Johnstown avenged their opening day defeat to Navan Town, running out victors by 3 goals to nil in their O’Neill’s Sportswear Division 1 clash at the MDL on Sunday morning.

The first half saw the home team dominate proceedings and were in front after just 10 minutes. Quick thinking from Sean Challenger saw him play a corner on the Johnstown left out to Vinny Murphy standing just outside the area. The right-sided midfielder struck a low drive across the area and into the net.

Murphy was to turn provider 8 minutes later as his corner on the opposite flank was cleared to the feet of Challenger in the middle of the goal 20 yards out. Despite the presence of 2 closing defenders, Challenger readjusted his feet quickly and hit a left footed drive low past the despairing dive of the visiting keeper to double his side’s advantage.

Just before the half hour mark, a rampant Johnstown went 3 goals clear. Justin Flynn weighted his through ball perfectly as Aaron Mooney broke a disciplined rear line. With 1 touch he rounded the keeper, before lifting his finish into the net as 2 covering defenders slid low in vain.

Despite the gulf in performance between the two sides, that was where the scoring ended. Indeed, chances for the rest of the match were at a premium.

Just after the restart, Wayne Cahill and Arnold Luco combined well to set up Aaron Mooney. Unfortunately for Johnstown, as he lifted his attempt over the keeper, Mooney could not keep it down under the bar.

As the second half wore on, the visitors came back into the game and could have pulled a goal back on the hour mark. Getting far more joy down their left, Navan Town crossed from out wide. It was met by the strong head of their front man, free about 6 yards out. Rather than hitting the back of the net, the header produced a tremendous point blank save from Dylan Byrne, who was then aided by Jay Colton clearing any follow up.

Shortly after, Challenger released Luco from deep. With the keeper flying out of his area, and under pressure from his marker, Luco dispatched an early shot low but was well saved by the keeper’s legs outside his area.

With 8 minutes left to play, Joke McDermott played in Stephen Ivers. With the keeper beaten, the Johnstown substitute’s shot smacked off the base of the near post.

Despite the drop in intensity once 3-0 up, Johnstown will be happy to have secured their first win 4 games.

Johnstown FC Team: D. Byrne, D. Bollard, J. Colton, D. McQuillan (c), J. McDermott, W. Cahill, S. Challenger, J. Flynn, V. Murphy, A. Mooney, A. Luco
Subs: S. Ivers for Flynn, J. Forde for Challenger, J. Gaffney for Murphy.