Shinrone set up three-way title showdown

North Tipperary and District League Review

By Gary Culbert

For the third season in a row, the NT&DL Premier Division title race will be decided on the final day. For Shinrone United, BT Harps, and Moneygall, it will also be the second season in a row where they are competing for a league title on the final day of the season.

Premier Division

Shinrone United 3-0 Ardcroney

Shinrone United ensured the title race will go down to the final day thanks to a comfortable 3-0 win over a depleted Ardcroney at Shinrone Community Centre on Sunday.

The sun was shining SO conditions were ripe for a clash of two heavyweights, however, when Ardcroney had to start twith just ten players, any hope of an upset went out the window.

The league leaders have lacked a creative spark of late, so it was no surprise that Derek McLoughlin was started in attacking midfield for the home side. The veteran repaid the faith that Declan Mullally showed in him, turning in a player of the match performance by doing the simple things and keeping play moving in midfield.

Ardcroney eventually got an eleventh man onto the pitch. They competed reasonably well, but it was clear that there was far more at stake for one side than the other.

Shinrone’s Coley Cleary and Ardcroney’s Jack Daly both had decent chances to open the scoring, but it was Paul Lake who drew first blood on the half hour, latching onto an inch perfect Riann McLoughlin pass following good work from Keith McEvoy and Cleary.

The lead was doubled ten minutes later when Conor O’Sullivan went over rather easily in the box, but Shinrone did not complain; they were more than happy to double their advantage from the penalty spot through Riann McLoughlin.

Any fight that was left in the Ardcroney dog was extinguished by the soft penalty. It has been a long season for Glen Austin and Eddie Coonan’s side, one where glory looked so close at times, but ultimately ended up being very far away in the end. With the weekend just gone being the 33rd week of fixtures in the season, it was no surprise that the early season title chasers were showing signs of fatigue.

The game as a contest was ended early in the second half when the younger McLoughlin stole in for his second goal, slotting through the legs of the onrushing Kevin Shinnors after showing good strength and balance to ride a challenge from Luke Dervan.

McLoughlin is coming into form at just the right time, but the question now is: how long will they have to wait for their final league fixture?

For Ardcroney, a worrying trend is starting to appear. Both the first and third goals came directly from their own long kick outs, a trend that has been noted throughout their season. It’s hard to say if the problem is a lack of aerial prowess up the pitch, or if the kick outs are not good enough. Either way, it will have to be addressed in the off season, potentially by playing short kickouts before then going long.

Ricky Fogarty Premier Division Cup

Moneygall 0-2 BT Harps

A captains display from Sean Paddy Guerins saw BT Harps secure their first win of the season over Moneygall at the third time of asking, which saw the holders advance to the final of the Ricky Fogarty Premier Cup.

The breakthrough came on 35 minutes when Guerins spotted the keeper off his line from a free kick 35 yards out,showing superb awareness to strike the ball cleanly into the top corner.

Brian Mitchell nearly doubled the lead shortly after, only to see his effort cleared off the line. Half time could not come quick enough for Moneygall, but there was a sting in the Harps tail just before the whistle sounded; Mitchell turning provider, delivering a corner for player of the match Guerins to finish into the net.

BT carried their momentum into the second half, mixing tidy football with a strong physical edge. Moneygall continued to threaten with direct play and created a couple of one-on-one situations, but Kuba Beben produced two key saves in quick succession to deny Paul Costello and Sean Moroney.

The Harps midfield unit impressed with the introduction of big Dean Lawlor proving the key ingredient to deny Moneygall. Lawlor brought strength and athleticism, which was complemented well by the shear talent of Cormac Foy on the ball while young Billy Collier showed composure beyond his years to complete the midfield trio. Elsewhere, the aggression and drive of Ben Stapleton on the right wing was noteworthy, he is hitting peak performance at the most opportune time for Henry Newman.

Arra Rovers 0-5 Ballymackey

A first half double from the league’s top scorer, Aidan White, and another from Colm Maher, had Ballymackey 3-0 up at the break in Portroe on Sunday. Liam Hogan made it four just before the hour mark and Adam Steed concluded the scoring with fifteen minutes remaining.

Ballymackey will face BT Harps in the Premier Cup final, but they will also this Sunday in a massive game in the three-way title race. A loss would rule BT Harps out of the title equation, whilst a draw would leave the door open for the crazy possibility of all three teams finishing level on 36 points. The most likely result is a Harps win, but even with those precious three points, Henry Newman’s side would still have to win in Shinrone on the final day.

Stephen McGrath Cup Final

Knigh United 3-0 BT Harps ‘B’

Knigh United lifted their second trophy in their debut season courtesy of a comfortable 3-0 win over a youthful BT Harps ‘B’ in the Stephen McGrath Cup final in Ballinree on Sunday.

The game started at a frantic pace with Knigh’s Keith Kelly called upon to save two one-on-ones. At the other end, young Joe Johnson in the Harps goal also made a great save to deny Jack Sanders following a Simon Cleary cutback. Called up from the youth team, Cleary’s energy caused the Harps full backs serious problems and he was unlucky to see a goal ruled out for offside.

Knigh would not be denied for long however, taking the lead on 36 minutes through Bill Cleary, who let fly from the corner of the box into the bottom corner of the net.

This was the start of the end for Harps, as the league winners went on to kill the tie in a fantastic ten minute spell of dominance.

They doubled their lead almost immediately when a quick throw in released Lenny Raleigh in behind to square for Simon Cleary to tap into an empty net.

Knigh got their third just before half time when an in-swinging free kick wasn’t dealt with and Cleary bundled in to continue his rich vein of form.

BT started the second half with renewed energy; however, Kieran Ryan marshalled the back line well, dealing with every long ball. Knigh had chances to extend their lead late on, but that mattered for little when the final whistle brought to an end Knigh’s debut double winning season.

The positives for Harps were the three players from the youth’s team that were given their senior debuts: Joe Johnson in goals, and Odhran Dalling and Finbar Breathnach in midfield.