Rovers pick apart Parkceltic in Challenge Cup opener

Paul O'Brien's side cruised to victory on Wednesday evening in Frank Taaffe park

Rossin Rovers 6

Park Celtic Summerhill 0

Rossin Rovers dominated proceedings and were full value for their comfortable victory over Parkceltic in the opening round of the Challenge Cup at Frank Taaffe Park on Wednesday.

The home side controlled possession well and broke the deadlock after 13 minutes through a Dylan Maguire header. Chances were aplenty for Rossin Rovers but they struggled to convert for the all-important second goal. However, in the 50th minute, a superb finish from Brandon Sullivan gave Rovers the two-goal cushion they craved and after that the floodgates opened.

Maguire set up Aaron Dale for Rovers’ third. The substitutes that Rovers introduced had a massive impact as Alan Beatie, Gareth Delaney and Evan Sullivan all added their names to the scoresheet.

Newcomer to the club, Dale stood out for Rossin Rovers. His composure on the ball was excellent, and his deliveries from wide areas caused a lot of issues for the Parkceltic defence.

Parkceltic didn’t cause too much trouble for keeper Conor Kelly in the Rovers net. One of their only real chances came in the fourth minute when Kelly dealt with a free kick from Oisin Hussey with relative ease.

After that Rovers took complete control of proceedings and they thought they opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Eoghan Mulroy’s cross was headed to the net by Maguire but on that occasion the Rovers striker was ruled offside.

Maguire didn’t dwell too much on the decision and a few minutes later, from a Dale corner, Maguire headed the ball to the net again, this time the goal was awarded. Dale and Maguire almost repeated the trick three minutes later, as another corner was delivered towards the back post but Maguire failed to convert the chance.

Maguire and Dale were linking up well in attack and in the 22nd minute the goalscorer set up the tricky winger for a chance but Aaron Hussey came to Parkceltic’s rescue with a good save just before the water break.

A super long-range pass from Cormac Reid fell at the feet of Mulroy in the box and Parkceltic’s Jack Phelan did well to clear the danger. In the 34th minute, Sullivan took a quick free to Dale who set up Conor Brennan but his effort just went wide.

Dale then found the back of the net in the 38th minute but for the second time Rovers were judged to have been offside. On this occasion, the decision looked harsh.

Parkceltic were dealt a crucial blow in the 39th minute when their keeper, Aaron Hussey rolled his ankle and had to be replaced by Noel Carey. Carey was called into action soon after when a nice move that involved some lovely link up play between Cian Briody, Sullivan and Maguire created a chance for Dale. The sub keeper denied Rovers a second goal in the first-half and at the break the home side led 1-0.

It took Rovers a few minutes to settle after the restart but in the 50th minute Sullivan linked up well with Dale before he produced an excellent finish to the top right corner from just outside the box for Rovers' second goal.

Despite the relentless pressure from Rovers, Parkceltic had an opportunity to get themselves back into the contest in the 58th minute but Oisin Hussey’s attempt on goal cleared the crossbar. Delaney was only on the pitch a matter of minutes when he set up Dale for Rovers' third goal in the 62nd minute.

In the 67th minute, Carey denied Jordan Branigan a goal-scoring opportunity but the ball spilt back into a dangerous area and Beatie took full advantage to give Rovers a 4-0 lead.

On a couple of more occasions, Branigan was unlucky not to add his name to the scoresheet as he hit the crossbar with one effort in the 71st minute and four minutes later hit the post.

Another Rovers substitute, Evan Sullivan left his mark on the contest when he chipped Carey with a lovely finish to put Rovers 5-0 up. Sullivan is obviously well-liked amongst his peers as the Rovers bench celebrated his goal a bit more than the rest.

Branigan, who seemed to very much be playing the bridesmaid role, set up Delaney for Rovers' sixth goal. Delaney almost made it seven in the closing stages but his late effort came back off the Parkceltic post.

Rossin Rovers - Conor Kelly; Ben Hillard, Sean Murray, Cian Briody, Conor Brennan, Brandon Sullivan, David Culligan, Cormac Reid, Eoghan Mulroy, Aaron Dale, Dylan Maguire. Subs - Alan Beatie for Brennan 54m, Gareth Delaney for Maguire 58m, Jordan Brannigan for Culligan, Evan Sullivan for Dale both 63m.

Parkceltic Summerhill - Aaron Hussey; Jack Phelan, Com Ardiff, Sean Conboy, Kian Hussey, Ryan Dowling, Jamie Byrne, Oisin Hussey, Ethan O’Connor, Jack Crolly, Mike De Camargo Souza. Subs - Noel Carey for A Hussey 39m, Aaron McElroy for Crolly 56m, Evan Smith for Byrne 63m.

Referee - Ciaran Reilly (Louth).