Teen star Melia shines as rampant Saints crush Cork City
Mason Melia of St Patrick's Athletic celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match against Cork City at Richmond Park in Dublin. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
While Corkman Josh Honohan and Matt Healy were scoring to push Shamrock Rovers within touching distance of the title, their hometown club were plummeting nearer the drop.
St Patrick’s Athletic have a teen in Mason Melia that City had with Cathal O’Sullivan but the latter’s injury was just another blow incurred during a devastating season lurching towards relegation.
Tottenham Hotspur bound Melia marked his 18th birthday with a brace, either side of Joe Redmond and Kian Leavy scoring to keep Stephen Kenny’s side in the hunt for European qualification.
By the time the teams meet again on Friday week at Turner’s Cross in the FAI Cup, City could be as good as in the First Division next year.
Galway, whom they travel to on Friday, are the new rivals to escape the direct drop but victory at Eamonn Deacy Park would still leave a five-point buffer with four games left.
City turned up at Inchicore on the back of their best spell of the season. One defeat in seven across all competitions included four wins.
Half of those came in the FAI Cup to set up next week’s semi-final at home to St Patrick’s Athletic but the other half equalled the number of victories City had enjoyed in their opening 25 league matches.
There was also the boost last time out of halting the gallop of Shamrock Rovers towards a fifth title in six years.
Still, that 1-1 draw was another match in which they failed to keep a clean sheet.
After waiting 22 games to record one, the June stalemate against Saints at Turner’s Cross, they’d racked up three in four league matches before Rovers grabbed the league last Friday.
Defensive discipline deserted City here, much to their cost.
Two concessions from corners were compounded by others from a simple cross and individual error at the back.
The ease with which Saints captain Joe Redmond got across his marker Darragh Crowley to head in the seventh-minute opener was a portent of the chasm between the sides.
That Redmond was left alone again from another corner, only to miscue his header, and his defensive partner Tom Grivosti also causing trouble in the air was ominous.
Saints were at it from the off, their trio of Simon Power, Leavy and Jordon Garrick, on his first league start for the club, providing the artillery for Melia to feast upon.
Leavy’s weaving run within a minute maintained his dribbling display against Galway on Friday but he dragged his low shot wide of the near post.
At the other end, Seáni Maguire and Evan McLaughlin were again paired as City’s duo but had little to operate off. The latter was responsible for the visitors' two efforts over the 94 minutes, the first on three minutes which flew over.
Melia’s turn of pace has tested teams in Europe over his brief spell in the league and his swivel away from Rory Feely on six minutes led to the block which created the opener.
The teen has been the target from Simon Power’s lofted crosses but this one was telegraphed for the tall defender to attack and plant his header beyond Brann, City were scrambling again until the hosts made their dominance count with a brilliant second goal. Power was the creator again, embarking on a furrow down the right that drew a coterie of Cork defenders towards him. Melia held back, behind Crowley, to meet the high cross at the far post with a thumping header.
Two behind and porous, City engineered a breather with a strategic injury for Brann to facilitate tutelage by Ger Nash, David Meyler and Mark McNulty.
It had the effect of slowing the Saints' momentum but apart from a spurious penalty claim when Maguire went tumbling under Redmond there was no response of note from the Leesiders.
Nash and his colleagues felt the best method for overturning the tide was an interval overhaul, entailing a treble substitution and a reversion to a back three.
Lively McLaughlin tested Joseph Anang with a shot into the near post but it was only minor respite as the Saints struck twice more with two goals in five minutes to be in total cruise control with a half hour left.
Melia twice threatened, initially from a corner he blazed over and a better chance he also couldn’t keep down, but a slip by Feely gifted him his second.
Youth trumped experience as the 18-year-old sped away to almost walk the ball into the net from close range.
Another corner caused chaos in the City box, allowing Grivosti’s deflected shot to land perfectly for Leavy to smash home from close range. Luckily for City, Saints declared early.
J Anang; A Sjoberg, J Redmond, T Grivosti, J McClelland (AA Kazeem 68); J Lennon (D Robinson 75), B Baggley; S Power (J Mulraney 67), K Leavy, J Garrick (B Kavanagh 75); M Melia (C Carty 64).
C Brann; D Crowley, F Anderson, R Feely, B Couto; K Kamara (C Lyons 46), S Murray (G Bolger 46); A Nolan (J Fitzpatrick 46), E McLaughlin, K Nelson (M Murray 64); S Maguire (C Lutz 66) Referee: Neil Doyle (Dublin).
2,600.
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