the near post and a short corner broke down between injection and stop.
The found the lead midway through the first period however as O’Neill played Neville through and he controlled before punching the ball past the Gate netminder.
Byrne doubled the lead right before the break when he latched onto a pass from Brian O’Malley, who had worked a nice opening along the baseline.
The second half was a bit more low-key but Glens still should have increase their lead more substantially. Another corner went awry before Kev O’Malley could get involved at the top, Matt Lucas missed at the near post, while Brian O’Malley could not convert two good opportunities.
Good work between Neville and Byrne finished the game as a contest as the latter crashed the ball to the net.
Gate got a late consolation 3 minutes from the end when they slapped home after Darragh McGinley, who had a fine night in goals, saved well.
Glenanne team: D McGinley, P Byrne, S O’Connor, K O’Malley, R Coleman, M Lucas, C O’Neill, B O’Malley, C Neville, D O’Malley, T Murphy. Sub: R O’Malley.
