TSDL Premier League
St Michael’s 5-1 Two Mile Borris
St Michael’s, by virtue of a strong second half performance, ran out convincing winners of this keenly contested Premier League game at Cooke Park on Saturday night. Saints were quick out of the blocks and took the lead on two minutes when a Shane Ryan pass saw Ed O’Dwyer beat the offside trap to finish well past Jack Dolan.
It could have been two on 6 minutes when Colin Bargary saw his effort come back off the crossbar following a Jimmy Carr cross. At the other end, Jake Jordan got in behind the home defence on the right channel in the 10th minute but his effort went wide of the far post. Donagh Hickey went close with a header from a Russell Quirke corner on 18 minutes. A Two Mile Borris free on 23 minutes saw Urban Nolan head just wide from Jamie Lee’s delivery. Jack Dolan had to be quick off his line on 31 minutes after Russell Quirke had played in Ed O’Dwyer.Saints were rocked back on 43 minutes when Kuba Beban could only parry a Louis Coughlan free kick and the ball dropped kindly for Jamie Lee who was on hand to make it 1-1 from the rebound.
In the second half, Jake Jordan’s left foot shot went wide of Kuba Beban’s goal after a pass from the right wing. However, from here, St Michael’s took over and Russell Quirke made it 2-1 when his left foot shot sneaked inside the post on 51 minutes. Donagh Hickey then headed over from a Russell Quirke corner kick. Borris seemed to tire after a promising open half and Jimmy Carr made it 3-1 on the hour after good work on the left flank from Philip Drohan and Shane Ryan. This ended the tie as a contest and Ed O’Dwyer made it 4-1 on 64 minutes with his second goal. Borris cleared their bench but Saints teamwork and desire saw them well on top and Ed O’Dwyer capped a fine performance on 87 minutes when he showed deft footwork to finish well and make it 5-1 from a Cillian Coonan pass.
It was Saints best performance of the season and John Lyons final whistle saw three valuable points gained on a 5-1 scoreline.
FAI Under 17 Cup
Clonmel Celtic 3-2 Clonmel Town
Clonmel Celtic survived a strong Clonmel Town comeback to advance to Round 2 of the FAI U17 Cup on a 3-2 scoreline after an entertaining tussle at Celtic Park yesterday evening. Celtic were fast out of the blocks and found themselves 3-0 up after 30 minutes. It wasn’t that Town had started particularly poorly; it was just that Celtic were clinical with the chances that came their way. They went 1-0 up after just 4 minutes with a sweetly struck shot/chip from Ben Hoare that found the top left corner of the net. Within 5 minutes Celtic doubled that lead when Dylan McCormack was on the end of a fine run and cross from Tyler Lynch to volley to the net. Spurred on by this fine start Cillian Fitzgerald worked himself some space in the box and fired low to the net to make it 3-0 on 25 minutes. After this rampant start Celtic eased up a little and James O’Brien produced a fine save to deny Town a goal before the break. Town came out strongly in the second half and immediately penned Celtic back and but for some better finishing they could have had two goals back in the first ten minutes. Celtic’s play became disjointed with too many hurried clearances that gave possession back to Town. On 55 minutes Town gave themselves a lifeline when Patyrk Galka fired home to make it 3-1. Celtic seemed to wake out of their slumber to realise they were back in a game and lifted themselves once more as the game developed into an end-to-end battle. James O’Brien produced a brilliant reflex save with his feet to deny what would have been a crucial second for Town. They did get back to just a goal deficit when Patyrk Galka converted from the spot with 10 minutes remaining but Celtic held on to advance.
TSDL Youths Division 2
Cullen 5 – 2 Cashel Town
On a beautiful September day on a pristine pitch this game showed everything good about youth football. From the start, both sides showed their intent, and this led to a very open game. However, it was the visitors who took the lead in the 6th minute when a long clearance over the Cullen defence saw the Cashel winger run on to the ball last defender and netted from just inside the 18-yard box. This spurred Cullen into life and 10 minutes later they scored an equaliser from a lovely passing move and Luke Nestor guided the ball to the net after great work from Shane O’Brien, Javier Serrano and Eoin O Connell. This was no more than Cullen deserved and now it was very much game on. Straight from the restart Cullen pressure on the Cashel defence which resulted in a penalty for Cullen which was calmly despatched to the net by Eoin O’Connell. Cullen then lost their keeper Jamie McGrath to an injury and in the 40th minute were once again caught by a long ball over the top which the Cashel forward finished with a looping header. Half time Cullen 2-2 Cashel Town
The second half saw Cullen come out of the blocks with clear intent and began to play good passing football looking for gaps that may appear. The pressure paid off in the 55th minute when Shane O’Brien slipped a superb ball to Javier Serrano who curled a right footed daisy cutter inside the keeper’s right-hand post. This was no more than Cullen deserved and now it looked like they would kick on and that is exactly what they did. In the 60th minute Jack Fraher found Shane O’Brien on the edge of the Cashel box and he slotted home Cullens 4th goal. Cullen were very much on the front foot and Despite hitting the crossbar and post and the visiting keeper making two good saves Eoin O’Connell rounded of a great afternoon in the 75th minute when he headed a great cross to the net. This was a good win for Cullen and when the referee, who also contributed to a very good game, blew the whistle Cullen left the field to warm applause from the watching crowd.
TSDL Youths Division 2
St Michael’s 0-1 Mullinahone
Saints were unlucky here not to salvage a point but a strong finish saw Mullinahone hang on to get the win at the Complex. Darragh Bresnan shot wide of goal on three minutes for St Michael’s while Dunne at the other end saw his effort saved by Cillian Fitzgerald. On 7 minutes Houlihan saw his header saved again by Fitzgerald. Darragh Bresnan hit the bar on 11 minutes and an Aaron Brazil free went over the bar on 13 minutes. The breakthrough came on 20 mins when Ryan freed Noel Cuddihy on the left flank and he had the time to pick his spot and find the corner of the net. Darragh Bresnan was narrowly wide from a Luke Webster cross on 23 minutes as Saints pressed for an equaliser. Ryan then hit narrowly wide for Mullinahone who went in at the break a goal to the good.
In the second half, Saints continued probing, but Mullinahone were always dangerous on the break. Alfie O’Halloran, who was put up centre forward, had a few promising runs and came very close to equalising when his header from a corner was brilliantly saved by Treacy. In the end, Mullinahone held on for a valuable three points.
TSDL Youths Division 2
Shabally Utd 5-1 Galbally Utd
Galbally started the stronger and in the first 20 minutes they got plenty of ball into the Shanbally area with no reward. On 28 minutes Shanbally hit the front when a fine pass from Daire English was fired to the bottom corner by Keelan Williams from 12 yards. An almost identical move on 35 minutes saw Keelan Williams in again and he made no mistake to slot home. In the second half, Galbally responded and on 50 minutes William O’Sullivan pounced on a loose ball in the Shanbally box to finish from 10 yards to make it 2-1. Shanbally responded well to this with Keelan Williams completing his hat-trick with a fine finish at the near post on 60 minutes. Shanbally stretched further ahead when on 68 minutes Harrison Conway headed in a Sean Sullivan free kick from 8 yards 4-1. On 78 minutes Man of the match Keelan Williams was on the spot again to fire into the roof of the net from 10 yards to make it 5-1 to Shanbally at full time.