Harps and Villa to meet in Premier Cup final

North Tipperary and District League Review

By Gary Culbert

There were no upsets in the Premier Division Ricky Fogarty Cup semi-finals on Sunday as BT Harps and Killavilla United easily dispatched of Sallypark Odhráns and Arra Rovers respectively, setting up a tantalizing finale between the rival towns in both league and cup competitions.

If there was going to be an upset you felt it would come in Latteragh from the cup experts Sallypark, but in truth the home side did not offer any real threat.

Harps saw a lot of the ball and they deservedly took the lead after twenty minutes when Cormac Foy pressed high on the left wing before laying it off to Ben Stapleton, whose effort took a small deflection on the way to goal which was enough to deceive stand-in keeper Ruaidhri O’Brien.

The league leaders doubled their advantage just before the break when Jack Kennedy headed in a Dylan Cody corner at the back post.

Aside from young Paidi Ryan at right back, Sallypark really lacked pace on the day, and the harsh reality is that they barely had a shot in anger in the first half.

Cody got his second assist shortly after the break, Eanna McBride on hand to score his seventh goal in his last eight games to put the game well out of reach of the home side.

David Young came on up top for Sallypark and was a real outlet to hold up the ball. The veteran assisted Michael Ryan in the 78th minute for what turned out to be a consolation goal as Harps marched on to the final.

Joe Shanahan impressed for Sallypark in midfield, whilst Sean Patrick Guerins was the best for Harps at centre half.

Killavilla United defeated Arra Rovers 3-1 at Villa Park in the other semi-final.

Michael Fitzgerald opened the scoring after twenty minutes and Ruairi Murphy doubled the Villian’s lead shortly after. Arra’s Eoin Maloney pulled one back on the stroke of half-time to keep it interesting, but when Darren Coleman played Ian Treacy in for a goal on the 64th minute it was as good as game over. Villa are now on for an unprecedented quadruple.

Cup changes

Sallypark Odhráns ‘B’ had qualified for the final of the Nora Kennedy Cup, however, as mentioned last week they were suspended from the league for a breach of NT&DL rule number 41: “a team failing to fulfil a fixture for a second time in any one season… shall be suspended from the league”.

Sallypark have not appealed the decision with the Munster FA and will be replaced in the final by the team they defeated in the semi-final, Rearcross ‘B’.

Similarly, Moneygall ‘A’ will advance straight to the final of the Kevin Fogarty Tipperary Cup instead of playing Sallypark ‘B’ in the semi-final.

Premier Division

Ardcroney concluded their league campaign with a 2-2 draw away to Rearcross last Wednesday.

The home side pressed high from the off and earned a free kick out on the left touchline, which Paddy Dawson swung in to the front post for James Rochford, who opened the scoring inside the first minute.

Ardcroney rallied and began to play their way into the game through Andrew Hayes and Kieran Spain down the left flank, but it was lone striker Jamie Ryan who drew them level on the half hour mark with a chip from 35 yards out.

Ryan was on target again after half-time with a strong header at the back post, but this goal was all about the determination and work rate of Kieran Spain, who provided the assist with an accurate cross from the left.

Ardcroney naturally dropped further and further back to try and nullify the pacy Rea’ forwards, who were all playing very centrally and looking for an early ball over the top.

As the clock ticked on into injury time the Rearcross pressure intensified, with set piece after set piece raining down on Taylor Duffy in the visitor’s goal.

The home side deservedly equalised with the last kick of the game when Paddy Dawson crossed for the experienced Eoghan Kavanagh, who looped his header up and over the keeper to spark wild celebrations from his teammates.

Rearcross look on target to finish as ‘the best of the rest’ in third place whereas Ardcroney have all their games played and are now level on points with Arra and Holycross, who both have one league game remaining.

None of the aforementioned teams are entirely safe from relegation yet, because at this point it is unknown for sure how many teams will be relegated from the premier division.

Due to rumours of one team leaving the NT&DL this summer it has been presumed that only one team will be relegated, but in the event that the exit does not go ahead then this may not be the case. Sallypark are the team in most danger of going down in this situation, as they would need to get a point off Villa and beat Arra in order to better Ardcroney’s points tally.