Irvinestown Wanderers 7 Carniny Amateur and Youth FC 1

Irvinestown put their recent league woes behind them to score seven goals in the Irish Junior Cup and dispatch Carniny at the Bawnacre.

Wanderers had conceded four in each of their last two league games, but they never looked like coming out on the wrong side of the result in the cup as they raced into a 3-0 first half lead, and scored four more in the second half.

Manager Darren Higginbotham admitted it was pleasing to see his team bounce back with a convincing win.

“To win the game in the manner we did is positive,” he said. “You are never going to turn down seven goals in a game, but I think the biggest thing on the day was the fact that we had a look at ourselves in training after the last few weeks, and things we felt we needed to improve, and we saw Saturday as a chance to implement those improvements. Whilst not every change we made got us the seven goals, I think that what we got what we wanted in terms of a reaction.

“We were well worthy of the win and the margin of the win. We won’t get carried away. We know we have bigger fish to fry, and that starts this weekend with a very difficult game against Strathroy. I have never had a simple game against Strathroy and I don’t expect anything different on Saturday. We will have to be at our best to get anything out of the game, but we will prepare as best we can to try to get the three points.”

Wanderers had several early chances in the game without converting any of them, but midway through the half the breakthrough finally arrived when Barry Goodwin cut in for the left wing and drilled a low shot into the bottom corner of the net. That opened the floodgates for Irvinestown, and they added two more goals in the next seven minutes. Seanie Mahon added the second with a header from Gary Maguire’s corner, and Caolan Ward made it 3-0 as he jinked past several challenges and slotted into the bottom corner.

Any hopes of a Carniny fightback were extinguished early in the second half when they had a player dismissed for a second bookable offence, and Wanderers took advantage within three minutes when Goodwin converted Jack Largo-Ellis’ cross at the front post.

An own goal gave Wanderers a five goal cushion, and although the visitors did find the net five minutes later, Irvinestown soon scored again through Danny Noble. Stephen Sheridan completed the victory with a seventh goal in added time.