Wins for Fr Casey's, Monaleen and holders Newcastle West in Limerick SFC fixtures

THERE were wins for Fr Casey's, Monaleen and holders Newcastle West in the three Irish Wire Products Limerick senior football championship round four fixtures played on Thursday evening.

In Group 1, champions Newcastle West made it four wins from four when ending Kildimo-Pallaskenry's winning start to the campaign on a 2-10 to 0-11 scoreline at Sean Finn Park in Rathkeale.

Elsewhere in Group 1, Fr Casey's boosted their hopes of making the knock-out stages when securing their third success of the campaign when edging past St Kieran's 1-14 to 1-9 at Newcastle West.

Meanwhile, in Group 2, Monaleen recorded their third win in four group fixtures when seeing off Ballysteen on a 1-17 to 1-11 scoreline at Ballingarry.

At Rathkeale's Sean Finn Park, Newcastle West cementing a place in the semi-finals with a round to spare in the group phase after seeing off a determined Kildimo-Pallaskenry side by five points.

A goal five minutes before half-time from Brian O'Sullivan left the Magpies in control of the scoreboad and gave them an interval lead of three points despite having played into a stiff breeze blowing directly from one goalpost to the other.

Another from a penalty, scored by Iain Corbertt, just after the three-quarter mark killed off any chance of them being overhauled by a late rally.

Newcastle West led the contest 1-6 to 0-6 at half-time.

Brian Hurley, and Bryan Nix contributed three points each for the winners, with two of the former's points coming from placed balls. 

Limerick senior player Peter Nash top scored for Kildimo-Pallaskenry, who have six points on the table, with 0-6, including five frees, while Cathal Downes added 0-3, including two frees.

Fr Casey's booked their place in the quarter-finals of the County SFC thanks to their hard-fought five-point victory over St Kieran's in near-perfect conditions for football in Newcastle West. 

Fr Casey's, however, have secured a top three finish and a place in the last six of the competition, with the Abbeyfeale side taking on Kildimo-Pallaskenry next month in a bid to secure a possible top two finish in Group 1.

The result ended St Kieran's hopes of making the knock-out stages of the championship this year.

It was Fr Casey's 1-7, St Kieran's 1-4 at the half-time break, a lead the men from Abbeyfeale extended to five by full time. 

After a strong start, Kieran's opened up a three-point lead as early as the fifth minute when Dylan Moloney, in acres of space, found the back of the net to make it 1-1 to 0-1.

Both sides exchanged points before the impressive David Ward, who was causing all sorts of problems for the Kieran's full back line, punched to the net midway through the opening half. The towering Fr Casey's full forward was quickest to react to a Martin Scannell pass into the danger area, putting Casey's ahead for only the second time. 

A strong second quarter from Fr Casey's saw the West Limerick side open up a three-point advantage by the interval. 

After the restart, it was Kieran's, boosted by a impressive second half performance from Alan Daly, who managed to claw the deficit back to just one point heading into the final 10 minutes. 

However, when Scannell slotted over a well-taken free to stop the rot and score his side's first point in almost nine minutes, the momentum really started to swing back in Fr Casey's favour. 

Two further points from Scannell and a late Ronan Quirke point secured the five-point win for the Abbeyfeale side. 

At Ballingarry, Monaleen and Ballysteen served up an entertaining, high intensity contest.

The teams were tied 0-6 each at half-time, after the city side had played with the assistance of a stiff breeze in the opening half.

Monaleen led on four occasions in that opening period, but were reeled back each time by their gritty opponents.

Monaleen, propelled by an impressive tally of 0-8, including six points from play, from full-forward Daniel Daly, reeled off half a dozen points without reply in the third quarter to build a significant 0-12 to 0-6 lead after 43 minutes. 

A point from the hard-working Conall O'Duinn, his second of the game, ensured Monaleen were still six points to the good after 46 minutes.

However, to their credit, Ballysteen rallied strongly to draw level by the 51st minute, at 0-13 to 1-10. Substitute Paul O'Shaughnessy finished Danny Neville's centre to the net in the 50th minute, while Neville, with two, and Sean Whelan added points.

It was then that Monaleen, now back to 15 players after an earlier black card, showed their resilience. A flowing move upfield which featured Darragh Siochru and Daly led to Luke Murphy crashing home a terrific goal in the 54th minute.

While Neville cut their lead to two points, 1-13 to 1-11, substitute Ger Collins restored the city side's three point advantage. 

And Monaleen, who had an eye-catching display from Limerick senior player Darragh Murray, closed the game in the ascendancy with three further points from Daly, two, both frees, and substitute Alan Nicholas. The winners had eight different scorers on the night, while Ballysteen had seven.