Unlucky Parkvilla make cup exit

The up and down nature of sport was forcefully brought home to Parkvilla on Sunday as they lost out to Skerries Town in this pulsating FAI Intermediate Cup clash at Skerries on Sunday. Just a few weeks previously the Parkvilla side travelled to the same venue and came away with a 4-0 victory and they must have been hopeful of achieving something similiar this time around. It didn’t turn out like that as they had a player, Chris Kennedy, sent off and three penalties given against them with Skerries scoring from two of them. Kennedy saw red early in the game and that left the visitors with a huge disadvantage against a Skerries outfit well capable of making the most of their numerical advantage. By the time Kennedy was dismissed Parkvilla were already a goal down and they went on to concede a second goal when one of their players was deemed to have committed a foul in the box. It got worse for the Navan side when Skerries were again awarded a spot-kick and again they scored from it to go in at the break with a commanding 3-0 advantage. Determined not to concede more ground Parkvilla kept working hard with Ken Ratty and Jamie Blake among those who went close. The visitors did eventually find a way through midway through the second-half to give themselves some hope. Davy Hosie whipped the ball into the box from a corner kick and there to find the net with a stinging drive was Wayne Russell to give his side some hope. Parkvilla kept working as they sought to gain a firmer foothold, but they were unable to make any further inroads on the home team’s considerable lead. “We were disappointed to lose especially as we felt the concession of the two penalties and the sending off were a bit harsh,” said Parkvilla chairman Gerry Kennedy. “We have a number of players on the injured list but we would hope to bounce back next week, the league is our main focus. We were on a decent run and the aim now is to get back to winning ways.” Among those who gave big performances in what was a battling, if ultimately fruitless display from Parkvilla, included Andrew Rogers, Hosie and Ciaran Rogers. Parkvilla - S O’Gorman; K Ratty, C Kennedy, A Rogers, A Williamson, A Kerr, D Hosie, W Russell, K Dunphy, D O’Neill, C Lynch.