Maryborough put six past Mountmellick in epic nine-goal contest

There were nine goals from eight different goal scorers on Sunday afternoon as Maryborough FC put six past Mountmellick United’s B team. Maryborough led 3-2 at half time and after a back-and-forth second half it was the Ballyroan-based side that finished the stronger to take all three points.

Both sides arrived in Conor Davis Park knowing a win would see them climb to second in the table, and it was David Delaney’s men who got the job done. The win was not as emphatic as the scoreline suggests, with Mountmellick very much in the tie until the very end.

Maryborough FC 6

Mountmellick Utd B 3 

Maryborough took the lead in the 9th minute when Killian Breen's corner was met by Donal O'Driscoll who headed the ball unchallenged into the top corner of the net from 12 yards out.

But the hosts were level just five minutes later with an identical goal, when Cian Thompson headed home from a James Hickey corner. Mountmellick should have taken the lead moments later when Robbie McEvoy ran through one-on-one with Chris Cash, but the Maryborough goalkeeper made a fine save.

But McEvoy atoned for the miss midway through the half when he cut inside from the right and tucked away a fine finish into the bottom corner.

Maryborough equalised soon after with the game's third header, Seamus Lawless getting on the end of a great cross from Brian Costigan. Sean Hofmeister gave the visitors the lead five minutes before the break with an outstanding individual goal.

He cut inside from his right wing and beat four defenders before putting the ball beyond David Lee to give Maryborough a 3-2 lead at half time.

The hosts were on top in the early goings after the restart and almost drew level on two occasions. But instead, it was the visitors who increased their lead, catching Mountmellick on the counter-attack. A clearance ball was flicked on to David Nolan, who finished with a fine strike in the bottom corner.

Mountmellick responded immediately with a lovely goal just 60 seconds later. Jeff Murphy burst down the right wing and brought the ball right to the line before cutting back into the box where Gary Grehan fired a rocket into the roof of the net.

Maryborough almost hit straight back, but Seamus Lawless saw his excellent free kick come back off the crossbar. But the visitors did restore the two-goal lead soon after with a cut-back of their own when Sean Hofmeister picked out Conor McKenna who made no mistake.

Mountmellick almost pulled a goal back with three minutes of normal time remaining, but Chris Cash pulled off a wonderful save at his back post to deny McEvoy again.

Sean Hofmeister scored Maryborough's sixth, capitalising on a mix-up in the Mountmellick defence, intercepting Ben Conroy's back-pass before sliding the ball between the legs of David Lee. It was the last action of the game with the three points taking Maryborough up to second six points adrift of Abbeyleix Athletic B.