Kentstown exit to Premier leaders

Achieving cup triumphs against the odds is nothing new to Kentstown Rovers, but they were unable to cook up another big shock on Sunday morning when they lost out to Woodview in the MDL Challenge Cup. The Meath side hosted the Premier champions and even had the audacity to take the lead through a well-taken Derek Bowens goal early on. And for a lengthy spell it looked like the home side might somehow manage to absorb everything Woodview would throw at them. Then the dam burst came and the Dundalk side fired home three second-half goals to ensure their place in the next round. A member of the Woodview management team was former international Tommy McConville who had plenty of advice to give his troops. Forty years ago McConville made his debut for the Republic of Ireland in a 0-6 defeat to Austria in Linz. He went on to have better days in the green shirt eventually earning eight caps. Kentstown had no complaints about Sunday's defeat. "This was a game of two halves, we competed well up to the interval, but the second-half belonged to Woodview," said their manager Shane Kavanagh. "They created more after the break and got their rewards. They are not top of the Premier for nothing and I must say I respected the way they approached the game. "They kicked the ball out when any of our players were injured. They didn't arrive and look down on us, they also treated us with respect and I hope they do well in the cup." Credit also to Serbian referee Bozic Srdjan who controlled the game with calm assurance. The pattern of the game became established very early on with Woodview playing neat, passing football and applying pressure on the Kentstown goals. The home side relied on quick breaks out of defence and long balls from the back that the visitors clearly found difficult to deal with. It was from a long punt from Kentstown deputy goalkeeper David Doyle that created enough confusion in the Woodview defence to allow Derek Bowens in to score after 16 minutes. The striker nipped in between two hesitating defenders and crisply slotted to the net for the opener. Having defeated Premier outfits Glenmuir and Torro in previous rounds it would have been understandable if Kavanagh's men started to believe this was going to be another memorable day for them. With Shaun Doyle outstanding at the back Kentstown gave little away and they almost got a second. David Bowens and Paul McDonnell were both presented with good chances in the same attacking move. It all ended with McDonnell firing over the bar from close range with the ball bobbling just as he was about to pull the trigger. It stayed 1-0 at the interval, but the Woodview pressure finally told when a mix-up, this time in the Kentstown backline, allowed Conor Cowley to equalise on 56 minutes. Shortly afterwards the second goal arrived when Mickey O'Kane's effort hit the bar, the ball broke to Alan Larkin who made no mistake from close range with a header. Derek Bowens was often a lone figure up front as Kentstown became increasingly preoccupied with defending although Derek Ratcliffe went close. Again the pressure told with Woodview grabbing a third with Declan Moran applying the finishing touch. Kentstown will now turn their attention to picking up badly needed points in Div 2 and consolidating their place in the division. Kentstown - D Doyle; D Ratcliffe, C Lynch, S Doyle, S Gargan, G Toal, David Bowens, C Cowley, Derek Bowens, Mark Bates, Paul McDonnell. Sub - N Cunningham for David Bowens. Woodview - P Goram; R McCann, P Warnock, S English, C Caulfield, P McArdle, A Larkin, M Bergin, C Hoey, M O'Kane, E Armstrong. Subs - D Moran for Warnock, S McKevitt for Larkin. Referee - Bozic Srdjan (Cavan/Monaghan).