Bracken brace helps clinical Clara to see off Melville

Melville 1 Clara Town 5 Clara Town showed no mercy to Melville Utd in this Combined Counties Senior Division clash at Athlone IT last Sunday afternoon. Victory for Clara Town moved them onto eight points from six matches and they currently lie safely in mid-table, while Melville have only managed a couple of victories in between five defeats and Sunday's loss leaves them just outside the relegation places at this stage of the campaign. Melville did play well at different stages of Sunday's match but ultimately defensive frailties proved their undoing and Clara took full advantage of such lapses. Clara took the lead on the half hour mark when Pa Smith broke Melville's offside trap and calmly lifted the ball over home goalkeeper Darren Fitzmaurice. The Offaly side went into the break with a single goal advantage but soon after the restart they more or less wrapped up the points, thanks to a double strike from Robert Bracken. Melville managed to give themselves some hope of a comeback when Mickey Rafferty found the net, but Clara proved too strong as proceedings continued and further goals by Alan Kelly and JJ Colsh put the result beyond doubt. Clara manager Martin Devine has returned to the club this season and is eyeing mid-table consolidation. "We're very happy to come to Athlone and beat Melville 5-1. Some of our goals were taken very well and I suppose it was comfortable in the end," said Devine. "We've had a poor enough start to the season but have a lot of young players on board this season. The team needed freshening up from recent years. There's not too much expected of us this season and I'll be satisfied if we keep our heads above water and stay in the division. Anything else will be a bonus and maybe a cup run would be nice," he added. CLARA TOWN: Kevin Sammon; Cathal Fitzpatrick, Mark Egan, Derek Coughlan, Colin Fitzpatrick, Dean Minnock, Alan Kelly, Sean Moran, Thomas Quinn, Pa Smith, Stephen Deehan. Subs: Robert Bracken for C Fitzpatrick (HT), Christy Minnock for D Minnock (70), JJ Colsh for Smith (75), Mark Kelly for Deehan (80). MELVILLE UTD: Darren Fitzmaurice; Buddy Stephens, Wayne Flanagan, JP Stephens, Mickey Greene, Eoin O'Connor, Davy Dowling, Graham Whittaker, Gary Stephens, Colin McCormack, Mickey Rafferty. Referee: Paddy Nolan.