Killavilla waste little time in claiming first league title
By Padraig Ryan
Killavilla United were crowned North Tipperary & District League Premier Division champions on Saturday evening with a thumping 8-0win over visiting Holycross FC who were relegated following this result.
In front of a huge and expectant crowd at Villa Park, the home side needed all three points to claim their maiden league triumph and they did so in style with a comprehensive victory.
The game was as one sided as the scoreline suggests with Villa, eager to avoid any nerves or doubt, racing into a 5-0 lead inside the opening quarter of an hour. Some well worked moves saw Rory Murphy, Craig Phelan, Shane Moloney, Paul Kirwan and Joe Moloney all get on the score-sheet early but in truth it was all too easy against an under-strength Holycross.
The only surprise was that Villa didn’t add to their tally before the end of the half with a number of players guilty of squandering gilt edged chances. That mattered little with the visitors posing no real threat at the other end with Denis Moloney dominating at the base of the midfield and the centre halves Ian Treacy and Stephen Delaney snuffing out every chance at the back. The Villa full backs Tom Aherne and captain John Cordial were excellent throughout, constantly offering an outlet and many of Villa’s best moves started with those two.
The second half continued in much the same vein with Paul Kirwan adding his second while man of the match Joe Moloney completed his hat-trick to round off the scoring.
A tough day out for Holycross who were always going to struggle against a hungry home side backed by a vociferous local crowd. To their credit they kept battling until the end and they have shown enough towards the latter end of the season to suggest an instant return to the top flight awaits.
The day though was all about Killavilla United, they claimed this title after a phenomenal season in which they have won all but one league game, scored 65 goals and conceded only 16.
Following the game on Saturday, NT&DL chairman Mike Young presented the Premier Division trophy to captain John Cordial and the celebrations began in earnest in Roscrea.
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