Compiled by Adrian Cooke
FAI Junior Cup – Round 2
There were two rescheduled fixtures this weekend where Nenagh Celtic entertained Vee Rovers from the TSDL and ran out comfortable 6 nil winners, despite an early scare whereby the visitors hit the post with a penalty early in the game. Mark Walsh helped himself to a hat trick, and Din Ryan, Christy Ryan and Jimmy Hynes also chipped in with a goal each to see the Nenagh side through as one of the few representatives of the NT&DL in the third round where they will face Old Bridge FC of Clonmel. Sallypark ‘A’ and Rearcross went the full distance and it took penalties to see the Latteragh side through to the third round against a very determined Rearcross outfit. The visitors struck first with Robert Harrington, a lead they held until midway through the second half when Eoin Ryan levelled. Both sides could not be separated during extra time and penalties ensued where Sallypark scored four and had to thank their keeper for making two great saves during the shootout to set up a tie with Slieveardagh from the TSDL.
Premier Division
Clodiagh Rangers ‘A’ returned to winning ways as they overcame Lough Derg ‘A’ in Drombane Sunday morning last in game where both sides were in need of some vital league points. The home side took the lead after a lengthy kick out from Cooke in goals caused confusion in the visiting defence which Mark Quinlan capitalised on to tap home after just ten minutes. It remained one nil at the break despite some pressure on the home goal as Lough Derg won a succession of corners. Clodiagh turned in a solid second half performance with Denis McCullagh putting daylight between the sides, but Lough Derg soon reduced the deficit with a strike from Jason Comley. The points were guaranteed for Clodiagh when John Ryan Casey and Paul Doyle capped fine individual displays by finding the net. Roscrea United ‘A’ put last week’s freak result well behind them as they overcame an understrength Thurles Town side at Thurles Greyhound Stadium in emphatic fashion with an 8 – 2 victory. Town who were looking to earn their first points of the campaign and took the lead from the spot through Paraic Fogarty in the opening minutes after Tom Brophy was fouled. Roscrea were on level terms just five minutes later and eventually carried a 4 – 1 lead into the interval. It was a repeat of the first half as Town grabbed the first goal of the second through Christy Bourke, but again Roscrea hit another four as Paul Kirwan and Brian Moloney will have to share the match ball for their respective hat tricks. Also on the mark for the Kennedy Park side were John Cordial and Joe Moloney. Unbeaten Nenagh AFC ‘A’ welcomed Cloughjordan ‘A’ to Brickfields where they edged out their guests with a narrow 2 – 1 victory. Cloughjordan found themselves 2 goals down at half time after Bryan McGee and Thomas Sheppard netted for Nenagh who were looked good value for their lead. The second half was a tighter affair as PJ O’Brien reduced the score line with a fine strike shortly after the restart. Nenagh defended well as Cloughjordan looked for the equaliser but time ran out to produce a result which sees Nenagh AFC go level at the summit of the Premier League with local rivals Nenagh Celtic.
Division 1
Holycross remain in the driving seat at the summit of the first division as they overcame Ardcroney in Glenbane by winning out 2 – 1. The home side were two goals to the good at half time with strikes from James King and Brian Barrett who incidentally set up each other’s goal also. Ardcroney got on the score sheet late on in the game as Ian McSherry scored for the second week running, but it was a case of too little too late as Ardcroney look to find some positive form to lift them from the relegation battle in Division 1. Streamstown Celtic ‘A’ continue to snap at the heels of the league leaders with a worthy 2 nil win over Moneygall, who were looking to stay out of the bottom half of the table with the unenvious task of overcoming one of the leagues form sides. Paul Doyle continues his fine form of late with a well taken team goal early in the first half. The lead was soon doubled as Doyle turned provider for Wally Kirwan who headed home at the back post to ensure another three points for the Fanure side. Borroway Rovers took a well needed 3 points from struggling Arra Rovers as the Thurles side won out 4 – 1 in Portroe. The hosts struck first with a quick counter attack after seeing out some pressure from Borroway, with Stephen Kennedy finishing from close range. The game was soon level with Dave McGuire finished in style. Sammy Ryan continues to find the back of the net of late and headed home an Al O’Brien cross to see the game go in favour of the guests at the break. Borroway took control of the second half and notched up two more goals with efforts from Patrick Gleeson and Jake Moore. Arra’s woes were compounded as they saw Shane McGuire save a late penalty to guarantee the points and make the long journey home worthwhile. Borrisokane ‘A’ welcomed Nenagh AFC ‘B’ last Saturday afternoon and were looking to breathe life into their promotion charge and did just that with a worthy 3 – 2 win. The hosts were down at the break with thanks to a strike from Mikey Duff for Nenagh. The second half proved to be more open and it was the hosts it took the game to Nenagh and scored three goals through Colm Larkin, Phillip Austin and a wonder strike from David Hogan. Nenagh’s second came courtesy of an own goal as they lost valuable ground on the top two in the first division.
Division 2
Portumna go level with BT Harps ‘B’ at the top of the second division by overcoming the Templemore side in dramatic fashion. In a game where the visitors could have put 6 points between them and second placed Portumna, this result puts them neck and neck with 8 games played each. Harps took the lead early in the first half with a superb free kick from Chud Fennell. The Galway side emerged the stronger team in the second half and levelled the tie in the 77th minute with Aaron Hogan scoring. With honours evens between the league’s top two sides on the cards, up stepped Garry Curran in the 89th minute to smash home the winner of an entertaining match. Roscrea United ‘B’ returned to winning ways with a comprehensive 6 – 2 win over guests Nenagh Celtic ‘B’ as the Kennedy Park side keep in touch with the top two sides in this keenly contested second division. Marc Woods grabbed a hat trick for the home side with Stephen Murphy bagging a brace in addition to a strike from Timmy Brosnan. Johnny Like and Tadhg McCarthy scored for the Hoops as they fall to fifth in the table. Ballymackey also maintain their title challenge with a convincing 5 – 1 home win over Kilcommon. The guests were a goal up at half time after Eamonn Naughton netted after some good build up play. The hosts blitzed Kilcommon for 5 unanswered goals in a 21 minute period starting in the 61st minute as Niall McDonald and Denis Haverty both scored twice coupled with a goal from Andy Loughlin to see Ballymackey go joint third with Roscrea United ‘B’. Cloughjordan ‘B’ were thankful for an Andrew Brennan brace to see them lift off the bottom of the table as they overcame fellow relegation contenders Nenagh AFC ‘C’ with a narrow 2 – 1 win. It was all to do in the second half for Cloughjordan as Stevie Daly continues to be a prolific striker in this division with a fine strike in the first half to see Nenagh go in at the break ahead by the slenderest of margins. Brennan rightly earned his man of the match title with two worthy second half strikes to earn three priceless points with only their second win of their campaign.
Division 3
The game of the weekend took place in Latteragh, as Third Division leaders Gurtagarry welcomed second placed Borrisokane ‘B’ in a game which could well determine the outcome of this seasons league and it was Gurtaggary, who are only one of four unbeaten teams in the entire NT&DL who put further daylight between themselves and Borrisokane as they won out 4 – 2. The game itself was a cagey affair in the early exchanges with each side matching each other across the field. It was 2 goals each with twenty minutes remaining and the flow of the game changed when Gurtagarry grabbed the important third goal. With Borrisokane pushing for the equaliser, the home side took full advantage of the open space in the opposition half with a late fourth to go clear at the summit by six points. On the mark for the home side were Billy Corcoran with two goals accompanied Paddy Pio O’Rourke and Ronan Kinane with a goal each. Borrisokanes goals came courtesy of Gerard Comerford and Matt Power. Lough Derg ‘B’ moved in to third place in the league after beating Ballymackey ‘B’ in Clarisford in a high scoring game which finished 6 – 4. The hosts took the lead in the 34th minute and it remained one nil at the break, but the second half saw an avalanche of goals with some fine strikes from both sides. The visitors were back on level terms after Marty Flynn scored from a long distance effort, but soon found themselves 4 – 1 behind after Lough Derg upped the tempo and hit three unanswered goals. Ballymackey had to start the game without star striker Rory Mounsey due to injury, but his introduction in the game saw a noticeable difference in fortune for the visitors as he scored from outside the area with an unstoppable effort. It was soon 4 – 3 when Connor O’Meara rifled home, but Lough Derg struck on the counter to increase their lead to two. Kevin Mounsey then reduced the deficit again with a well-placed header, only to see Lough Derg once again score and take all three points as time ran out for Ballymackey. On the mark for Lough Derg were Jamie Stuart as another of the weekends hat trick hero’s, Morgan Clarke with a brace and Alex Huddlestan with a fine individual strike. Barnane notched up their second won of the season by comprehensively beating Rearcross ‘B’ in another of the leagues high scoring game this weekend. Rearcross who are struggling to develop any form of late, found themselves 4 nil down at half time as Barnane ran rampant in front of goal. Sean Harte put Rearcross on the score sheet to make it 4 – 1, but Barnane were not in charitable form as they tagged on two more goals before Kieran Devitt scored a late consolation goal to see the game finish 6 – 2 and condemn Rearcross to the bottom of the table. On the mark for Barnane were Jerome Ryan with a double, Martin McGrath, Oisin Jordan, Paul Kennedy and Shane Hassett. Templetouhy held Sallypark ‘B’ to an entertaining 3 – 3 draw Sunday afternoon in a game where both sides needed the maximum three points. Tony Bouston grabbed a double with Darren Patterson assisting for the hosts as Eugene Foley matched Bouston’s brace for Sallypark as he added two more to his seasons tally with their third goal coming from Dan Bergin with a converted penalty. Another of the weekends high scoring draw’s took place at Fanure where Streamstown Celtic ‘B’ and Ballywilliam played out a 4 – 4 draw in a game where the hosts would have been hot favourites to win. Joey Touhy put the Roscrea side ahead and Jason Curry doubled the lead and it was soon 3 – 1 with an own goal conceded by Ballywilliam after David Corrigan had reduced the deficit with a converted penalty. Murty Grimes struck an unstoppable free kick to make it 4 – 1 an it looked like all three points were heading to Roscrea, but a red card coupled with two penalties conceded to Ballywilliam, which were duly converted by Kieran Corrigan and John O’Brien, allowed the visitors back into the game and in the closing minutes, Niall Madden broke through to coolly slot home and grab an unlikely, but hard earned point. Mid table sides Clodiagh Rangers ‘C’ and Shannon Rangers met in Drombane and it was the visitors who won out with a slender one nil victory to leave them joint fourth in the table. The winning goal came in the second half as Marty O’Meara crossed for his brother Padraic to head home and leave the home side ponder on a number of guilt edged chances as they remain mid table looking for valuable league points.
Youths Division
New additions to the NT&DL Youths Division, Birdhill marked their debut with a merited 4 – 2 win over Cloughjordan last Saturday evening andit was a case of doubles for both Jack Delahunty and captain Dan Delaney to wrap up the points on the day. Ardcroney remain unbeaten as they saw off Lough Derg 3 – 1, despite going a goal behind after ten minutes. Just before the break, Ardcroney levelled the game through Jason McKenna and then took the lead at the start of the second half with Will Fogarty finishing off a well worked team goal. McKenna grabbed his second of the game securing all three points for after he scored direct from a corner. BT Harps continue their impressive form of late with a comfortable 7-0 win against Arra Rovers, with the goals coming from Jack Kennedy (2), Luke Quinlan, Rory Madigan, Lyndon Fairbrother, Steven Quinlan and Jordan Moloney.
FAI Youths Cup Preliminary Round
Ballymackey continue to be the team to beat as they ran out 3 – 1 winners over Holycross in this preliminary round played at Glenbane last Saturday afternoon. The hosts took the lead during the first half and remained in charge until the 67th minute when Alan Ryan levelled. Over the next twenty minutes, the visitors pressed hard and were rewarded with two goals from Adam Carey and Denis Haverty to see them in the hat for the next round of the draw.