Early season leader emerges in Limerick District's Premier League

Premier League

Athlunkard Villa 1 Geraldines 5

Geraldines sit pretty atop the Premier League this Monday following their 5-1 win at Athlunkard Villa on Sunday morning.

Geraldines produced a strong finish to overcome a determined Athlunkard Villa side in an entertaining encounter.

Villa started brightly and had a couple of half chances through Danny Taylor and Jack Flanagan.

At the other end, Cian Fitzgerald tried his luck from long range and Villa goalkeeper Robert Power made a good save. The rebound fell to Tony Mambuana, but he fired wide of the target.

Geraldines thought they had taken the lead when a fabulous run by James Fitzgerald created an opening for Famara Kassama, whose shot found the net. However, the ball took a touch off fellow striker Tony Mambuana, who was in an offside position, and the goal was ruled out.

Gareth Ronan was having a superb game for Geraldines in midfield, dictating matters and controlling the tempo. His clever back-heel created an opening for substitute Muhsin Jelle, but his effort was well saved by Power.

Villa continued to threaten and a good run by Flanagan saw him blast the ball across the face of goal. The Geraldines goalkeeper Jose Zaquieu got a vital touch to take it out of the path of the onrushing Danny Taylor, ensuring a scoreless first half.

After the break Shane Dillon also forced another good save from Power with a long-range effort.

Geraldines eventually took the lead on the hour mark when James Fitzgerald's inswinging corner was met by Eoin Hanrahan, who got the required touch to send the ball into the net.

Villa responded superbly. A magnificent turn by Hamza Selman Celik at halfway created an opening for Jack Flanagan, who cleverly dinked the ball over the advancing goalkeeper for an excellent equaliser.

The game remained finely balanced, with Villa refusing to sit back and Geraldines continuing to look dangerous. The visitors regained the lead after 78 minutes when they pounced on an attempt by Villa to play the ball out from defence. Conor Keane intercepted and slipped the ball into the path of Muhsin Jelle, who drilled a low shot into the bottom corner to make it 2-1.

Villa never gave up the fight and continued to push, but Geraldines struck the crucial third goal in the 89th minute. It stemmed from a superb run by James Fitzgerald along the end line, before former Villa favourite Famara Kassama poked the ball home from close range.

The closing stages then saw Geraldines add two further goals to give the final scoreline a somewhat flattering appearance.

Conor Keane made it 4-1 when substitute Munir Abdullahi teed the ball up for him to fire home. Keane completed the scoring minutes later when he intercepted an attempted short free-kick by Villa and fired home from just inside the Geraldines half.

The two late goals may give the false impression that this was an easy win for Geraldines, but that would do little justice to Athlunkard Villa's contribution. Villa battled throughout and continued to push until the end. Credit must go to Geraldines, however, for taking the chances when they were presented with them and finishing the game in emphatic fashion.

Athlunkard Villa: Robert Power; Darragh Peters; Diarmuid Grimes; Ben Dillon; Dave Frawley; Shane Cope; Hamza Selman Celik; Colin Nolan; TJ McDonnell; Danny Taylor; Jack Flanagan. Subs: Lorcan Feeney; James Frahill; John Keogh; Eamon Doyle; Sean Markham.

Geraldines: Jose Zaquieu; Dave Power; Aaron Hickey; Aaron Grant; Eoin Hanrahan; Cian Fitzgerald; Tony Mambuana; Gareth Ronan; Famara Kassama; James Fitzgerald; Shane Dillon. Subs not used: Muhsin Jelle; Conor Keane; Leon Johnson, Munir Abdullahi.

Nenagh AFC 4 Moyross 1

Nenagh picked up their first points of the season with a 4-1 win over Moyross on Sunday.

Dylan Morrison proved the hero of the hour with a superb hat trick. He opened the scoring ten minutes from half time.

Moyross were proving a tough nut to crack however the home side doubled their lead with twenty minutes remaining when Dylan Connolly set up Matt O’Gorman to finish.

Moyross revived their hopes when E Mullane pulled one back five minutes later but their hopes were dashed within a minute when Morrison restored Nenagh’s two goal lead.

Morrison completed his hat trick four minutes from time

Nenagh AFC: Mark McKenna; Saeed Ryan; Nathan Kelly; Kieran Barr; Conor McCormack; N Mathewebo; Daniel Connolly; Conor Hannify; Matt O'Gorman; Tarla Doris; Dylan Morrison. Subs: Luis Felipe Araujo; Adam Brennan; Coilin Doris; C O'Gorman; Brian Tracey; Arthur Mitchell.

Moyross: Michael O'Donoghue; Rian Goggin; Frank Hogan; Andrew Leydon; Ben Johnson; James Cleary; Leon Hoare-Fitzgerald; Jason Keane; Cian Power; Daniel Ikoghode; E Mullane. Subs: Anton Hayes; L O'Halloran; A Daly; Harry Fleming.

Roundup

The Premier A League shows a three-way tie at the top after the weekend games.

Newport who led the way going into action came unstuck against a good Corbally XI. Two goals from Dermot Hughes secured the win. Eoin Looney replied for Newport.

The results put Corbally joint top with Newport.

Joining them on six points are Hyde Rgs who were again impressive in a 3-0 win at Summerville Rvs. After heroics in their midweek win over Corbally, Evan Shine scored another brace to add to his tally. Zac McInerney completed the scoring for Hyde.

Goals from P McGrath, Dave Burke and Eoghan Killian gave Regional Utd Ba 3-1 win over Shelbourne for whom George Barry scored while Prospect Priory got off the mark with a 2-0 win over Star Rovers. Keelan Corbett scored both goals for the winners.

In Division 1A, leaders Holycross kept their winning run going with a 4-1 win at home to Southend. Rian McNamara scored twice for the county side with Conor Hayes and James McCarthy also on the mark. Kian Hedderman replied for Southend.

Pike Rvs B kept pace with the leaders with a comfortable 7-1 win at home to Parkville.

Alan Keane, Ben Kennedy and Dylan O'Neill grabbed two apiece and Mick Lipper made up the winner’s tally.

Corbally Utd B also struck seven when they beat Nenagh B 7-4. Cian Moore 2, D Burton 2, Kevin Burke, James Kelly and Shane McLoughlin were the winning marksmen while Sean Morrissey, Steve Daly, Diarmuid Fitzpatrick and K McDonald were on target for Nenagh.

Goals from Sean Lynch 2 and Aaron Smith gave Cappamore a 3-1 win at Aisling Ann B for whom T Jasinski replied.

In Division 1B, leaders Kilmallock B extended their advantage to five points following a 4-2 win over Newport B. Ronan Collins 2, Joe Hay and Fionn Freyne were on target for the winners; Darragh Meaney and Ben Weist scored for Newport.

After a dodgy start, losing their opening two games, Brazuca have bounced back with back-to-back wins.

On Saturday they defeated Granville Rgs 2-1 in Singland. Jamie McNamara had given the home side a lead but Rafael Henrique levelled for the visitors.

With a draw looking likely, Ruben Netto popped up in the last minute to strike the winner.

The big game in Division 2A saw Lough Derg produce a superb performance to beat a very good Fairview Rgs side and take top spot.

Dan Fogarty set up Adam Blake to put the Tipperary side ahead early on but Cian Walsh restored parity five minutes after the restart.

Lough Derg regained the lead on the hour mark when Blake turned provider to set up Jason Monaghan to notch what proved the winning score.

Moyross B beat Kilfrush 5-0 to move second, a point behind. Trevor Hogan scored for the winners and substitutes Kane Troy and Martin Duggan scored two apiece to complete the scoring.

Abbey Rvs ran up a big win over a young Aisling Annacotty C side. Leonard Casey Plunkett 0

Cian O'Donoghue and Ken Nealon shared the winner’s goals while Stan Ezekannagha 2 and Niall Connaughton netted for Aisling.

Donal Whelan, Shane Byrnes and Ben Murnane were on the mark for Bridge Celtic but they fell 4-3 to Croom for whom Cody Murphy and a Josh Shinnors with a hat trick responded.

Ralph Leonard, Sam Egan, Ger Hodkinson and Ian Barrett scored for Coonagh in a 4-2 win over Castle Rovers. Sean Daly and Sean O’Riordan netted for Rovers.

Northside took over top spot in Division 3A with a comprehensive 6-1 win over Prospect C .

Two goals apiece Leon Daly and Kian Ryan set up the win while Dylan Bourke and PJ Molloy also netted for the winner. Craig Blenkinsop replied for Prospect.

Moyross C and Pike Rvs C played out a thrilling 5-5 draw. Danny Sheehan bagged a hat trick for Moyross along with scores from Calum Quinn and Barry Quinn,

Pat Keane also scored three for Pike with L Bzishvili and Nathan Quinlan making up their tally.

Goals from A Flynn, G McWey and K Flynn gave Lough Derg a 3-1 win over Castle Utd for whom D Carmody replied.