Limerick District League reach Oscar Traynor final and complete weekend junior soccer round-up

OSCAR TRAYNOR TROPHY:

Limerick District League 2 Donegal Junior League 1

LIMERICK District League reached the final of the Oscar Traynor Trophy following their 2-1 win over their Donegal counterparts on Sunday afternoon.

Extra-time was required to separate the sides but, in the end, Limerick posted a deserved win to set up a final with the Galway District League.

It was a fine team effort but special mention must go to the work rate of striker Vinny Ryan, whose tireless running, played a huge part in the win.

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Leon Daly was also highly effective after his introduction while at the other end Tommy Frawley had a fine outing for the winners.

In an opening half where real chances were at a premium, Limerick had a great chance to take the lead midway through the opening half. Good work by Conor Coughlan created an opening for Ryan but his effort was blocked on the line.

Limerick District suffered a blow when Shane Walsh hobbled out of the play but ironically the introduction of his replacement Leon Daly coincided with Limerick adopting a wider more effective approach.

Limerick had their hands full dealing with Donegal striker Jonathan Robb who made it an uncomfortable two hours for the defence.

Limerick District got the breakthrough just after the hour mark. Good work by Daly and Ryan ended with the latter playing Leon Kirrane into the area where he was unceremoniously upended and from the resultant spot kick, Kieran O’Connell converted in style.

Limerick were unlucky not to have increased the lead when Josh McCarthy’s long kick was flicked on by Ryan to put Daly in one on one but a bobble at the vital moment gave the keeper the opportunity to save.

A rare lapse in the Limerick defence allowed Robb through and when he was tripped in the area, Harking tucked away the spot kick to level the game. Extra time followed and a second yellow for O’Connell saw Limerick District down to ten men. However, it had no effect as Limerick snatched the winner minutes later.

A good run and shot by Daly saw the ball rebound to substitute Kai Joyce who gathered 25 yards out to deliver a beauty to the back of the net.

The final is set for Sunday, February 15 with the venue to be decided next Tuesday.

Limerick District League: Josh McCarthy - Fairview Rangers, Danny O'Neill - Fairview Rangers, Blake Curran - Fairview Rangers, Tommy Frawley – Regional Utd, Kieran O'Connell - Regional United, Jason Cross-Fairview Rgs, Shane Walsh - Ballynanty Rovers, Leon Kirrane - Ballynanty Rovers, Conor Coughlan - Aisling Annacotty, Oleg Vysochan - Fairview Rangers, Vinny Ryan – Ballynanty Rvs Subs; Leon Daly - Pike Rovers, Kai Joyce – Janesboro, Shane O'Brien – Janesboro, Kyle Duhig - Pike Rovers, Daryl Murphy – Pike, Cian O’Brien – Regional Utd.

PREMIER 'A' LEAGUE:

Carew Park 1 Moyross 2

THE topsy-turvy battle for the lead in the Premier A League continued in dramatic fashion on Sunday.

Going into Sunday’s action, Moyross were a point behind the leading trio of Star, Kilmallock and Newport but a combination of surprise results saw Moyross rise to the top of the table by final whistle time.

Moyross started well although saves by Mike O’Donoghue and Shane Cronin were required to keep the game scoreless.
Carew were not to be denied however and on the half hour mark, Zak Sheehan beat the offside trap and while O' Donoghue got a hand to his shot, the ball snuck into bottom corner.

Moyross equalised just before the break when Aaron Power delivered a free kick from half way, James Cleary leapt well to get a knock on, and Adrian Power finished with a lob over the keeper.

With the game evenly poised, Moyross struck the winner 12 minutes from time.

Ben O'Mahony latched onto a ball down the channel, ran goalwards, beat two players on the line and shot from a tight angle. While his effort was blocked, the rebound fell kindly and he slid in ahead of keeper and defender to poke it home.

Carew Park: Evan Moloney; Kieran Grimes; Adam Koyce; Craig Dawson; Scott Kelly; Zak Sheehan; S Stoyanov; Calum Murphy; Pat Aherne; J Koyce; Edward Ward. Subs: Donal Dillon; Glen Bussoli; Pat Whelan; Dean McNamara; Cian McNamara.

Moyross: Michael O'Donoghue; Tyrone Cronin O'Brien; Aaron Power; Jay Ryan; Shane Cronin; James Cleary; Cian Power; Stephen Hannon; Lee Quinn; Adrian Power; Frank Hogan. Subs: Ben O'Mahoney; Craig Collopy; Jason Keane; Pierce Cunningham.

Summerville Rvs 2 Star Rovers 2

STAR Rovers dropped two vital points when they shared the points in a 2-2 draw with Summerville Rvs in UL on Sunday morning.

Summerville are mired in relegation trouble but their display on Sunday suggests they are far from gone and, if they show the same drive in their remaining games, can play their way to safety.

Star Rvs will need to brush themselves off. They were unusually flat on the day but no doubt will regroup on the last eight games.

Summerville took the lead after five minutes when Manni Alfred set up the impressive Jamie Cross to score.
Star responded immediately when Emmet Hehir scored a superb goal from the edge of the box.

Hehir was involved again a few minutes before the break when Star took the lead. His cross from the right was only partially cleared and Fellipe Torres fired in from 18 yards.

Summerville emerged after the restart determined to get back into the tie.

They got their reward when Jake Vaughan got in front of the defence to poke in Jack Doyle’s cross on 75 minutes.

The crossbar denied Summerville snatching the win as Alfred and Peadar Ruairc both had efforts rebound to safety ensuring the spoils were divided.

Summerville Rvs: Kyran McGarry; Jake Vaughan; Marcus Kiely; Evan Waters; Kevin O'Connell; Morgan Clancy; Emanuel Alfred; Trevor Daly; Evan O'Grady; Jamie Cross; Jamie O'Carroll, Subs: Peadar Ruairc; Shane Power; Cian Davis; Mike Kavanagh.

Star Rvs: Guilherme Texira, A Vijandran, Jack Doyle, Tom Power, Willon, Adam Quinlivan, Emmet Hehir, James Lyons, Cathal Howard, Fellipe Torres, J Adediji, Subs Brian Thompson, Conor Joyce, Tyrone Price, Emiliano Rojas.

Kilmallock 0 Charleville 2

KILMALLOCK drew a blank for the first time this season as they crashed at home to Charleville on Sunday.

As predicted, the local derby element was always going to nullify league form going into this one.

Luckily for the home side, results elsewhere mitigated the damage somewhat. Charleville’s attentions are on the other end of the table where Sunday’s three points could prove vital in their attempts to keep clear of the drop zone.

Two early goals from Darren Casey and Colin Quaid did the damage.

Kilmallock: G Freeney; Jack Barry; Bjorn Downes; D Bagnell; Aaron O'Hanlon; Jason Heffernan; Kyle Tierney; Sean Kiely; Oisin O'Reilly; Paul Doona; Killian Hayes. Subs: Barry Sheedy; Jack McGuire; Aaron Costello; Mark Hayes.

Charleville: Jesse Smith; J O'Toole; Colin Quaid; Darren Butler; Gavin Mullins; Frank Herr; Aaron O'Connor; Jack Callaghan; Donal O'Connell; Luke Doyle; Darren Casey. Subs: Joey Herbert; Joe Kavanagh; Kian Smith.

Newport 1 Regional Utd B 2

AFTER going nine games unbeaten, Newport have picked up just four points from their last five games.

Their latest setback on Sunday saw them leapfrogged by Regional Utd into fifth spot.

First half goals by Dave Burke and Mark Shanahan put the visitors in control which they rarely looked like giving up.
Newport’s response came deep in injury time through Conor Brett.

Newport: Stephen McCormack; Sean Bonfield; Pa Murtagh; Dave O'Brien; Christy O'Connor; Peter O'Sullivan; Eoin Looney; Sean Ryan; Brian O'Sullivan; Jamie Kavanagh; Callum O'Connell. Subs: Elliot Slattery; Luke Ryan; Killian O'Malley; Paul Ryan; Conor Brett.

Regional Utd B: J Kirby; Eoghan Killian; P Carmody; Steve Gleeson; Alan Connors; Mark Shanahan; John Forson; P McGrath; Gerry Fitzpatrick; Jack Flanagan; Dave Burke, Subs: Musaed Abdulrahim; Mark Sheehan; J Moloney; A Cobbs-Sarko.

Aisling Annacotty B 1 Prospect Priory 2

PROSPECT picked up three vital points as they look to claw their way up the table when they beat Aisling 2-1 in Annacotty on Saturday evening.

Jamie Hogan gave Prospect a half time lead but Oscar Fitzgerald levelled the tie on 74 minutes.
With a draw on the cards, Hogan struck a last gasp goal to seal it for Prospect.

Aisling Annacotty B: Colm Moholly; B Moylan; Cian O'Haodha; Peter Hempenstall; C Kinehan; Evans Ezekannagha; Adam Blake; Oscar Fitzgerald; Alex Carragher; Ben Kiely; Alessio Iaquaniello. Subs: C Guerin; J Sheehan.

Prospect Priory: R McNamara; Ian Clancy; Max Kwietneiwski; Jai McNamara; Onyekachi Onanya; Willie Casey; Keelan Corbett; Philip Naughton; Jamie Hogan; Reece Kelly; Lee Madigan, Subs: Danny Colbert; C Whelan; J Mullaney; Shane Byrne.

Southend 2 Caherdavin Celtic 5

SOUTHEND'S tale of woe continues as they still await their first win of the season.

To their credit they continue to fulfil their fixtures when others may have pulled out. Keelan Nash and C McAllister were on the mark for the home side but goals from Alan Neill (2), Keith Moran, Liam Morris and Niall Earls gave Caherdavin the points.

Southend: A Katkovs; C McAllister; Carlos Dos Santos; Justin Price; Uzondu Duruji; Olu Osunlola; Alex Peters; Keelan Nash; Ross Brosnan; A Ojedji; Dean Hogan.

Caherdavin Celtic: Glen Clancy; Eoghan Flanagan; Alan Neill; Rian O'Connell; Niall Earls; Tommy Glynn; Cathal O'Connell; Sean Meagher; Liam Morris; Keith Moran; Stephen O'Halloran, Subs: Cian Williams; R Meehan.

ROUND-UP:

In Division 1A Herbertstown and Shelbourne saw their games washed out and Murroe took full advantage to move menacingly into second spot.

It has been an amazing season to date for Murroe, in 17 starts they have posted 14 wins and three draws.

Their unbeaten run continued on Sunday but they were made earn their rewards away against a hard-working Parkville side.
Liam Quinn put Murroe in front from the penalty spot after 13 minutes.

Ben McNamara levelled on 33 minutes but a goal from Jamie Long sent the visitors in leading at the break.
The home side were reduced to ten five minutes after the restart and when Long netted his second on the hour mark it looked like game over.

However, Gary Foley reduced the deficit two minutes later and Eoin O’Shea levelled the tie with 20 minutes remaining.
Murroe showed their resilience to recover and strike again when substitute Alex Woodland netted with ten minutes remaining to seal the points.

Holycross kept up their challenge with a last gasp 2-1 win at home to Pallas Utd. Conor Hayes’ early goal was cancelled out but injury time presented the home side with a spot kick which was expertly tucked away by Niall O'Riordan to secure three valuable points.

Ethan Hannon and James Kelly were on the mark for Corbally Utd B but they fell by the odd goal in five to Ballylanders whose scores came via Robbie Downey, Paudie McGrath and Josh Aherne.

Caherconlish and Aisling Annacotty D ended 1-1. B Madden and Rian Fitzpatrick were the respective scorers.

With the leading two of Balla and Pike not in action in Division 1B, third placed Nenagh failed to take advantage as they went down 3-2 to Glenview.

Diarmuid Fitzpatrick and Oisin O'Meara scored for the Tipperary side, Sean Keane, Cian Cusack and Frank Lang score to win it for Rovers.

Adam O'Neill (2), Conor O'Leary (2) and Liam Carey scored for Mungret Reg in a 5-2 win over Kilfrush.

Caherdavin Celtic B moved to the top of the pile in Division 2B following an easy win over Murroe B.

Robert Brock and Mark Ryan scored two apiece with Sean Joyce, Morgan Conroy and Daniel Reddan making up the winner’s tally. Darragh O'Shaughnessy hit the lone Murroe score.

Fairview Rgs C title hopes took a dent when they were held 1-1 by Dromore Celtic.

Ethan O'Sullivan netted for Rangers; Mansoor Arda obliged for Celtic.

Division 3A leaders Murroe C looked imperious when they hit Northside for seven on Saturday evening.

Packed with experience all across the park, Murroe increased their lead at the top of the table to six points. Winning scores came from Shane Power 2, Jack Donnelly 2, Philip Clancy 2 and John Humphries. Wayne Fitzgerald grabbed a consolation for a game Northside XI.

Aaron Carroll’s goal gave Athlunkard Villa C the points at home to Castle Utd to move into second spot.

Shelbourne B slipped up in a 2-2 draw with Ballynanty Rvs C. Martin Wallace and AJ McDonagh obliged for Shels while Balla replied with a brace from Cian Nolan.

FAI YOUTH CUP FIRST ROUND:

Feenagh 1 Fairview Rgs 5

THERE was mixed fortunes for Limerick District League sides in the FAI Youth Cup on Saturday.

Fairview Rgs travelled to West Limerick to take on Feenagh and came home with a handsome 5-1 victory.

Feenagh Utd, who knocked out Murroe in an earlier round had the perfect start when Josh Gilbride put them ahead after three minutes.

Fairview steadied thereafter and ten minutes from half time, Chad Molly set up Fionn Reid to equalise.

Fairview took the lead ten minutes after the restart when Tom Curran netted following good work by Oscar O'Donoghue.

The same pair combined again on 72 minutes to repeat the trick. In between, Fionn Reid nabbed a second goal with assistance from D Whelan.

The visitors kept the best wine to last when Jack McMahon struck a wonder goal with time virtually up to complete the scoring.

Fairview Rgs: D Begley; D Whelan; Eamon Doyle; David Lynch; J Duggan; Tom Curran; Fionn Reid; Cameron Walsh; Chad Molloy; Oscar O'Donoghue; Zak McInereny. Subs: Pedro Ubah; Darren Keogh; L O'Halloran; Jack McMahon; Callan Barry.

Freebooters 3 Corbally United 1

CORBALLY Utd were not so lucky as they crashed out of the competition in a 3-1 defeat to Freebooters.

The Kilkenny side took the lead inside a minute through J O'Dwyer and the same player doubled the advantage after the break.

Ruaidhri Mitchell pulled one back for Corbally with 15 minutes remaining and with the game on a knife-edge the home side struck the important third goal through J O'Brien to seal the win.

Corbally United: R Curtin, J Deedigan, C Broe, H Khan, B Kirwin, T Kiely, L O Sullivan, D Connolly, M Hassett, R Mitchell, C Coughlan. Sub J Fahy.

FAI U17 CUP FIRST ROUND: 

Pike Rovers 5 Kinsale 1

PIKE Rovers advanced in the FAI Under 17 Cup with a comfortable win over Kinsale on Sunday afternoon.

First half goals from Cathal Daly McInerney (2), Dylan Browne (2) and Aaron McNamara did the damage.

In the Premier Youth League, Fairview Rgs picked up three priceless points in midweek when they beat fellow hopefuls Aisling 3-0.

The result leaves Fairview three points adrift of Holycross but with two games in hand on the leaders.

Chad Molloy scored twice for the blues while Callan Barry completed the scoring late on. Holycross beat Mungret Regional 4-0 with scores from B Nagy (2), L O’Donovan and H McAteer.