Salthill Devon advanced to the last 32 of the Goodson Cup with a hard fought victory over Ballisodare Utd at Drom on Saturday.With a gale force wind blowing in from the west conditions were extremely difficult.The home side won the toss and elected to play with the elements in the first half but it was the visitors who started stronger and they created three good chances in the first half.
Salthill on the other hand were unable to get god ball up to their two front men Kevin Cahalane and Branson Kelly and it was 14 mins into the the game when they had their first real shot on target.Skipper Adam Fitzgerald picked up the ball in midfield,advanced on goal and hit a cracker from 30 yards into the net via the underside of the crossbar.With David Patten and Dominick Gorton prominent in midfield Salthill kept attacking but couldnt add to their tally.
With time running out in the first half Salthill did add a second with Fitzgerald again on the mark finishing off a lovely through ball from Nathan Ward.With the wind getting stronger a two goal lead didnt seem sufficient.Ballisodare started the second half in determined mood but great defending by Liam Costello,Desmond Conneely,Andrew Barcovoski and Shane Kelly kept them at bay and the nearest they came to scoring was in the 14th minute when they rattled the crossbar.Salthill had a chance to seal the game when substitute Vadeem Connolly got behind the defence but couldnt poke the ball past the Ballisodare keeper.
The game seemed to turn in the visitors favour when they were awarded a penalty in the 18th minute when Costello handled on the line.Barcovoski was injured in this melee and had to be replaced by Robert Finnerty.The delay in taking the penalty seemed to unnerve the Ballisodare player because he blasted the ball over the bar.Salthill manager Fitzgerald emptied his bench at this stage with Ronan Halloran and Ross O Connor entering the fray but it was to be a nervy last 15 mins for Salthill as the visitors got the goal they deserved with a great strike from outside the box.Ballisodare threw everything at Salthill for the remainder of the game but a combination of fine goalkeeping by James Hill and a fair amount of good fortune the home side held out.