Hanna pleased to secure a place in the next round

Tummery Athletic kept alive their bid for their first ever Junior Cup with a convincing victory over Killough.

Tummery dominated the first half but only had a one-goal advantage to show for their efforts, but they pulled clear in the second half as they racked up another four goals.

Manager Ryan Hanna admitted they were not at their best, but was delighted to secure their place in the next round.

“We scored five, kept a clean sheet and had five different scorers, so you couldn’t ask for much more on paper, but I thought we were poor in the first half,” he said.

“We were sloppy and didn’t have much control.

‘Helter-skelter’

“The game was a bit helter-skelter and that was a bit frustrating, but we minimised their chances and we could have been three-up at half time.

“We were much better in the second half. We were in control and the score line reflected that.”

Tummery’s first effort on goal came after eight minutes when Aidy McCaffrey fired in a low shot from the edge of the penalty area.

The visiting keeper got down well to save, but the rebound fell kindly for Martin Hughes, only for his shot to slide the wrong side of the post with the goal at his mercy.

Ruairi Sludden was the next to come close when he charged down a clearance from the goalkeeper, but the deflection again bounced wide of the upright.

The first goal finally arrived in the 37th minute when Chris Crilly burst forward and found McCaffrey, before continuing his run to get on the end of the cross and head into the top corner.

The home team almost added a second before the half time interval when Michael Logue got on the end of a cross from Declan McNulty, but the Killough keeper pulled off a fingertip save.

Within four minutes of the start of the second half the game was all but over as Tummery scored twice to ease out a commanding advantage.

On 47 minutes Sludden converted McCaffrey’s through ball, and two minutes later McCaffrey scored a spectacular long-range effort, lobbing the goalkeeper from close to the halfway line.

Substitute Gary Lynch then set up Ryan Hanna, who scored from six yards out, and Lynch also created the final goal of the match, providing the cross for Martin Hughes to head in.

The win secures Tummery’s place in the last 16 of the competition, and Hanna knows they will have to be at the top of their game in subsequent rounds if they are to go all the way.

“We are in the business end of the competition now and the teams are getting better and better, and we will have to up it for 90 minutes and not just 45, but we are glad to be in round five.

“At times our results have been better than our performances, but we have a full squad now with a few boys back and there is competition for places, so intensity and quality in training should be good.

“We are hoping for a strong middle and end to the season,” he said.