Coughlan treble sees Grattan take spoils in AUL Premier Division league tie
The Grattan United side that had a 3-0 victory over Springfield in their Premier clash at Pat O'Brien Park.
Although Grattan fully deserved their victory in the end, Springfield did have their moments where they had control in the game, but when it came to the final third, they failed to capitalise.
Both sides started with a very high energy, with the first chance of note falling for Grattan when a neat ball from Cian Hawkins found Christy Driscoll who threaded it on for Bullman, but the striker hesitated that bit too much and the chance went.
Minutes later; Christy Driscoll gathered on the right, but his final effort sailed narrowly wide.
At the other end, Jamie Bruton embarked on a run, but fired across goal from an acute angle.
This was followed by a decent run from Cormac Downing whose final effort slammed the side-netting.
But, Grattan came so close to breaking the ice when Fleming played a neat pass on for Bullman who in turn picked Hawkins out to smack the butt of the upright with a crisply struck effort.
Then, Mikcewsevic exchanged passes with Shane Geasley before drilling a decent effort wide.
When play switched to the other end, a great chance fell for Grattan.
Christy Driscoll threaded a weighted ball through for Gary Coughlan, but on a one on one with the Springfield keeper, he failed to take advantage.
Another neat Grattan move ensued when Hawkins worked it on for Coughlan who found Driscoll to skew wide with his right-footed effort.
Grattan were having the upper hand now and it was Fleming who rifled over from Bullman’s pass.
We saw a bright open to the second half as Downing collected from Stoat before cracking a fine effort narrowly wide.
Then, Christy Driscoll set Christy Bullman up to curl a beauty agonisingly ‘round the far post.
Springfield were certainly coming more into the game now and when Geasley failed to get his shot away after collecting from Mikcewsevic, a good chance fell for the hosts when Jamie Bruton combined with Geasley before firing disappointingly over.
But, as Springers looked like being a threat, John Paul O’Sullivan used good control before turning to make Byrne worked with his low effort.
Then, when Magee played it short for Bullman, the Grattan striker fired straight at Springfield’s netminder.
Grattan started to take the game by the scruff of the neck again and were rewarded when Gary Coughlan found space enough to produce a marvellous finish to the far corner on 65 minutes.
Ten minutes later, Grattan doubled their advantage following some neat build up play with Gary Coughlan claiming his second with yet another excellent finish to the corner.
Grattan were presented with a third after being awarded a penalty in the 85th minute following a foul on John Paul O’Sullivan in the box and it was Coughlan who entrusted himself to take it which he executed successfully to complete his hat-trick.
In the end, Grattan managed the game out until the final whistle.
Springfield: Gregg Byrne, Dan Lynch, Cormac Downing, Andrew Hogan, Tom McGrath, Kevin Wilmott, Jamie Bruton, Connie Murphy, Shane Geasley, James Stoat and Domagoj Mikcewsevic.
Subs: Dan Langford for Dan Lynch (35).
Grattan Utd: Graham Murphy, Aaron Broderick, Anthony Byrne, Harry Goulding, Dean Murray, Eric Fleming, Cian Hawkins, Michael Kent, Christy Driscoll, Gary Coughlan and Christy Bullman.
Subs: John Paul O’Sullivan and Aaron Magee for Cian Hawkins and Eric Fleming (60), Anthony Peelo for Dean Murray (66), Ryan Towler and Paudie Crowley for Christy Bullman and Christy Driscoll (77).
Referee: Jim Hennessy.
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