Swilly Rovers hit Gweedore Celtic for five in commanding Premier Division win

Laurence Toland's Swilly Rovers side put in a commanding performance to brush Gweedore Celtic aside with a 5-0 Premier Division win at Swilly Park.

Swilly Rovers 5 Gweedore Celtic 0

Ian Ward put the hosts in front early on with Volodymyr Kovalchuk scoring three goals. Matthew McLaughlin then netted the fifth goal to see Swilly triumph in two out of their first three games while Paul Rua McBride's Gweedore Celtic have won one of the first three.

Swilly were the fast starters in this encounter and broke the deadlock inside ten minutes as Ward produced a cool finish from the edge of the area after being played through by Ryan McDaid. 

Swilly would double their advantage just a few minutes later via a free kick. Colin McNicol had narrowly missed the target just prior to this passage of play as Kovalchuk was fouled just outside the area. The Ukrainian stepped up and curled the ball around the wall with aplomb. 

With 20 minutes gone, that cushion could have been halved only for some elite defending from Ciaran Kelly. 

Ryan Green's low shot beyond the reach of Barry Gallagher was set for the back of the net until Kelly made a last-ditch slide to block it on the goal line.

Swilly pushed on from that moment and could have extended their lead even further as the game edged towards the interval but chances from Shane McNamee and Kovalchuk would fail to test Michael McKelvey. 

The hosts started the second-half in a similar fashion to the first and they thought they'd added to their tally within five minutes but a strike from  McLaughlin brushed the side netting. 

Just prior to the hour, they did find the net again as Kovalchuk grabbed his second with a close-range finish. 

His hat-trick was completed a few minutes later with another close-range finish after he had capitalised on a clearance from Liam Wiggins. 

Midway through the second-half, Swilly scored a fifth courtesy of a free kick from the left side. 

Tyler Durning whipped the ball in with pace and it only required a deft touch from McLaughlin to take it beyond the goalkeeper. 

Kovalchuk had a chance to net a fourth prior to his substitution but he rushed his effort with Gallagher off his line.

McNamee also went close as the game ticked away with his long-range drive just over the crossbar. 

Swilly Rovers: Barry Gallagher (Dane Dunworth, ht); Tony Gallagher, Brad Patterson, Ciaran Kelly, Matthew McLaughlin (Jordan McDaid, 77); Barry Mooney (Darragh McDaid, 80), Ryan McDaid, Tyler Durning, Ian Ward (Oisin Coyle, 71); Shane McNamee, Volodymyr Kovalchuk (Adrian Toland, 83) 

Gweedore Celtic: Michael McKelvey (Shaun Gallagher, 58); Caolan Laux, Patrick Gallagher, Liam Wiggins (Gary May, 65), Colin McNicol; Liam McFadden, Ryan Doherty (Cronan McFadden, 65), Ciaran McHugh, Cian McBride; Jamie Doherty, Ryan Green (Jamie Gallagher, 77).

Referee: Zach McLoughlin.