TREATY United suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of Cabinteely in Stradbrook on Friday night. Goals from Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters and Villius Labutis either side of a Sean McSweeeney equaliser provided the victory for Pat Devlin’s side. It is a second loss in three weeks in Dublin for the Limerick based outfit.
There was a scrappy start to the game with the first chance falling to Waters as he turned quickly once receiving the ball on the edge of the box before blasting an effort wide of Tadgh Ryan’s left-hand post. Waters would prove to be a thorn in the side of the Treaty back four all evening.
Just three minutes later, physical midfielder Alex Aspil rattled the crossbar from the edge of the area with a ferocious 25-yard strike which looked destined for the net until the final moments. Treaty’s first effort arrived through Clyde O’Connell who headed Charlie Fleming’s cross straight at the grateful Ben Clark.
Kieran Hanlon’s confidence has been growing in recent weeks following two goals and he fashioned two efforts from distance of which one was extremely close to hitting the bottom corner.
On the stroke of half-time disaster struck for Treaty as a goal-kick from Clark was flicked on by Aspil and Waters was quickest to react to take the ball around Ryan and finish into an empty net. It was clear to see the frustration at the timing of the concession with Treaty strength and conditioning coach Mick Shiel telling his team that they should have closed out the game until the half-time whistle which arrived moments later.
Thankfully, the visitors began the second-half well and scored within three minutes as Ed McCarthy crossed into the penalty area and substitute goalkeeper Harry Halwax parried the ball into the path of the onrushing Sean McSweeney who rifled home despite the best efforts of Dean Blackbyrne on the line. McSweeney’s curling strike from 25 yards was saved by Halwax as Treaty had their tails up.
However, that momentum was sucked away just 2 minutes after scoring as Ryan parried a Jordan Payne shot into the air and the defence failed to clear on two occasions before midfielder Villius Labutis nodded home from close range to regain Cabinteely’s lead.
In truth, the goal spurred Cabinteely on and they could have extended the lead as Anthony O’Donnell gave away possession in his own half which allowed Aspil to pick out the run of Waters who should have scored but his shot whistled wide.
Treaty’s best chance to equalise arrived on the hour mark as Jack Lynch powerfully met Fleming’s free-kick delivery but Halwax was equal to it. The home side had two big chances to extend their lead as Luke McWilliams headed wide from a Dean Casey corner and Gem Campion also headed wide when he had the freedom of Strabrook to score as Treaty searched for an equaliser.
Substitute Joel Coustrain did manage to create one more chance for Tommy Barrett’s side but his curling effort was pushed away by Halwax and Cabinteely managed to secure their fifth victory of the season.
It was a tough one to take for Treaty but in truth Cabinteely were truly deserving of their victory. They limited the visitors to shots from range for the most part outside of Lynch’s header. It was an off-night for the visitors who worked many opening for crosses in the second half but the deliveries from several players including the ever-dependable Marc Ludden were not of their usual high standard.
The result now moves Treaty from 4th to 7th which is indicative of how tight the division is. Treaty will host Bray Wanderers at the Markets Field next week as we begin the second round of fixtures.
Cabinteely: Ben Clark (Harry Halwax), Daniel Blackbyrne, Mitchell Byrne, Luke McWilliams, Jordan Payne, Ben Hanrahan, (Gem Campion) Villius Labutis, Dean Casey (Niall Barnes), Alex Aspil, Alex Aspil, Kieran Marty Waters
Treaty United: Tadgh Ryan, Charlie Fleming, Sean Guerins, Anthony O’Donnell, Marc Ludden, Jack Lynch, Clyde O’Connell, Sean McSweeney (Matt McKevitt), Ed McCarthy (Ed O’Dwyer), Matt Keane (Adam Foley), Kieran Hanlon (Joel Coustrain)
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