Unlucky Parkvilla lose to leaders

Despite atrocious weather conditions both sides served up a feast of entertaining football in this Leinster Senior League Div 1A encounter at Claremont Stadium on Friday night. The home side put up a spirited performance against league leaders Glenville, but they were unable to take anything from the game despite taking the lead. The game kicked off with heavy rain driving across the pitch and although this made the underfoot conditions difficult, neither team resorted to route one football. It was the league front-runners who were under pressure in the early stages and they fell behind on the 25th minute mark. Parkvilla's Andy Williamson surged forward and his neat pass found Colin Lynch in midfield. As the visiting defence retreated, Lynch took up the invitation to run with the ball and unleashed a vicious low drive from outside the box for a deserved lead. The play ebbed and flowed from there and just before the interval Parkvilla could have increased their lead. Dave O'Neill was put through on goal, but his well-struck shot was smartly saved by the Glenville goalkeeper and it remained 1-0 at the interval. The Dublin side started the second-half in determined mood and enjoyed a lot of possession as the heavy rain was replaced by snow. Their enterprising play was rewarded with an equaliser midway through the second-half. The claret and blues then had a great opportunity to regain the lead when Davy Hosie set up Ciaran Rogers, but his rasping shot shaved the upright with the 'keeper stranded. That near miss proved to be a boost for the table-toppers and they exerted immense pressure on the home goal. They met stout resistance from centre backs Andrew Rogers and Kenny Ratty (pictured). Anything that beat those stalwart defenders was dealt with in a confident manner by 'keeper Brendan Kennedy but even he couldn't stop the winning goal that arrived five minutes from time. The Navan lads were disappointed after this loss but the return of injured and suspended players augurs well for the rest of the campaign. Best for Parkvilla on the night were Williamson, Ratty, Andrew Rogers and Alan Kerr. Parkvilla - B Kennedy; G McCrossan, K Ratty, A Rogers, A Williamson, A Kerr, D Hosie, C Lynch, K Dunphy, D O'Neill, C Rogers. Sub - I Brassil for Dunphy.