Steel & Sons Cup, Round Four
Immaculata 4-0 Dunloy
IT was a resounding win for Immaculata over Dunloy to reach the last eight of the Steel & Sons Cup on Saturday.
Logan Brady opened and completed the scoring for the Divis club, with James Haughey and Sean McGovern netting in between as they triumphed on their home patch.
Dunloy had their openings, but couldn't convert on the day as the West Belfast side was just that more clinical in front of goal.
It was actually Dunloy who opened brighter and were on the front foot, but created little of note in those first 10 minutes.
Immaculata gradually settled and were beginning to threaten with James Haughey going down in the area, but penalty appeals were waved away.
Haughey had a shot deflected out for a corner and then the hosts had the ball in the net only for the offside flag to go up.
They were getting closer and on 27 minutes, a ball into the area was nodded on by Edward Begley and Brian Kennedy rose to head home but the ball came back off the crossbar.
James Haughey curls home to make it 2-0
The opening goal would come in the net play as Immaculata remained on the offensive and Logan Brady picked up the ball on the edge of the penalty area where he let fly with a shot that flew high into the net.
Six minutes later they almost doubled their advantage when Begley rose and his downward header came back off the butt of the post.
Soon after, the ball broke in the Dunloy area with both Haughey and Begley seeing shots blocked as they tried to find the net, but the second goal finally came on 41 minutes.
A fine break along the left wing saw the ball pulled back to Haughey who curled beautifully off his right boot past the outstretched Stephen McIlroy in the Dunloy goal.
Brian McCaul then had a header flash wide, but a 2-0 lead at the break for Immaculata was a fair reflection of their dominance.
It was imperative that Dunloy found a response in the second period but it was the hosts who continued to look the more likely early on.
Haughey found himself free on the left and had a shot from an angle that McIroy saved, while Dunloy finally carved out an opening on 50 minutes as Jack Magee put Conal Doherty in on the left, but he failed to really trouble Ryan Murray in the Immaculata goal.
The pressure was at the other end and McCaul hard a header tipped over before he then floated in a free-kick that was crying out to be turned home, but nobody was able to get a touch as it went just outside the post.
Logan Brady then had a huge chance when he found himself through, but as he steadied and shot, his effort was too close to McIlroy who had a fairly comfortable save.
The visitors then had a penalty shout of their own waved away, but the game was put firmly beyond them on 74 minutes in spectacular fashion as Sean McGovern let fly from outside the left corner of the box and his missile of a shot arrived straight into the far corner of the net.
That was that and while Dunloy thought they had grabbed a consolation with eight minutes to play as Doherty got onto the loose ball and shot at goal with the ball beating Murray, but not substitute Padraig Adams to rose to head up and over.
The hosts wrapped up a good afternoon in the final minute as ben McCaul got in down the left and cut-back for Brady to turn home and round off a fine victory and a place in the quarter-finals.
IMMACULATA: R Murray, Ben McCaul, M Fisher (J Begley 73), E Begley, S McGovern (R McMenamin 77), C O'Riordan, B Kennedy (P Adams 73), Brian McCaul, L Brady, S Begley, J Haughey
Goals: L Brady 28, 90; J Haughey 44, S McGovern 74
DUNLOY: S McIlroy, C Campbell, J Scally, D Scott, J McConaghy, C Milne, A Scullion, M O'Mullan, S McKee, C Doherty, J Magee
