Nenagh march on in Munster Junior Cup

SOCCER: Limerick District League Review

By Pat Sheehan

Munster Junior Cup

Star Rovers 0-2 Nenagh AFC

Nenagh AFC booked their place in the third round of the Munster Junior Cup with a deserved victory over Star Rovers at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

The Tipperary side matched their opponents during a competitive opening half before Colm Hayden made the breakthrough with five minutes remaining, creating space inside the box to fire home.

Hayden struck again just three minutes later, powering a header past the Star defence from Nathan Kelly’s corner to give Nenagh a commanding two-goal advantage.

There were no further goals after the interval as Nenagh comfortably saw out the contest to set up a third-round trip to Pike Rovers.

Nenagh AFC: Mark McKenna; Saeed Ryan; Colm Hayden; Kieran Barr; N Mathewebo; Conor Hanniffy; Daniel Connolly; Conor McCormack; Matt O’Gorman; Mark Manley; Nathan Kelly. Subs: Kieran O’Brien, Brian Tracey, Aaron Mitchell.

Kilmallock 2-1 Newport Town (AET)

Newport Town suffered late heartbreak as Kilmallock came from behind to snatch victory in an exciting Munster Junior Cup encounter on Sunday.

The Tipperary side looked on course for progression after Luke Ryan fired Newport into the lead a couple of minutes before half-time.

Newport defended resolutely after the restart as Kilmallock pushed hard for an equaliser, but their resistance was finally broken with just two minutes of normal time remaining when substitute Paul Moloney scored with his first touch.

With the sides level, extra time was required, and Kilmallock completed the comeback when Jack Maguire set up Mark Hayes to score the decisive goal.It was a cruel ending for Newport, who had battled hard and come within minutes of securing their place in the next round.

Newport AFC: Stephen McCormack; Killian O’Malley; Sean Bonfield; Dave O’Brien; Chris Carmody; Sean Ryan; Ciaran Carey; Pa Murtagh; Brian O’Sullivan; Colin Coleman; Luke Ryan. Subs: Elliot Slattery, Jamie Kavanagh.

In the Munster Junior Shield, goals from Sean Morrissey, Diarmuid Fitzpatrick and Dan Furey helped Nenagh AFC ‘B’ to a 3-1 win over Holycross ‘B’. Nenagh will meet Caherconlish in round three with the winners going into the open stages of the tournament.

Lough Derg had no such luck going down 2-1 to Croom United. Alex Quinn was on the mark for Lough Derg.

Newport Town C’s game with Aisling Annacotty ‘D’ was abandoned after 75 minutes at 1-0 to Aisling after the referee had brandished three red cards.

Youths

In a delayed start to the Under 17 League, Nenagh AFC posted an impressive 9-3 win over Parkville. Alex McKenna (2), Kristers Janitens (2), Mathias Moreo Etchar, Maab Mohamed, Jamie Ryan, R Foran and Darragh Daly were the Nenagh scorers.

Newport Town went down 3-0 to Pike Rovers ‘B’.