Limerick District League round-up as Fairview book FAI Junior Cup final spot

FAI JUNIOR CUP:

Lucan United 0 Fairview Rangers 2

LIMERICK junior soccer received another huge tonic on Saturday afternoon when Fairview Rgs qualified for the final of the FAI Junior Cup following a superb 2-0 win against Lucan Utd.

With the success of the Limerick District League in reaching the decider in the Oscar Traynor Trophy, the Blues’ brought further notice as to the strength of the league on Shannonside.

Lucan Utd knocked out Janesboro in the previous round and fancied their chances with home advantage against Fairview but Mick Shiel and Paul O’Donnell had their side well drilled and they performed to a tee.

Shane Duggan, with his years of experience at the highest level, showed he was the man for the big occasion with a superb outing.

The winners now await the held up second semi-final. Castlebar will play Salthill and the winners will meet North End United.

Fairview were out of the traps quickly and Lucan keeper Mark O'Leary was to the fore twice in the opening minutes to deny Duggan and Habideen Gbadebo following good work from Darragh Rainsford.

The latter fired into the side netting from an Oleg Vysochan after seven minutes as the visitors piled on the pressure.

Lucan held their nerve and went closest to opening the scoring after 15 minutes when Dylan Boxwell’s effort was cleared off the line by Jake Dillon.

Fairview again gained the upper hand and Gbadebo saw his effort strike the posts before O’Leary made another good save to deny Duggan just after the half hour mark.

The deadlock was broken a minute later when from an Oleg Vysochan corner kick, Cian McNamara headed home. It could have been two at the break if Rainsford’s header from Duggan’s delivery was a couple of inches closer.

The Fairview Rangers side which defeated Lucan United in their FAI Junior Cup semi-final on Saturday

The second half continued in much the same vein when the influential Rainsford again threatened the home goal, with O’Leary keeping out the effort.

Fairview secured that little beating space on 51 minutes. Rainsford skinned his marker out wide and he picked out Gbadebo who cheekily back heeled to the net.

The home side upped the tempo in search of a way back into the tie with ‘View keeper Josh McCarthy making a fine save to deny Ollie Kendrick and the same player was denied again minutes later when his shot smacked off the post.

Substitute Mark Young pulled another good save from McCarthy while at the other end the keeper’s namesake, Josh McCarthy fired inches over the top, and in the last act of the game was denied by a super O’Leary save.

With a break before the final is fixed, league leaders Fairview will be re-energising their attempts to bridge a 22-year gap since they last won the league title.

Fairview Rgs: Josh McCarthy GK; Danny O'Neill; Brian Aherne; Jason Cross; Jake Dillon; Jeffery Judge; Shane Duggan; Cian McNamara; Habideen Gbadebo; Darragh Rainsford; Oleg Vysochan. Subs: Conor Kavanagh; Adam Dore; Josh McCarthy; Shane Carmody, Rueben McCarthy.

PREMIER LEAGUE:

Janesboro 0 Pike Rovers 1

PIKE Rvs picked up the required three points to keep their Premier League hopes intact following a hard-earned win over Janesboro at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

The result leaves Pike six points behind leaders Fairview with a game less played and with the sides still to meet the race is still alive.

The Hoops were made work hard for the win. They looked strangely flat in the opening half and it only after the introduction of Shane Walsh and Dylan Murphy that they started piecing their game together.

Kieran Hanlon had a good chance to open the scoring but was just wide at the back post and at the other end Shane O’Brien had a goal bound shot blocked by Eddie O’Donovan.

Former Pike favourite went close to giving Boro the lead at the front post but Gary Neville saved well. Minutes later a Murphy volley rolled agonizingly wide of the far post.

After the break Eoin Duff worked his way through the Boro defence and while he beat keeper O’Sullivan, Graham Bourke was well placed to clear his lines.

Pike broke the deadlock with 15 minutes to play. Leon Kirrane ran onto Duff’s lay back and raced through the heart of the ‘Boro defence. His shot was blocked but the alert Dylan Murphy pounced on the rebound to fire in from an acute angle.

The closest ‘Boro came to an equaliser was a clearance from Calum O’Connell that had Gary Neville scrambling across his goal to turn out for a corner.

Janesboro: Aaron O'Sullivan; Shane O'Brien; Graham Bourke; Tony Burns; Brendan O'Dwyer; Conor Artur; Dion Lynch; Colin Doody; Shane Clarke; Aaron Murphy; Aodh O'Hanluain. Subs: Cian Arthur; Calum O'Connell; Liam O'Sullivan.

Pike Rovers: Gary Neville; Scott Kirwin; Mike Morrissey; Eddie O'Donovan; Eoin Hanrahan; Colin Daly; Leon Kirrane; Kyle Duhig; Kieran Hanlon; Seamus Carroll; Eoin Duff. Subs: Shane Walsh; Dylan Kelly-Higgins; Conail Stapleton; Dylan Murphy.

Hyde Rgs A 4 Geraldines 2

GERALDINES travelled to Hyde Rgs on Sunday hoping a win would drag the maroon and blues into the relegation dog fight.
However, the home side were well up for the battle and recorded a good 4-2 win.

Hyde took the lead after 15 minutes when Jack Nash drilled a low shot to the net but the visitors were back on level terms when Conor Keane scored before the break.

The home side restored their lead when the excellent Conor Madden met Craig Downes’ delivery to send a looping header over the keeper to the net.

Once again ‘Dines responded and were back on terms within three minutes when Pat Whelan netted form close range.
Hyde took the lead from a penalty kick expertly tucked away by Alex Keating and the Hyde youngster went from scorer to provider when he teed up Craig Downes to net the crucial fourth goal.

Hyde Rgs ‘A’: Sam Guerin; Lee Hartigan; Dylan O'Neill; Dylan O'Byrne; Alex Kiely; Tadhg Doran; Jack Nash; Conor Madden; Alex Keating; Ben O'Shaughnessy; Calum Murphy. Subs: Craig Downes; Ryan McCormack; Ger Nash; Dylan Bourke.

Geraldines: Jose Zaquieu; Jonathan Moran; Dave Power; Scott McEvoy; John Mullane; David Healy Lawlor; Cian Fitzgerald; Shane Dillon; Tony Mambuana; Conor Keane; Alan Keane. Subs: Pat Whelan; Dean McNamara; Alex Sheehy; Anthony Keane; Brooklyn Tracey.

Regional Utd 6 Newport 2

WITH the Tuohy Cup already on board and a Lawson quarter final next weekend, Regional were determined to keep their good run going and Newport paid the price on Saturday evening.

Goals from Isak Lynch (2), Adam Fitzpatrick, Adam Keating, Kieran O'Connell and Muhsin Jelle gave the home side a 6-2 win. Jamie Kavanagh grabbed both for Newport.

Regional Utd: Adam Brennan; Tom Frawley; Sean Oyibo; Andrew Cowpar; Jack O'Donovan; Ewan O'Brien; Joe Lavin; Adam Fitzpatrick; Isak Lynch; Kieran O'Connell; Muhsin Jelle. Subs: Adam Keating; Ashley Kelleher; Gideon Oyibo; Marcus Hogan; Declan Cusack.

Newport: Harry Ryan; Eoin Looney; Pa Murtagh; Drew McLean; Elliot Slattery; Peter O'Sullivan; Conor Brett; Cillian O'Shea; Jamie Kavanagh; Brian O'Sullivan; Ciaran Carey. Subs: Christy Doyle; Christy O'Connor; Daniel Ryan; Darren Collins; Aaron Coleman.

Mungret Regional 1 Ballynanty Rovers 1

WITH little at stake Mungret and Balla’ played out a 1-1 draw in Mungret.

Kian Barry gave the home side a half time lead but an Adrian Power equaliser secured a point for the visitors.

Mungret Reg: James Roche; Conor Myers; Sean O'Sullivan; Gary Kelly; Aaron Long; Kieran Long; Craig Prendergast; Danny McCarthy; Cian McNicholas; Kian Barry; Hamza Selman Celik.

Ballynanty Rovers: Dermot Fitzgerald; Liam Byrnes; Calum Kiely; Adam Costello; Fionn McInerney; Cian Lynch; Jack O'Callaghan; Eddie Byrnes; Sean Byrnes; Kane Connolly; Adrian Power.

Nenagh AFC 1 Aisling Annacotty 3

AISLING took the spoils ion their trip to Nenagh.

Paul Brennan put Aisling in front and a goal from Joey Rushe doubled the lead before half time.

After the restart Adam Costello (Aisling) and Colm Hayden (Nenagh traded goals to complete the scoring.

Nenagh AFC: Conor Hodgins, Lee Mowat, Colm Hayden, Conor McCormack, Nikki Cya, Dylan Morrison, Adam Ryan, Fionn Higgins, Hanniffy, Mattie O'Gorman, Said Ryan. Subs: Coilin Doris, Daniel Connolly, Dylan McKenna.

Aisling Annacotty: Charlie Lane; Adam O'Regan; Conor Carew; Alex Cuddy; Joey Rushe; Paul Brennan; Raid Mouras; Conor Coughlan; Willie Armshaw; Joel Coustrain; Adam Foley. Subs: Darren Coughlan; Adam Costello; Cathal Downes; Sean Ezekannagha.

ROUND-UP:

In the Premier A Cup semi-final, Charleville booked their place with a surprisingly easy win over Southend on Thursday.

Donal O’Connell (2), Aaron O Connor, Colin Quaid, Frankie Hehir and Sean McCormack scored for the winners who will meet Athlunkard or Aisling in the final.

In League action, Charleville were brought back to earth when they lost 4-0 to promotion chasers, Corbally Utd. Jack Fitzgerald, Adrian Finnin, Alan Doherty and Sean Connolly scored for the winners who need three wins from their last four games to make a welcome return to the top flight.

Jamie Hogan (2), Gareth Grant and Dean Hogan were on the mark for Southend but they went down to Kilmallock where Barry Sheedy netted four for the winners. Kyle Tierney (2) and Mark Hayes completed the scoring.

In the Division 1A Cup, league leaders Moyross crashed out at the first hurdle, losing 2-0 at Granville for whom Lee Downes and Zac Sheehan were scorers.

Star Rvs progressed with a win at Caherconlish, Emmet Hehir was on target while Aisling beat Cappamore 3-0 with goals from Tom Canty (2) and Jason Lipper.

Finn Lannon and Gary Fowley scored for Parkville but they went down 3-2 at Pallas Utd for whom Zach Murphy, Joe O'Keeffe and David Ryan obliged.

In the Division 1B Cup, two goals from Frank Lange saw Glenview past Kilfrush on a 2-1 scoreline while Lisnagry A also won 2-1 at home to Nenagh B. Chris Jasterebski and Jordan Clancy were on the mark.

Goals from James Collopy, Adam Power, Luke Ryan, Eoghan Flynn and Nathan Hartigan helped Newport to a 5-1 win at Meanus while Shels went one better hitting Pike for six without reply. Daniel Collins (3), Colm Cassidy, Inan Cullen and Harry Cowton were on the mark

In Division 2A, Ballynanty Rvs B go joint top with Kilmallock following a 5-0 win over Charleville. Jamie O’Sullivan, David Donnan, Eddie Ratcliffe, Ken Meehan, Cormac McDonnell were the winning scorers.

In the Div 2A Cup, Brazuca United progressed following a 3-0 win over Castle Rvs thanks to scores from Greba Oliveira, Mateus Almeida and Emanuel Cristhian.

Coonagh Utd B beat Abbey Rvs 3-0, Rory Barry, Ralph Leonard and Aodhan Keane netted while Kilmallock B won 4-1 at Mungret. Oisin O'Reilly (2), Mark Heffernan and Paudie Sheedy were on the mark for the winners.

In the 2B Cup, league leaders Herbertstown B beat Murroe B with scores from Chris Crotty, Wayne Wright and Cathal Hayes.
Second placed Moyross put seven past Athlunkard Villa B. Seamus Madden and Killian Fleming obliged for Villa while the winning scores came from Barry Quinn (2), Dean Quinn (2), Jody Llewelyn, Tyrone Fitzgerald and Kane Troy.

Cian O'Donoghue (2), Cian McAuley and Daniel Tighe were on target as Lough Derghit Summerville A for four.

In the Open Cup semi-final, Fairview C beat Caherdavin to reach the decider. Kyle Brogan scored twice with Cian Donnelly also netting in a 3-0 result.

In the title race Prospect Priory B dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Holycross B.

Leon Johnson and Danny Colbert for Prospect and Adam Cusack and Tony Burke for ‘Cross.