Temple Villa off to a flyer with win over Coolraine

Temple Villa 3 Coolraine 0

By Eamon A. Donoghue

Temple Villa opened their new season with an impressive win at home to Coolraine in this CCFL Senior Division game last Sunday.

The two promoted teams from last season, both Temple Villa and Coolraine had an opportunity to get early points on the table and it was the Temple Villa players that took full advantage and got their campaign up and running successfully. They have added 'keeper Adam McManus and Brandon Wykes to their squad and with players to come back like Westmeath footballer Conor McCormack, they will be eager to primarily stay in the top division and challenge again for the cup competitions.

Temple Villa started the brighter team and they were testing the Coolraine goalmouth quickly. Benny Magennis put in the pass down the right, into the running path for Neill Macken and he crossed, but there was no one waiting in the box for Temple. Macken then forced the first corner of the game in the fifth minute. Then, Brandon Wykes had the first shot in anger in the sixth minute.

Macken then had a great opportunity to open the scoring, but he missed the chance because of indecision. The first 15 minutes was all Temple Villa. Then after a wayward back pass to former Moore Utd 'keeper Adam McManus, the ball ended up at the feet of Robert Bracken and his shot for goal was Coolraine’s first attempt after 15 minutes.

Macken kept probing down the right flank and Wykes was threatening to score from the opening moments. Temple Villa forced their second corner in the 17th minute after Liam Flynn and Wykes were involved. They then forced their third corner in the 20th minute and this time Mark Gannon was involved in the build-up. Then, Cian Molloy’s free kick skimmed the post and went wide.

Temple Villa were getting closer to opening their account and Coolraine just weren’t threatening at the other end.

It took Coleraine 25 minutes to get in their first shot in anger when the Offaly side should have gone in front. First, Robert Bracken had the opportunity to shoot with the goal idle but he was let down by a heavy touch.

Bracken's pass then found Michael Feery but the tall striker was off target. That was a let-off for the hosts though a Coolraine goal would have been against the run of play.

Then, Temple Villa finally opened their account. They went down the pitch from another excellent pass down the right wing from Magennis to Macken and his cross fell at the feet of Nazar Zubkov and he scored the opening goal. It had been coming and was deserved.

Wykes should have made it 2-0 in the 40th minute, but it was just a matter of time before they did thanks to continuous pressure.

Temple Villa scored again and this time it was Wykes that scored after Macken did the running down the right flank and it was 2-0 to the hosts.

The home side should have made it 3-0 before the interval but Molloy missed a great opportunity and the whistle went for the interval with Temple Villa 2-0 up at half-time.

After the resumption, the game lost energy and Coolraine seemed to accept defeat. Temple Villa dominated possession and focused more on not conceding than scoring more. They were able to throw on substitutes and give game time to a number of players. They did create a number of half-chances but they didn’t add goals in the third quarter.

Then into the fourth quarter, Zubkov made the pass and Macken scored to put the game to bed and secure a win for the local side in their opening game in the league.

Player of the match: Nazar Zubkov (Temple Villa). Zubkov worked harder than anyone else and got the accolade for that alone, he also scored and was involved in a number of crucial plays. Ben Moran, Brandon Wykes and Neill Macken all contributed significantly.

Temple Villa: Adam McManus, Aaron O’Neill, James Craughwell, Ben Moran, Liam Flynn, Mark Gannon, Benny Magennis, Nazar Zubkov, Neill Macken, Brandon Wykes, Cian Molloy. Subs used: Kieran McNally, Sam Nolan, Garry Curran.

Coolraine: Paul Lewis, Robert Bracken, Ross Kinnarney, Eoghan Coffey, Joseph Dwyer, Patrick Murphy, Michael Feery, Alex Coughlan, Christopher Bracken, Eoghan Meacle, Jordan Daly. Subs used: Jack Dunne, Dermot Feery.

Referee: Kevin Jones.