TWO GOALS in the space of three first-half minutes helped Ferns United to engineer a hugely-impressive victory over Gorey Rangers in this Wexford Football League Premier Division clash at Ferns on Sunday last.

On a splendid surface, both teams settled down quickly, leading to some excellent flowing football through the opening half-hour. Both sides set the tone from the very start, concentrating on attacking football as they tried to prise open two solid-looking defensive setups.

During the opening ten minutes the home side looked dangerous attacking down either flank where Derek Thorpe and Tommy Dwyer were impressive. It was from a Thorpe cross that Ryan Norton came close to opening the scoring after nine minutes, but his effort was well held by 'keeper Ayrton De Sausa.

But it was not all Ferns as the visitors built quite a few dangerous attacks of their own, with both Emmet Gregan and Joe Elliott getting in excellent shots on goal that brought the best out of home 'keeper, Tony Cleere, as for once gaps were found through the centre of the home side's back four.

The trend of the game was to change dramatically in a threeminute spell. On the half-hour it was substitute Robert Vickers who cut through the defence, but his initial effort was blocked by 'keeper De Sausa, with Vickers reacting quickest to the rebound to shoot firmly to the net from ten metres.

Gorey Rangers needed a quick response, but it was the home side who raised their game following this initial breakthrough as they began to attack in numbers. After 33 minutes Tommy Dwyer found himself in space to the right edge of the area and, showing neat ball control, he slotted home a superb shot to the bottom right-hand corner of the net, making it 2-0, with the whole game transformed in the matter of three minutes.

One had the feeling that Gorey Rangers hadn't the striking power to haul themselves back into this game, as it was the home side who showed the greater creativity up front, scoring their third goal on 38 minutes when Johnny Dwyer beat the 'keeper to a Tommy Dwyer cross to shoot home from close range, making it 3-0 at the interval.

Gorey Rangers looked a beaten side but they still managed some promising attacks through the opening ten minutes of the secondhalf. However, it was their lack of finishing in front of goal that haunted them as they seldom looked like breaking down a dominant Ferns back four in which Anthony Dwyer and Eugene Breen were colossal.

All Ferns needed was a sniff of goal and it was Johnny Dwyer who took full advantage when, having won possession to the left edge of the area, he curled a beautiful ball to the opposite corner of the net, leaving the eventual winners with a 4-0 lead.

It may not have been what Gorey Rangers had expected, but this Ferns side has been showing rapid improvement over recent games. All they needed was to bring more consistency to their game and this they managed on this occasion as they dominated for the most part.

Gorey Rangers never recovered from that two-goal first-half salvo, with their best chance of pulling a goal back arriving five minutes from the end, but Adam Territ-king blazed over the top from a Joe Elliott cross when he should have scored.

- BRENDAN FURLONG In Ferns