Five-star Villa romp to an opening win in the new FAI National League
Villa manager Conor Coad saw his side beat Newbridge Town in their first game of the FAI National League. Photo: Noel Browne
Villa FC made a dream start to life in the new FAI National League with an impressive 5-1 victory over Newbridge Town at Station Road on Saturday.
In a historic fixture for both clubs, Newbridge were playing their first home game in the competition and were hoping to bounce back from an opening-day defeat to CK United. However, Conor Coad's side proved too strong as they marked the beginning of a new era with a deserved three points.
Played in front of FAI President Paul Cooke and a healthy attendance, the contest was more competitive than the final scoreline suggests, with Newbridge creating several promising opportunities throughout.
Villa made the brighter start and threatened after four minutes when Calum Flynn curled a shot just over the crossbar after being set up by Conor Kilgannon. Newbridge responded through Ruairi Brown, whose dangerous delivery from the left was cut out by John Tamen before it could reach Milton Benitez Lirio.
The hosts then squandered a golden chance in the 14th minute when Alex Akinrintoyo broke clear, only for Cian Browne to produce a superb last-ditch tackle.
That intervention proved crucial as Villa opened the scoring two minutes later. Ed O'Dwyer's shot was parried by Sean Martin, but Kilgannon reacted quickest to steer the rebound home from close range.
Newbridge continued to threaten and nearly equalised on 31 minutes, only for Browne to deny Akinrintoyo once again. Villa immediately capitalised at the other end, with Regix Madika releasing Adam Conway, who calmly slotted past Martin to double the visitors' lead.
The home side got themselves back into the contest eight minutes before the break. Martin Benitez Lirio's effort was brilliantly saved by Craig Dunphy, but Akinrintoyo followed up to fire home the rebound.
Villa restored their two-goal cushion before half-time when Aaron O'Connor's free-kick picked out Browne, who powered a header into the roof of the net.
The visitors remained firmly in control after the restart. Flynn struck the post on the hour mark and later saw another effort cleared off the line, while Newbridge were unlucky when Akinrintoyo hit the woodwork after racing through on goal.
Dunphy also produced another smart save to deny the Newbridge striker before Villa wrapped up the victory in the 83rd minute. O'Dwyer supplied the pass and captain Aaron O'Connor hammered a left-footed finish to the roof of the net before Calum Flynn completed the scoring deep into second half added time.
The goal capped an outstanding afternoon for Villa as they opened their National League campaign with a commanding and memorable win.
