Limerick District League junior soccer round-up

Limerick DL 1 Cork DL 2

Limerick DL put up a good fight against a very strong Cork XI before exiting this season's Inter County Youth Trophy. 
Needing a win to progress to the next stage, Limerick went into the tie as underdogs but surprised their guests with a stirring first half performance. 

Unfortunately, concession of a goal just before the break meant the hosts were forced to chase the tie. 
Cork doubled their lead after the break and while Limerick did pull a goal back, in the end they had to settle for second best. 

From the off, it was obvious the visitors brought a highly talented side, spraying the ball all around the park.

However, Limerick matched them across the park. Central defenders Josh Leung and Justin Dimitru were doing a great job against the Cork front runners. 

Leon Kirrane was every good in the middle of the park while up front Cian Specht and Mike Curran were causing the visitors plenty of headaches, although Cork no 5, Daniel Apanaku was proving a class act.

Cian Specht and Mike Curran both went close for Limerick but were marginally over the top.

Limerick keeper Max Stone was called upon to make a couple of fine saves to deny Adam Costello and Paddy Cronin.

When it looked like the sides would go in level at the break, Limerick’s concentration lapsed momentarily and Cork struck when Adrian Thibaut scored from close range following a corner kick. 

The same player tacked on a second for Cork in the second half making it a mountain to climb for Limerick if they were to overtake their rivals. 

To their credit they got some reward when substitute Jamie Hogan scored a cracking goal to reduce the deficit but that was as good as it got for Dean Lillis’ side.

Premier League Games:

Fairview Rgs 0 Pike Rvs 0
The top two sides in the Premier League, Pike Rvs and Fairview Rgs crossed paths on Sunday afternoon at the Fairgreen when a goalless draw provided a share of the spoils.

It was a teak tough encounter from the first minute and not surprising that two excellent sides cancelled each other out.
Neither side brought their A game to the field and while we had no goals, there was plenty to keep the large crowd in place until the final whistle.

Fairview will be mulling over a couple of gilt-edged chances they failed to convert but overall, a draw was a fair outcome. 
Early chances for the home side saw Conor Coughlan volley wide of the post from ten yards and AJ O’Connor’s header at a corner was blocked by Eoin Hanrahan on a goalmouth melee. 

At the other end Conor Layng raced clear of the Fairview defence and while he raced around keeper Savage, he ran too wide of the target and his shot from an acute angle was blocked by Jamie Enright. 

A Coughlan corner kick was headed back into the area by Mike O’Gorman where Shane Duggan’s overhead kick struck the crossbar and bounced to safety. 

Minutes later Duggan showed sweet touch looping the ball over a Pike defender but his finish did not match the buildup.
A brilliant run by Jeffery Judge ended with a shot going narrowly wide of the far post. 

Fairview had a great chance when Martin Deady’s free kick was cleared to Coughlan on the edge of the area. His shot was parried by Gary Neville and Mark Slattery, following up, blazed the ball over the top from six yards. 

The home side had an even better chance minutes later when the ball fell to Duggan inside the six-yard box but his attempt to knock the ball in was superbly saved by Neville to keep the game scoreless. 

The second half produced less in way of chances but Layng went close with a header from Eoin Hanrahan’s corner kick.

Another corner from Hanrahan saw Aaron Savage make a rare error when the ball slipped through his hands. Jamie Enright was again in the right spot to block on the line with the goalkeeper mopping up the danger.  

Nenagh AFC 2 Aisling Annacotty 2
With the top two sides clashing, Aisling were hoping to make ground when they travelled to Nenagh but they met a local side with other ideas. Matt Spain put Nenagh in front before Liam Quinn levelled the tie before the break.

Saeed Ryan restored the home sides lead after the restart but Quinn came to Aisling’s rescue again with and equaliser.
The result puts Nenagh in pole position to finish in the top six before the League is split in two. 

Prospect Priory 2 Coonagh Utd 1
Prospect are also in contention for that sixth position after a good 2-1 win over Coonagh Utd.  Brion Moriarty had given Coonagh the lead following good work by Ger Myles but Trevor Hogan scored for Prospect to level the tie. 

Either side could have snatched it but Prospect came up trumps when Tyrique Leamy hit a beauty from 25 yards for a worthy winner.  

Geraldines 0 Janesboro 2
Janesboro are another side who have not given up on that coveted sixth place after a 2-0 win at Geraldines today.

Geraldines squandered a couple of good first half chance sand paid the price when Jeffery Dore fired Janesboro in front after the break. 

Conor Madden make sure of the points when he headed in from an Aaron Fitzgerald corner kick. 

Round-Up

In the Premier A Cup, Charleville joined Fairview at the top of the table following a 2-1 win over Newport thanks to a brace from Cian McNamara. Brian O’Sullivan netted for Newport.

The Premier A Cup kicked off the weekend with results going to script. Carew Park beat Cappamore 3-0. Jonathan Grant scored a brace with Danny McCarthy also netting. 

Moyross impressed in their 5-0 win over Aisling B. Craig Collopy Duggan (2) and Danny Sheehan had Moyross well in control at the break. Habideen Gbadebo tacked on two more after the break. 

In Division 1A, Knockainey recorded an impressive 2-1 win at Summerville. Evan O’Grady was on target for the home side but goals from Nick Hayes and Michael Hickey won the points for Knockainey.
Star dropped points when they were held 1-1 at Castle Utd. 

In Division 1B, Caherdavin and Mungret shared four goals evenly at the Greenhills. Kane Connolly and Danny McDonagh scored for Celtic; David Burke and Kuba Cieloch replied.  

Parkville hit Cals for six courtesy of Brian Scales 2, Aidan O Connor, Barry O Sullivan, Cian Hannon and Robert Collins.
In Division 2A goals from David Corbett and Conor Martin gave Caherconlish a 2-1 win at Corbally. Eoghan Carr replied for the home side. 

In Division 2B, leaders Aisling maintained their advantage with a 3-1 win at Dromore. Jason Lipper, Damien Collins and Lasille Ayoowula were on the mark for the winners.

Shelbourne B proved too strong for Northside, running in six goals without reply. Martin Wallace bagged a hat trick while Kyle Luck, Simon Fitzgerald and Alan Rowlands also netted. 

Kevin Laffan scored the only goal for Croom at Summerville in Division 3A while in 3b Balla opened up a thirteen points gap on the chasing pack with a 3-2 win over Newtown. 

Barry Quinn, Dean O’Brien and Mike O’Donnell scored for the leaders.