Ballymackey bow out of Munster
North Tipperary and District League Review
By Gary Culbert
MUNSTER JUNIOR CUP 4th Round: Ballymackey 0-3 St Michael's
St Michael's scored early at a blisteringly cold Ballinree on Sunday afternoon and never looked back in this fourth round tie in the Munster Junior Cup.
Republic of Ireland amateur international Jimmy Carr opened the scoring for the 2024 winners after just four minutes, and Daniel O’Dwyer doubled the lead in the 18th minute.
Ballymackey were perhaps guilty of showing Saints too much respect early on, standing off their opponents. The hosts had a great chance to pull a goal back on 37 minutes when St Michael's keeper, Adam Gallagher, upended Colm Maher in the box. But having received his yellow card, the keeper dusted himself off and produced a fine save to keep his sheet clean intact. Ballymackey’s purple patch continued, and Maher forced another top-class save with a blistering shot.
The killer blow came on the stroke of half-time; if the game wasn’t already beyond Mackey’s reach, it was when Jimmy Carr netted his second of the day.
Ballymackey created several goal-scoring chances in the second half, but a player of the match display from Gallagher in the visitors' goals earned St Michael's a deserved place in the last 16.
Ben O'Dwyer impressed in the Ballymackey defence, while Colm Maher was a constant threat at the other end. Ballymackey will take positives into their league campaign, and timely too, as next up is a season-defining home clash with Rearcross. A win would drag George Haverty’s side right back into the title conversation, whereas a loss would be curtains for their faint hopes of a late push.
Premier Division
Rearcross 2-0 Moneygall
In the rain and wind on Friday night, Moneygall never truly looked like they would leave Rearcross with three points.
It was a game that only just got the all clear to go ahead; conditions underfoot were far from ideal. And as the game went on, it became evident that this suited Rea’s counter-attacking style more than Moneygall’s probing build-up play.
It was a must-win game to keep the home side in the title race, so Paul Graham Carey deployed an attacking line-up; James Deegan, Michael O’Gorman, and Cillian Kennedy all started in front of an energetic midfield.
The surprise stand-out player was Rea’s right back Eoin Sheldon. The 21-year-old left for Hyde Rangers at the end of last season but has since returned following the Limerick Premier Division team’s collapse.
Indeed, the home side started the brighter of the teams thanks to the enterprising forward runs of both Sheldon and Brian Nolan from left full back, who were overlapping at every opportunity.
Moneygall were implying the long ball tactic, hitting Niall Maher at every opportunity, with Paul Costello playing just off the big striker in a bid to pick up the breaks. All in all, it was an even first half with no real clear-cut chances for either side.
The home side upped the tempo in the second half and were pressing higher up the field. Their hard work was rewarded on the hour mark when a risky pass from Moneygall’s Cameron Flemming was intercepted by substitute James Rochford, whose early pass to Cillian Kennedy was struck early too, into the bottom corner from just outside the box. Second-choice keeper David Toohey will probably have felt that he could have done better with the effort.
To their credit, Moneygall responded well and were peppering the back four of Rea’ with long balls, but Greg Kennedy and the ageless Robert Harrington came out on top. Paul Nolan was a bundle of energy in midfield for Rea’, screening the back four and breaking up attack after attack.
The hosts made sure of the three points with twelve minutes remaining through a classic Rea’ counterattack. Some brave defending from Greg Kennedy saw Brian Nolan recover possession out by the touchline. The left-back’s ball up the line was perfect for substitute Darragh Carr to get in behind, and he fired an excellent ball across for Cillian Kennedy to tap in his second of the night.
It was a big three points for the home side as they look to maintain momentum in the remaining games before the Christmas break on December 14th.
Billy Hayes’ charges have another tough test next against a bogie team, Ardcroney. Another cagey, low-scoring game is expected in Ardcroney on Sunday morning, in what is the pick of the ties for the neutral in the NT&DL this weekend.
Arra Rovers 2-0 Sallypark Odhrans
Aaron Gleeson made a rare start for Arra Rovers in goals against Sallypark Odhrans, and the 44-year-old was one of the home sides standout performers in a surprise win to stop the rot.
Jack Moloney was the hero for Arra, netting twice in the first half with what turned out to be the only goals in this relegation six-pointer. Beforehand, Arra were rock bottom of the league with zero points. They had previously won against Holycross in the league, but had those points taken off of them for fielding an ineligible player.
Diarmuid Boyle and player-manager Dermot O'Halloran also impressed for Arra. One wonders if the best situation for all three of the relegation-threatened teams would indeed be to get relegated; a chance to rebuild in the First Division might be a welcome respite from week-in-week-out defeat in the Premier.
First Division
Cloughjordan played some nice football at times in Drombane on Sunday, but ultimately, soft goals in the second half saw second-place Clodiagh Rangers claim a 4-2 win.
Clodiagh took the lead when Clough fell foul of the new eight-second rule, which pertains that a corner kick awarded if the goalkeeper fails to release the ball within the allotted time. MJ Carroll slashed home after Clough failed to clear the initial corner.
The goal was slightly against the run of play, and Clough responded by getting the ball down again and penning Clodiagh into their own half. Liam Hannon was pulling the strings as ever in midfield, but it was the deeper midfielder who provided the assist for the equaliser, Martin Grace chipping a delightful dink over the top for Elianderson Arguelho to head home.
The rain had mostly stayed away, but during half-time the heavens opened. Clough never got into their same passing rhythm in the second half, and they were behind again when a fairly innocuous high ball was dropped between the backline and the goalkeeper, John Ryan the most alert to claim the first of three incredibly soft goals that Clough would concede in the second half.
Gary Culbert was moved to full back for this game enjoyed a lot of possession in the first half. He restored parity on the hour mark with a strike from outside the box, which left Adrian Cooke merely spectating as the ball arrowed softly into the top corner.
Clough’s best period was in the first half; their legs were now fading, particularly in the back line. The fitness of the athletic Clodiagh forwards prevailed on the heavy pitch, with MJ Carroll and Oisin Treacy profiting with goals late on.
Elsewhere, Portumna Town stayed top with a routine 2-0 win against Borrisokane, their nearest geographical rivals in the NT&DL.
Young Michael O’Sullivan assisted the experienced Leon Tierney for the opener inside the opening ten minutes. Borrisokane welcomed James Hough back into defence for his first league game of the season, which probably explains the lower scoreline than usual.
Adam Fogarty came off the bench on the hour mark and provided an assist just fifteen minutes later, Jakub Wysocki killing the tie with his fifth goal in his last four games.
Oisin Gordon at right back and David O’Meara at centre half were the best for the Galway side, who are starting to look like the only team even remotely ready to enter the Premier Division next season. It's very hard to say which of the chasing pack will join them, or if any of them even really want to!
Second Division
The nine men of Knigh United dropped points for the second time this season when mid-table Shinrone visited on Sunday.
Knigh were a man down at the start; however, this didn’t deter the champions elect from scoring early through Davy O’Brien. The home side remained on top for the majority of the game, but a well-worked Shinrone breakaway was finished off by Darragh Doyle in the 54th minute to level proceedings.
Knigh went on to see two red cards for off-the-ball incidents in the next ten minutes. Down to nine-men, the home side continued to push for a winner; however, Shinrone were organised defensively through Dan Doughan, Darragh Cleary and Shane Hoctor, and managed to hold out for a memorable draw.
Brothers Dara & Jack Lee contributed five goals in total when Moneygall ‘B’ made light work of Ballymackey ‘B’ to go top of the league, albeit with two games more played than Knigh.