TSDL Premier League 14th January 2024 Match Reports
Peake Villa 0 – 2 Cahir Park
Cahir Park pulled off the result of the weekend when they inflicted the current champions first league defeat of the season on them in Thurles on Sunday afternoon. Conditions for the game were perfect with the pitch in great condition, and it turned out to be a game of two halves. The hosts dominated the opening forty five minutes, and Eoin O Dwyer came close early on when Mick Ryan crossed, but his shot was deflected out for a corner. Midway through the half a cross from the same side from Micheal Quinlan fell to O Dwyer but he just could get that touch that would have put the home side one up. And five minutes from the break, Villa almost took the lead from a corner, but Ronan McGuire’s shot came back off the post. A dominant half for the champions, but they just couldn’t find that opener. they started the second half like the first, but Cahir’s defence was in excellent form and was well marshalled by the experienced Chris Higgins. And the home sides wastefulness almost came back to haunt them three minutes after the hour mark when Cahir broke quickly and home keeper Willie Tierney was forced into a brilliant save with his feet from a Park header. Try as Villa may, they couldn’t break the visitors down and were dealt a blow with twenty five minutes left, when they lost talisman Pippy Carroll to injury. With Villa pushing on, Cahir were happy to counterattack, and it paid off six minutes from time, when John O Brien scored with a header. The home side got caught again on the counterattack three minutes later when Craig Guiry scored a great goal, lobbing the keeper from distance to ensure his side took the points, and blew the title race wide open.
St Michael’s 5 – 1 Two Mile Borris
Saints warmed up for next week’s trip to Hardcastle in the FAI Cup, and were good value for their victory over Two Mile Borris at Cooke Park on Sunday afternoon. The visitors started well and were awarded a penalty in just the fourth minute, when Jamie Lee had his kicking leg impeded, but Adrian Walsh got down well to save Lee’s resulting spot kick. A good move on eleven minutes saw Owen Sheridan find Urban Nolan but he shot tamely at Adrian Walsh, as the home side found it difficult to get to grips with their quick counter attacking game. If anything, Borris should have found the front on a number of occasions, but poor finishing was their undoing. And you cannot afford to be profligate against a team as good as St Michael’s, who punished them just after the hour mark when Colin Bargary played in Jimmy Carr who kept his composure to round the keeper and find the net from a tight angle. It was two five minutes later, when a lovely lay off from Russell Quirke saw Ashley Kelliher finish well from an angle to blast to the net. Saints put the game to bed in the final minute of the half, when Paul Breen was on hand in the area to head home a Jimmy Carr cross. The second half was a bit more disjointed as the home side used their bench to give lots more players some playing time, but in the sixty sixth minute they added a fourth when Ashley Kelliher got in behind an Ed O’Dwyer effort to finish well from six yards out. That became five when Ed O’Dwyer played in Rhys O’Regan, who outpaced the defence and finished well twenty minutes from the end. The away side did get a goal back nine minutes from time when Dan Rafter persevered and managed to block down an Adrian Walsh clearance and the pace of the ball saw it over the line. But it was no more than a consolation in a game well wrapped up by then.
Clonmel Town 6 – 0 Wilderness Rovers
Clonmel Town were convincing winners over Wilderness Rovers in this local derby on a cold afternoon at the Dr Pat O’Callaghan Sports Complex on Sunday. Town started well and were ahead after fifteen minutes when Ben Browne scored on his return to the club. They then had numerous chances to increase their lead but struggled to add a second until Ian Clery continued his run of goalscoring form to score from the penalty spot just before half time. That goal seemed to suck the life out of a game Wilderness were well in up to that point, and when Jake French Davis added a third five minutes into the second period it was game over. Browne added his second of the day soon after and not to be out-done, Davis secured his brace twenty minutes from time. There was still time for a sixth when Sean Kenny pounced twelve minutes from the end, and it was a comfortable last ten minutes for the home side as they used their bench well to secure a clean sheet and very important three points.
Tipperary Town 1 – 2 Clonmel Celtic
The opening half hour of this game was very even, with the home side playing much better than in last week’s surprise Cup exit, and the visitors finding in harder to adapt to the cold and blustery conditions. Eventually the home side opened the scoring when a Ryan Maher corner wasn’t dealt with and Caleb Hickey hammered home a volley from close range. They upped their tempo after this, but their final ball let them down on too many occasions and they weren’t able to add to their tally before the half time break. The second period however showed why the Clonmel side are in the latter stages of national cups, pinning back the home side who had Mikey O Dwyer to thank in goals on a few occasions. The equaliser eventually came with fifteen minutes left on the watch, when after relentless pressure from a number of corner, Sean Browne stabbed home from close range. The winner though broke home hearts, coming in the final minute of the game, when a well worked move down the left saw Sean Browne meet a cross at the near post with an excellent finish. The hosts threw the kitchen sink at it in injury time but were nearly picked off twice more, and in the end the away side took all three points.
Paddy Purtill Cup, 14th January 2024 Match Reports
Rosegreen Rangers 2 – 2 Dualla (AET Rosegreen win 4-2 on penalties)
Games between these two sides are always close run affairs, and Sunday’s edition was no different with the home side finally progressing thanks to winning a penalty shootout after the game finished in a draw. It started off well for the home side and they took the lead in the fifth minute when Keith Bergin fired to the net from twenty yards out. They added a second ten minutes later through Mark Furlong, and looked to be well in control of the game. But Dualla eventually settled and pulled a goal back before the break when Tossy Ryan headed to the net from ten yards out. The second period started much the same as the first ended with both sides making chances, and defences being on top. The hosts looked like they had drawn the sting from the game, until they were caught on the break ten minutes from time and Dualla pulled level with a well worked team goal. Things got harder for the hosts when they were reduced to ten men, but they hung in for a draw. Extra time produced no more goals on either side, and when it went to penalty kicks, and in those Rory Heffernan in the home goal was the hero, saving two spot kicks and setting his team up to move smoothly into the next round.
Cashel Town 0 – 2 Suirside
These two Division Two sides met in the Paddy Purtill Cup on Sunday, in what was an even game for the majority of the tie. Both sides missed some good opportunities in the first half and left the score at the break even at nil all. Three minutes into the second period, Suirside finally opened the scoring when John Alan Lowes got on the end of a good move. They added to their advantage twelve minutes later when David Recontre produced a tidy finish after he had been put clear through on goal. This left the visitors in control and though Cashel had chances to reduce the deficit, they were just lacking that bit of clinical finishing on the day. In the end, it was the away side that progressed.
Vee Rovers 8 – 2 Old Bridge
The size of this win makes it look like it was a much easier game for the home side than it was, but they had to come from behind to eventually put Old Bridge to the sword and move into the next round. In fact, the away side dominated the early exchanges and eventually took a deserved lead in the twenty third minute when Alex Greene shot home from just inside the area. But Rovers came back and within seven minutes were level. A long ball from Shane Mc Grath out of defence was latched onto by Dylan Keating and the striker produced a delicious lob to leave the visiting keeper stranded. The same player put his side in front eight minutes later finishing off a great pass from his brother Zak. And a well taken volley by Sean Casey two minutes before the break put the Clogheen side in complete control at half time. They were determined to hammer that advantage home in the early minutes of the second period, and only three had elapsed before Liam Maunsell had added the fourth goal. Bridge did continue to make chances though and pulled a goal back in the fifty fifth minute when they were awarded a penalty kick that Connie Power despatched with little trouble. That was as good as it got for them however as they seem to have collapsed in the final half hour, coughing up four goals thanks to three long range efforts by Anthony Crotty and a Jessy Kiely brace, as well as a Zak Keating tap in for good measure.
Galbally United 4 – 3 St Michael’s (AET)
These two sides produced a seven-goal thriller that needed extra time to separate them before Galbally progressed to the next round of this year’s Paddy Purtill Cup. It only took three minutes to see the first goal and it went to the hosts and James O Sullivan produced a great turn and strike to find the net from all of twenty-five yards out. But Saints are not a team to just lie down and they took control of the next quarter of an hour of the game, finally pulling level when Danny O Brien found the net in the twentieth minute. The match was flowing over and back now, and Galbally retook the lead when Ciaran Sheehan produced a tidy effort on goal in the thirty third minute that eluded the out stretched hand of the visiting keeper. They held this lead until fifteen minutes from time, when they scored what they thought would be a crucial third through Jordan Dineen. But the visitors were in no mood to throw in the towel and O Brien showed all his strikers’ instincts to finish well from inside the box with eight minutes to go. This set up a grandstand finish with Saints throwing everything at their hosts, who thought they had weathered the storm until deep into time added on, Dale O Mahoney popped up onto an Adam Mc Grath cross and powerfully headed to the net to send the game to extra time. The home side might have gone into that deflated, but they never showed it and took the lead for the third time midway through the first half, when Cathal O Mahoney found the net. This time however, they weren’t in any mood to give the advantage up again, and they held out for a win.
St Nicholas 2 – 2 Peake Villa
St Nicholas rounded off a miserable weekend for Peake Villa when they ejected them from this year’s Paddy Purtill Cup in a penalty shoot out after the two teams shared four goals at the end of extra time. It was an excellent game in Danny O Dwyer Park, and the early part of the game saw both sides fashion chances before the visitors opened the scoring on the half hour mark when Kevin Crowe found the net. Minutes later the home side levelled the game again when Aaron Ryan Shiner produced a super goal beating a couple of defenders after he’d been found in the area by Jack Downey. And things got better for the home side seven minutes from the break, when a Declan O Riordan free kick found Aiden Riordan free at the back post and he found the net. The scoring was completed in the first half, in time added on when Villa’s Adam Garrett with a headed effort. The watching supporters would have hoped for a similar goal fest in the second period, but it was much cagier, and despite the two teams having chances, they were not able to produce the quality needed to add to the scoreline. This continued in extra time as the teams tired, so it was inevitably a penalty shootout that was needed to separate the sides. In that, the hosts held their nerve better and advanced to the next round.
Peter O Reilly Cup, 14th January 2024 Match Reports
Preliminary Round
Burncourt Celtic 2 – 2 Donohill and District (AET Donohill and District win 5 – 3 on penalties)
This game got off to a brisk start and inside five minutes Celtic hit the front when Sean Cagney slotted a penalty after a foul on Pa Ryan. The hosts continued to play on the front foot after this, and added a second just before the half hour mark when a long ball over the top by Sean Cagney was collected by the onrushing Ryan again, and he finished with a fine strike to the roof of the net, to double his and his sides tally. After this though, the visitors seemed to wake up and created some good chances. Just as halftime approached, they pulled a goal back, when a cross into the box was finished from close range by Alan Wallace. The second half flowed over and back with chances for both sides, and fifteen minutes from the end, Donohill levelled after they were awarded a penalty kick. Despite a great save from Marc Cagney from the initial effort, Ned lowry followed up his spot kick to score the equaliser. There was to be no more goals in the ninety minutes, so extra time ensued. Again, both sides had chances and right at the death Pa Ryan was desperately unlucky to see his strike hit the crossbar, and from the clearance the hosts won the ball back and got in a shooting position, but David Cagney unfortunate scuffed his shot wide. The lottery that penalties is played their part to finally divide the teams, and Donohill came out on top winning on a five goals to three scoreline to progress to the next round.
Quarter Finals
Killenaule Rovers 2 – 3 Kilsheelan United
Kilsheelan United got their defence of the Peter O Reilly Cup off to a winning start over near neighbours Killenaule with a narrow win by the odd goal in five on Sunday morning. After an even opening half-hour in which the visitors dominated possession without creating many clear chances, they eventually took the lead when Billy O’Connor played a smart through-ball in behind the home defence to Aaron Costin, who deftly chipped over the keeper and open the scoring. This was the only goal of the first half, and ten minutes into the second-half, the hosts levelled the scoring with an effort from distance. But that shook the visitors once again, and just after the hour mark they regained the lead through Nathan Dolan, who emphatically powered home a header from an inch-perfect corner kick from Billy O’Connor. But while they were still in celebratory mood, they were rocked again when Killenaule levelled for a second time courtesy of a fantastic volley into the top-left corner from a set-piece delivery. The game was on a knife edge after this, with both sides going close, before Kilsheelan finally found the vital fifth goal. With just eight minutes remaining, Aaron Costin caused havoc down the left-wing, before his cross found the head of substitute Jamie Roche to head home from close-range. The hosts were reduced to ten-men soon after, and the away side soaked up all the pressure to secure their passage into the semi-finals.
Quarter Finals Peter O Reilly
Clonmel Celtic 1 – 1 Ballingarry Albion (AET Clonmel Celtic win 4-3 on penalties)
Clonmel Celtic’s seconds edged out Ballingarry Albion at home on Sunday morning, to qualify for the semi-finals of this year’s Peter O’Reilly Cup. It was a tight keenly contested encounter that went all the way to penalties. The visitors started brightly coming close on a couple of occasions to taking the lead. But the hosts, under new management finally settled into the game as the first half finished scoreless. The second half continued in much the same vein as the first, with chances at a premium, before the visitors hit the front on the hour mark when John Pollard headed home a Dylan Walsh corner. Albion were on top at this stage with Gerard Ivors coming close to a second. But the home side hung in and rallied in the final ten minutes, before they were rewarded in injury time when Davy Garrett headed home a free kick. The visitors had the better of extra time but Peter Boland made a brilliant save and a goal line clearance from a Celtic defender brought the game to penalties with Celtic winning out on a scoreline of five goals to four.
TSDL Youths report 14th January 2024 Match Reports
TSDL Youths Div 1
Cashel Town 1 – 0 Cahir Park
Cashel Town Youths continued their winning ways against a resilient and battling Cahir Park side at Palmershill on Saturday afternoon. Played in ideal conditions, the hosts started the game brightly and controlled the game for the majority of the first half but squandered a number of chances to take the lead. The visitors were comfortable in soaking up pressure and always looked to hit the home side on the break with some half chances, just to keep the hosts back line on their toes. By the time the whistle blew for half time, it was likely that the Park were the happier of the two going into the break. The second half saw the same pattern repeated for long spells, with Town dominant but coming up against a very disciplined defence and an inspired goalkeeper. Eventually though, the pressure told and midway through the half, a loose ball at the edge of the area was pounced on by Ciaran Byrne who walloped the ball into the bottom corner and gave the home side a deserved lead. Credit to Cahir Park they stuck in right up to the final whistle frustrating the home side and had a few chances on the break but the home side saw it out, and picked up a valuable three points in their hunt for the league.
Clonmel Town 4 – 6 Two Mile Borris
This game turned out to be a ten goal thriller at Ferryhouse on Saturday last, as the visitors continued in their hunt to pick up a Youths title. They took early control of the game and in the twelfth minute, opened the scoring when Tristin Kelly slotted home into an empty net after a scramble in the area. They doubled their lead shortly after when Tom Ryan showed a great piece of skill before firing home, and things looked to go from bad to worse for Town as a coming together in the box resulted in conceding a penalty just after the half hour mark. But it was brilliantly saved by Oisin Martin one of many great saves he made in the game in the game. But four minutes from the break, the third came when Tristin Kelly added his second. That wasn’t the end of the scoring however, and the home side pulled a goal back just on the half time whistle when Monsur Emiabata fired home after a long throw was flicked into his path. At the restart the hosts came flying out and pulled another goal back within five minutes when Mark Neville found Emiabata in space and he made no mistake from twelve yards out. But this seemed to kick Borris back into gear and they regained their two goal advantage five minutes later when Tristin Kelly broke away and got his hat trick goal. From there both sides fought for control, but it was the visitors who struck next again, with Tom Ryan adding his second and his sides fifth with another good finish at the back post. Thirteen minutes from time, Emiabata completed a hat trick of his own, sparking the tie back into life, and with six minutes left a corner for Town was swung in deep and was met by Conor Makim to reduce the deficit to a single goal. But in stoppage time a great set piece play by the away side was finished by Jake Jordan putting the game to bed and giving his side the points.
TSDL Youths Div 2 Cup
Clonmel Town 7 – 0 Galbally United
Clonmel Town’s seconds hosted Galbally in the first round of the Div 2 Tipperary cup on Saturday in Ferryhouse, and had too much for their visitors before moving into the next round. They started well, with Isaac DeSilva hitting the foot of the upright in the first minute, to set the tone of the game. The hosts didn’t have to wait much longer to open the scoring, and some excellent play in the middle of the pitch set up Cian McGrath to apply a clinical finish and put his side ahead in the fifth minute. Town’s lead was doubled following some slick passing down the left wing culminating in Ciaran Kenny driving another accurate cross to the same Cian McGrath, with the same result in the twenty fifth minute. Galbally then started to dial up the pressure on the Town defence going close from several corners in quick succession. But the were unable to pull anything back and the hosts took their two goal lead to the break. They started quickly in the second half and had the ball in the Galbally net after only three minutes with Isaac DeSilva’s shot from outside the box too good for the visiting keeper. De Silva found himself on the scoresheet again ten minutes later with a calm finish. And he completed his second half hat trick within minutes with a superb free kick that cannoned into the goal off the underside of the bar, giving the keeper no chance of saving. To the visitor’s credit, they committed numbers forward in an attempt to get back into the game, but the home defence was up to anything they were expected to deal with. DeSilva added his fourth ten minutes from time, and substitute Sean Galligan rounded off the rout in the final minute, to put Town in seventh heaven.