North Tipperary and District League Review
By Gary Culbert
By Gary Culbert
Clodiagh Rangers 2-1 Cahir Park
Clodiagh Rangers needed late heroics from their goalkeeper and defence to defeat TSDL side Cahir Park 2-1 and advance to the open draw of the FAI Junior Cup for the first time in their history.
The Drombane side got off to a flying start as the Cahir men just could not handle the pace and power of David Butler up top. Indeed, it was Butler who was brought down in the box for a penalty, which Sam Van Dam slotted home to give the underdogs the lead in the opening minutes.
Shortly afterwards Clodiagh found the net again, Jack Butler this time slotting home to capitalise when Cahir Park failed to clear their lines.
The visitors came into it a bit more after the frantic early pace settled, and the TSDL division 1 side won a string of corners which ultimately led to Willie Dunne scoring with a free header from close range to half the deficit on the half hour mark.
Cahir were on top for large spells of second half, the hosts content to concede possession and hold out the Cahir men, with excellent defending, most notably from the back three of Sean Stakelum, Conor O’Brien, and the man of the match Jack Butler, who all stood firm.
The visitors had plenty of possession but had little penetration, in fact Clodiagh were dangerous on the break and were unlucky not to have restored their lead through either John Ryan or Oisín Treacy, who respectively had a goal ruled out for offside and a lobbed effort go just wide.
The last few minutes saw Cahir throw everything at the home side, and near the end the visitors thought they had equalised, but Dean Brainwaters shot was brilliantly saved by player/manager Adrian Cooke, who had to be at full stretch to keep out a strike from outside the box. Cahir Park had two more chances cleared off the line, on a day where lady luck was not on their side. Cup heroics from Cooke and the defence ensured in the end that the Drombane side move into open draw.
Sallypark 0-3 Peake Villa
Sallypark’s tremendous run in the FAI Junior Cup was ended on Sunday when they came up short against a superior footballing side in Peake Villa, who put three unanswered goals past the home side.
Despite the omission from big names like Padraig Ryan, Jack Sanders, and David Young from their line-up, Sallypark started the better and Sean Ryan was causing problems up top, but Villa quickly got control and Damien Corcoran was being increasingly called into action to make saves. Corcoran made a huge save in the fourteenth minute, but Peake Villa instantly got the breakthrough a minute later when a low driven cross by Robbie Stapleton from the right deflected off the centre back and looped over the keeper.
Sallypark tried in vain to get back into the game, but in the 25th minute the mountain they had to climb got bigger when Peake Villa right back Darragh Byrne made inroads down the right flank before producing a sublime cross from 35 yards which was met by Robbie Stapleton on the volley at the back post with a fine finish.
The rest of the first half was a midfield battle, but Sally did have a great chance from a Paul Walsh header at the back post following a Brian Mitchell corner, but a fine double save from the keeper meant the hosts went in two goals down.
The NTDL side started the second half well and put Peake under serious pressure and would have pulled one back only for a goal-line clearance and a brilliant save which denied a powerful Brian Mitchell strike. Damien Corcoran produced a fine save from a one-on-one to keep some hope alive, but once again they got caught on the counter, having piled men forward in an effort to claw a goal back. The killer blow came in the 65th minute after good link-up play between Pippy Carroll and Eoin O’Dwyer created a chance which Carroll dispatched from close range to make it 3-0 to the Thurles side.
Sallypark were getting tired at this stage after a huge effort and brought on some fresh legs to try claim a goal back. The hosts last effort at getting on the scoresheet came when Paul Walsh got on the end of a Tom McCutcheon ball and rounded the keeper, only to see his effort cleared off the line.
Sallypark put in a massive team effort against a very good Peake Villa side, Sean Ryan gave the visitors a headache, whilst former Peake Villa youth player Tom McCutcheon ran every blade of grass.
Premier Division
BORRISOKANE 0-1 BT HARPS
Fintan Purcell’s second half finish, off the back of a long throw, was the only goal of the game as BT Harps picked up all three points in Borrisokane. Borris’ keeper and captain Andrew Nevin was the man of the match for the home side who occupy the sole relegation spot.
LOUGH DERG 2-3 REARCROSS
Rearcross overcame a heavily depleted and youthful Lough Derg side 3-2 in Clarisford Park on Sunday.
The visitors opened the scoring on 22 minutes when strike duo James Deegan and Michael O’Gorman teamed up to play in Philip Deegan, who slotted home well. Lough Derg levelled through Cian Oakley when a loose ball was not dealt with properly by the Rea’ backs. The sides went in level at the break despite O’Gorman rattling the base of the upright in the first half.
Rearcross were back in front in the 50th minute when a good counter-attack caught Derg short in defence and James Deegan made no mistake, taking advantage of the yard of space he created to blast home.
The hosts hung in despite Rea’ having a number of good chances, and they got their reward in the 80th minute when a fizzed low strike from Jay Collins made it 2-2 and looked to have salvaged a point for the Shannonsiders.
However, Rearcross were not done, and they emptied their strong bench in a bid to get a winner. And so it was that Derg hearts were broken by the concession of an injury time penalty which Greg Kennedy dispatched, won by Nigel Ryan when attempting to reach a James Deegan cross.
Lough Derg had one last throw of the dice when keeper Oisin Conacur arrived up to attack a free kick, but his excellent header was agonisingly saved by Cathal Kennedy. Dan Furey was the best for Lough Derg.
Division 1
Cloughjordan’s poor run of form continued in Glenbane on Sunday when Holycross put three unanswered goals past Eoin Killackey’s side. It was one-nil at the break when some questionable defending from a corner allowed Callum O’Connor to head home at the back post.
Clough performed better in the second half, but a poor attempted clearance from Gary Culbert in the 70th minute was ruthlessly pounced on by Raymie Nally. Conor Cassidy killed the tie shortly after when his looping shot deceived the keeper. Best for Holycross was Ben Slattery.
Ardcroney came out the right side of a seven-goal thriller at home to a Moneygall side bolstered by the recent return of some of their hurlers. Goals from Shane Doran, Dylan Armstrong, a Kieran Spain penalty, and another from Spain were enough to secure the points for Glen Austin’s side. Moneygall’s goals came from Sean Moroney and a Darragh Murray brace.
Division 2
Borrisoleigh were 7-1 winners over Templetouhy thanks to four goals from Patrick O’Connell, a brace from Jerry Kelly, and an Alvis Danko Strike. Patrick O’Connell was the man of the match for obvious reasons, but a notable mention is Ciarán Thorpe, who provided five assists.
Shinrone were 8-1 winners at home to Borrisokane ‘B’. Kieran Fox got the only goal for Borris; whilst there were braces for Simon Hayes, James Hayes, and Riain McLoughlin; Shane Reynolds and Aaron Kirwan also got in on the act with a goal each.
Under 19 premier division
Ballymackey drew 1-1 with BT Harps in Ballinree. It was scoreless at the break, but Harps netted through Ronan Tangri whilst Bally scored through Colm Maher.
Under 19 CHAMPIONSHIP
Arra Rovers defeated Silvermines 3-1 in Portroe on Saturday. Brian McEvoy opened the scoring in the 27th minute before Aiden O’Dwyer added a second in the 35th minute. Max Creed netted for Silvermines in the second half, whilst Kieran Grace finished the host’s scoring in the 73rd minute. Jack O’Brien was the best for Arra, whilst William Murphy was the pick of the bunch for the visitors.