Moville advance in Buncrana Credit Union Cup
28.02.08

Moville Celtic...2 (Orr 29, Gavin Doherty 88) Glengad United...0 by Simon McGeady, Inishowen Independent, in Glencrow FIRST blood then to Moville Celtic in the first of the two scheduled cup games between these sides in the space of a week, but this was far from a straightforward win the score-line might suggest. It was not a vintage performance from Moville. They struggled, in the second half especially, to impose themselves on a game Glengad side who probably deserved to get on level terms before Gavin Doherty’s late strike put the tie out of their reach.

This game was supposed to be played in Glengad, but was reversed to Moville. Glengad saw off Culdaff 2-1 in the previous round but this was always going to be a tougher task. The home team had Liam McClean’s men on the back-foot from the start of the match, but neither Celtic’s careful deliberate passing in front of the visiting defence or through balls down the wing troubled Glengad. A quarter of an hour in, a flowing, one touch move ended with Nigel McMonagle’s deflected shot looping over the bar for a corner that John Gerard McDermott cleared with the minimum of fuss. Moville’s Graeme Doherty looked lively in the opening stages and on 17 minutes he played a neat layoff to Alan Orr who advanced with the ball and found Declan McGuinness on the left side of the Glengad box and the Moville wide-man hit a tantalising chip that landed on the roof of Michael McLaughlin’s net.

Glengad United approach to the game was more direct, as evidenced by Roland McDaid’s long throws. On 20 minutes Glengad got their first sniff of a chance when John Gerard McDermott collected a deep cross on the left hand side of the Moville area and laid the ball back to Michael Doherty who snatched at the chance, scuffing the ball wide. Five minutes later Kevin Coyle almost got on the end of an Alan Orr corner before Moville took the lead on the half hour. Nigel McMonagle dropped deep to collect the ball and found to Graeme Doherty on the left hand side of the pitch and the quick-thinking midfielder played an inch-perfect first-time through ball to Alan Orr who rounded the Glengad keeper and guided the ball home. Gordon Martin then got in on the act, the defender hitting a shot that was parried to Nigel McMonagle but the forward put the rebound wide.

Moville were stretching their guests at this stage and when Ryan McMonagle released Nigel McMonagle on the right hand side of the visitor’s box, it looked like Moville might increase their lead, but the Celtic striker crossed the ball to no one in particular and the chance was gone. The home team did not have it all their own way however and John Gerard McDermott crossed from the right only for Christy McLaughlin to make a mess of his header. Gavin Doherty right footed frees were a feature of the first half and on 41 minutes he found his brother Graeme at the back post but the younger Doherty headed over the bar. Graeme then turned provider, releasing Ryan McMonagle who was denied by McDermott’s crunching tackle. On the stroke of half time Declan McGuinness pulled a shot across goal to end a largely frustrating half for John Canning’s men. Glengad made a good start to the second half, but they struggled to make clear-cut chances against a strong Moville rearguard that had Kevin Coyle and Darren Bredin on top of their games. At the other end of the pitch Michael McLaughlin fumbled a through ball allowing Nigel McMonagle to nip in and lay the ball off to Gavin Doherty but he shot over the exposed goal.

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