NEFL | Muirhevnamor closing in on the title

NEFL Premier Division | Boyne Harps 1–3 Muirhevnamor FC

Muirhevnamor took a huge step towards the NEFL Premier Division title with a 3–1 win over Boyne Harps at United Park in Drogheda on Easter Sunday.

The result leaves the Blues — who have just one game left — five points clear of Bellurgan United and Newfoundwell who both have two games remaining. Victory for Muirhevnamor in their final league fixture of the season will secure the trophy.

Missing a host of players, Muirhevnamor took time to settle and they found themselves 1–0 down after just eight minutes when a Harps player took advantage of some sloppy defending to leave David Cooney with no chance.

Tiarnan Mulvenna’s side stepped it up after that and took complete control with Brendan Hughes and Billy Smith both going close, the latter from an excellent Brian Begley cross.

Smith got the goal his side deserved on the 25 minute mark, gliding past a Harps defender and dispatching to the bottom corner to level things at the break.

The Dundalk side pressed hard in the second half and Jimmy Cooney saw a deflected effort from distance fly narrowly over the bar.

It was a matter of when, and not if, Muirhevnamor would grab a second and the goal arrived with 20 minutes left to play.

Substitute David Mahoney’s 25-yard free-kick was parried by the Boyne keeper and Thomas McShane was on hand to slam the ball home and tilt the title towards Muirhevnamor.

And Smith put the seal on a fantastic result for the Dundalk side when he picked himself up after being fouled in the penalty area to roll the spot kick past the Harps goalkeeper and edge Mulvenna’s men closer to their first top flight title.

MUIRHEVNAMOR: David Cooney, Brian Begley, Chris Caulfield, Paul Mallon, Stephen Smith (Wayne Robinson), Jimmy Cooney, Thomas McShane, Brendan Hughes (David Mahony), Gary Clarke (Adrian Rafferty), Raymond McCann, Billy Smith.