North Tipperary & District League Weekly Review
Premier League
Thurles Town welcomed the in-form Cloughjordan ‘A’ to the Greyhound Stadium Sunday afternoon last in a game where they were looking to repeat the outcome of the reverse fixture earlier in the season where the Thurles side won, but it wasn’t to be the case as second placed Cloughjordan took all three points with a slender 1 nil victory. PJ O’Brien grabbed the all-important winner after just 5 minutes when he headed home. In what was a very competitive match, both sides could have scored but debutant goal keeper for Town, Brendan Lonergan marked his first match for the club with an impressive display to stop Cloughjordan from adding a second, but unfortunately for Town, they couldn’t find a way through a stubborn Cloughjordan rear-guard who now make life difficult for Thurles Town who have a very tough run in to the end of their league campaign with fixtures against teams all placed in the top half of the table. It was honours even in Templemore as BT Harps ‘A’ and Lough Derg ‘A’ played out an entertaining 2 – 2 draw, a result which was of little use to both teams as Harps look to avoid getting into a relegation dogfight with their guests Lough Derg. Chris Monaghan grabbed both goals for the Clarisford side to maintain his good form in front of goal all season but his good endeavours were cancelled out with strikes from James Kavanagh and Christy Moore. Harps now have 3 games in hand over Lough Derg who remain second from bottom and three points behind their hosts in this game, which will make for an interesting conclusion to both teams league campaigns.
Premier Division Ricky Fogarty Cup
The opening game of this seasons Premier League cup saw Clodiagh Rangers ‘A’ travel to a foggy Latteragh and face Sallypark ‘A’ in a game where another last minute extra time goal cost the Drombane side a chance to take the tie to penalties. The visitors were on the back foot from the off and Adrian Cooke was forced into a number of saves before David Young and David Keogh made it 2 nil at the break in favour of the home side. Clodiagh to their credit brought the game to extra time thanks to efforts from James Murray and a Paul Doyle penalty. Clodiagh could have grabbed an unlikely winner when Shane O’Dwyer’s effort from distance crashed of the crossbar and away to safety. Sallypark made sure of the safe passage in to next round as Kieran Young rose highest to head home a last minute winner.
First Division
Moneygall recorded a badly need win over Borrisokane ‘A’ last Sunday in their battle to stay at arm’s length away from the intriguing relegation battle unfolding beneath them as there are potentially five teams that could still join Ardcroney in Division 2 next season. Tony Connor and Brian Teehan scored the all-important goals against Borrrisokane who have the games in hand to see themselves stay well out of danger. Next week sees a crunch match between Moneygall and Borroway Rovers, who fell to a heavy defeat against the title challenging Streamstown Celtic ‘A’ at the Fanure venue. The Thurles sides recent woes were compounded in this game as they scored two own goals in addition to the goals scored by Chris Murphy and a brace from Craig Phealan. JJ Gleeson scored a consolation goal for Borroway Rovers who remain a single point above Rearcross ‘A’, albeit with one more game played.
Second Division
Portumna finished off their league campaign with a strong 4 – 1 over Kilcommon, a result which saw both sides finish on 20 points and comfortably above the relegation zone. Portumna didn’t stand on ceremony on this game and found themselves 2 nil at half time thanks to strikes from Sean O’Meara and Keith Neville. The Portroe side came back into the game in the opening stages of the second half and halved the deficit when Eamon Naughton struck again to increase his impressive tally for the season, but unfortunately that was it for Kilcommon who were hit for another two as they pushed forward for the equaliser when Sean O’Meara got his second and Sean Molloy finished off the day’s scoring. The last game of the Division 2 season saw Nenagh Celtic ‘B’ run out 4 – 3 winners over Cloughjordan ‘B’ in this entertaining game where the result had no real consequence as regards league position. It looked like it was going to be all square as both sides went into the final few minutes at 3 goals each after Jack Farrell, Scott Hodgins and Shane Hodgins all scored for the visiting Cloughjordan side. Nigel Flood, Brian Duffy and Lee Mitchell netted for the Hoops, but it was Robbie Fogarty who stole the headlines with a late winner to cap a mixed season for both teams concerned as Cloughjordan will contest the third division and Celtic will look to get promoted back to the first division on the second attempt.
Third Division Fast Food Cup
Ballywilliam overcame Streamstown Celtic ‘B’ in the first round of the divisional cup all thanks to man of the match Stephen Murray who bagged an incredible 4 goals as he put in an unstoppable performance to see his side through to the next round. Clodiagh Rangers ‘C’ could not overcome a determined Borrisokane ‘B’ in Drombane thanks to 2 first half goals from John Doyle and Ger Comerford. David Considine halved the deficit in the second half with a converted penalty, but Clodiagh could not find the equalising goal to bring the match to extra time. Rearcross ‘B’ made the long trip to face Lough Derg ‘B’ and thought it was going to be their day as they took the lead in the first minute thanks to a Sean Harte penalty. However, Lough Derg took over from here and went into the half time break 6 – 1 ahead thanks to an impressive display in front of goal from both Eric Monaghan and Jamie Stuart with the later scoring an impressive 5 goals. Rearcross who were keen to banish the memories of the first half, scored twice in the second half when Sean Harte got his second and PJ McLoughlin added a third, but it was too little too late as there was no coming back from the first half display from the home side. Shannon Rangers continue their winning ways as they overcame Templetouhy thanks to a 4 – 2 in Roscrea. The home side’s goals came from Sean Moran, Keith Kelly, Brian Hourigan and Austin Tierney. The away goals came from Joe O’Grady and Tony Buston.
Youths Division
Nenagh Celtic Youths and Ardcroney Youths contested the only Youths league tie this weekend with Celtic shading matters on a 2 – 1 score line. The visiting Celtic side took an early lead via Mastas Mikalajunas after he impressively volleyed home from a well-placed corner. Ardcroney did manage to level just before the break, but all three points travelled back to Nenagh after Eddie Shoer scored the all-important winner after he finished well when he connected perfectly with Jake Flynn cross.
Munster Youths Cup Quarter Final
Nenagh AFC Youths march into the semi-final of the Munster Youths Cup with a hard fought 2 – 1 win over Waterford Bohemian Youths after extra time. In a tense first half, both sides attempted to gauge each other’s strengths and weaknesses and Nenagh were nearly made to pay for missing two chances in the early stages when their guests almost scored on the stroke of half time, but Healy in the Nenagh goal was glad to see the effort go narrowly wide. Nenagh took the lead within minutes of the restart when Dylan Sheridan arrived into the penalty area unchallenged to powerfully head home. Nenagh had to defend a large portion of the second half despite the Waterford side being reduced to ten men 10 minutes after the restart. Healy thought he had spared extra time for his side with an excellent save, but Bohemians captain, Hayden Galibert scored with a header from the resulting corner. Extra time ensued and it was man of the match Josh McCarthy who stole the headlines on the stroke of half time in extra time with a well-placed effort from outside of the penalty area to see Nenagh into a home draw against Cork side Kilreen Celtic