No shocks in FAI as Fairview lose Munster Champions Cup final

MUNSTER CHAMPIONS CUP FINAL

Fairview Rangers 1

Villa FC 2

Villa FC were crowned Keane’s Jewellers Munster Champions Trophy winners after edging out Fairview Rangers in a closely contested final at Jackman Park.

It was an excellent showcase for the Munster Champions Cup, as two of junior soccer’s leading sides served up a robust contest, with Aaron O’Connor settling matters with a late winner in a game that could have swung either way.

The visitor’s goalscoring hero Aaron O’Connor was deemed man of the match but Fairview’s Tomas O’Connor would also have been a deserved choice, he was superb all through the game.

Villa could hardly have made a faster start, taking the lead after just 10 seconds. Conor Whittle’s ball over the top caught the Fairview defence not yet tuned in and Dean Walsh raced through to fire past the stranded Josh McCarthy.

Fairview responded well to falling behind and drew level on 10 minutes. Adam Dore’s corner was headed towards the edge of the penalty area, where Thomas O’Connor met the ball on the volley and drove it through a crowded goalmouth into the net. The game remained 1-1 at the break.

With 15 minutes remaining, AJ O’Connor collected the ball 25 yards out and struck a first-time effort that flashed inches wide of the angle of post and crossbar.

The decisive moment arrived with five minutes remaining. A long throw from Adam Conway caused problems in the Fairview penalty area and, after McCarthy produced a strong punch, the ball fell to Aaron O’Connor.

He took the ball past a defender with his right foot before unleashing a left-footed volley that wrong-footed the defence and flew into the corner of the net.

Villa held firm through the closing stages to secure a hard-earned 2-1 victory and lift the Munster Champions Trophy for a second time.

Fairview Rangers: Josh McCarthy; Danny O’Neill, Blake Curran, Jake Dillon, Jason Cross, Thomas O’Connor, Darragh Rainsford, AJ O’Connor, Yoyo Mahdy, Adam Dore, Oleg Vysochan. Subs: Lee J Lynch, Ethan O’Sullivan, Jack Cross.

Villa FC: Craig Dunphy; John Tamen, Adam Conway, Anthony Ebhonuaye, Luke Walsh, Conor Kilgallon, Conor Whittle, Dean Walsh, Aaron O’Connor, Cian Browne, Calum Flynn. Subs: Shane O’Sullivan, Ed O’Dwyer, Anderson Dube.

FAI JUNIOR CUP

Aisling Annacotty 7

Lough Derg 1

Aisling kicked off the weekend on Saturday evening when they saw off the challenge of Lough Derg with relative ease.

That said it was not until Aisling brought on their big guns midway through the second half that they pulled clear of the Division 2A side.

Francesco Martini gave the home side a first half lead and David Brennan made it 2-0 after the break.

Substitute Joel Coustrain went on to complete a hat trick with Sean O'Haodha and Niko Kozlowski also netting for the winners. Sean Lyons claimed a consolation goal for Lough Derg.

Aisling Annacotty: Conor Wall; Jamie Halpin; Adam Costello; Sean O'Haodha; Dylan Casey; Isaac O'Sullivan; Ben Kiely; David Brennan; Oscar Omorodian; Cathal Downes; Francesco Martini, Subs: Joel Coustrain; Niko Kozlowski; Adam Foley; Conor Coughlan.

Granville Rgs 0

Geraldines 2

Another side to use the bench to good effect were Geraldines who beat Granville Rgs 2-0 in Glenbrook.

Scoreless at the break, the Dines sprung Eoin Hanrahan and Kevin Barry from the bench on the hour mark and were in front a minute later, Famara Kassana teeing up Tony Mmbuana to score.

Granville did not give up and were in the tie until the 84th minute when Dave Pwer fed Kevin Barry to score the insurance goal.

Geraldines: Josh Carey Nestor; Dave Power; Aaron Hickey; Aaron Grant; Cian Fitzgerald; Ousman Darboe; Tony Mambuana; James Fitzgerald; Famara Kassama; Shane Dillon; Leon Johnson, Subs: Robbie Williams; Eoin Hanrahan; Kevin Barry; Munir Abdullahi.

Mungret Reg 3

Moyross 1

Mungret Reg progressed but not without a battle as they saw off Moyross 3-1 in Mungret. Gbadebo Habideen gave Moyross the lead after fifteen minutes after good work by Rian Goggin.

They held their lead until five minutes into the second half when Kieran Long equalised for the home side.

Mungret took the lead with twenty minutes remaining through Aaron Long and Kian Barry notched the vital third goal to kill off a good performance from Moyross.

Mungret Reg: Daniel Doyle; Craig Prendergast; Mark Barrett; Aaron Long; Jake Prendergast; Darragh Killian; Danny McCarthy; Conor Madden; Kieran Long; Kian Barry; Conor Myers, Subs: Abdallah Hamareh; Sean O'Sullivan; Evan Barrett; Gavin Mellerick; Scott Kelly; Mike Curran.

Moyross: Michael O'Donoghue; Rian Goggin; Aaron Power; Ben Johnson; L O'Halloran; Kane Troy; Anton Hayes; Daniel Ikoghode; Gbadebo Habideen; Sean Griffin; Frank Hogan, Subs: Leon Fitzgerald; Cian Power.

Charleville 0

Pike Rovers 3

Pike Rvs advanced in the National competition with a 3-0 win at Charleville. Alex Keating gave the Hoops the lead midway through the first half after good work by Joe Murphy.

Pike lost Steven McGann minutes later but still added to their lead midway through the second half through Aaron Hough. Cathal McNamara added a third to complete the scoring and see Pike through.

Pike Rovers: Sam Casey; Bobby Amadasun; Paddy O'Malley; Kyle Duhig; Brendan O'Dwyer; Aaron Hough; Leon Daly; Joe Murphy; Dylan Murphy; Steven McGann; Alex Keating, Subs: Lee McGuire; Aaron Cusack; Cathal McNamara; Shane Finucane.

Holycross 3

Nenagh AFC 3 (Nenagh won 5-3 on pens aet)

This game was the nearest we came to a shock in the competition when Nenagh needed spot kicks to see off Division 1A side Holycross.

AJ Moloney gave Holycross the lead after 20 minutes but Daniel Connolly levelled the tie just before the break.

Connolly tilted the tie in Nenagh’s favour with his second just after the break and ten minutes later Colm Hayden made it 3-1 to the Tipperary side.

A quick-fire double from top scorer James McCarthy made it 3-3. Neither side could break the impasses and penalties were needed where the Premier sider held their nerve to progress.

Nenagh AFC: Carl Williams; Conor McCormack; Colm Hayden; Kieran Barr; N Mathewebo; Conor Hannify; Daniel Connolly; Tarla Doris; Matt O'Gorman; Mark Manley; Nathan Kelly, Subs: Kieran O'Brien; Dan O'Meara; Brian Tracey; Saeed Ryan; Dylan Morrison; Aaron Mitchell.

Summerville Rovers and Carew Park were the other sides to progress with wins over Lisnagry and Prospect Priory respectively.

ROUNDUP

Pike Rvs B opened up a six-point lead in Division 1A following a 3-1 win at Aisling. First half goals from Logan O'Byrne and Ben Kennedy had the Hoops in control until Gift Amadsun pulled one back for Annacotty. A second score by Ben Kennedy sealed the deal for Pike.

Goals from Aaron Smith and Paddy Quinlan gave Cappamore the points in a 2-1 win over Corbally Utd B for whom Ian O'Donoghue netted.

Ger Myles 2, Aaron Nunan, Eddie Radcliffe, Lee Boyle and an own goal accounted for the Balla B scores as they beat Southend 6-2 on Saturday evening. Daniel Malone scored a brace for Southend.

In Division 2A Fairview Rgs B moved to the top of the table by virtue of a 5-2 win at Coonagh Utd B.

Aodhan Keane was on the mark for the home side but goals from Darren Roche (2), Sean Whelan and Ethan O'Sullivan pushed the Blues ahead of an inactive Lough Derg side.

Mungret Reg C had a 5-2 win over Kilfrush thanks to Jamie Enright 2, E McSweeney, Aled Harkin and James Roche.

In Division 2B Newport C opened up a six-point lead after they defeated Shelbourne B 5-1. Goals from John Ryan 2, Paul Ryan, C Darcy and an own goal did the business. Martin Wallace replied for Shels. 0

Sam Scott was on the mark for Cappamore B but Dromore Celtic replied with scores from A Beville 2 and A Purcell to take the spoils.

Corbally Utd C beat Caherdavin Celtic B 2-1. Robert Brock netted the Celtic goal. The top four in Division 3A all won to make it as you were in the title race.

Leaders Northside had a good 3-2 win in a local derby with Moyross C. A double from PJ Molloy and one from Alan Reddan sufficed for the winners. Danny Sheehan and Pawel Piechocki replied for Moyross.

Two goals from Sean Naughton gave second placed Parkville B the spoils at home to Prospect Priory C while Pike C edged out Geraldines B in a seven-goal game.

L Bzishvili and Leonard Plunkett struck two apiece for the winners. R Phillips, Jamie Leahy and K Fitzgerald scored for Dines.

Goals from Alex Purcell 2, Anthony Kyole and Thomas Keogh saw Balla C past Caherconlish B on a 4-1 scoreline. J Boland replied.

Noel McLeish scored for Lough Derg but they went down 3-1 to Knockainey with Rory Reale nabbing two and D Coll also scoring.

Clare DL 2

Limerick DL 1

Limerick District League Youth team kicked off the Inter League Trophy with a heart-breaking last-minute defeat when they fell 2-1 to the Clare DL in Ennis on Saturday afternoon.

Limerick, fielding a strong side, matched their opponents in the opening half but conceded in injury time to a M Cabida score.

Dom Lipper’s side emerged after the break determined to get back in the game. They had a number of chances but were unable to get a breakthrough. However, with seven minutes remaining Murroe striker Cormac Ryan levelled after good work by Daire Long.

As in the opening half Limerick were undone when conceding late in injury time when B Ifeabajo struck the winner.

The other game in Limerick’s group saw Cork beat the Desmond League 3-2.

Limerick DL; Jack Carmody (Aisling), Aaron McNamara (Pike), Kevin Kearns (Pike), Pierce Griffin (Pike), Cathal Daly (Pike), Kevin McNamara (Aisling), Dylan Kett (Pike), Sean Dunphy (Pike), Danny Quirke (Pike), Jack Creagan (Aisling), Brian Mumbuana (Pike), Subs; Dan Barry (Aisling), Mduduzi Ncube (Pike), Cormac Ryan (Murroe), Ronan Conneely (Aisling), Daire Long (Pike), Josh Wormwald (Kilmallock), Jack O'Donoghue (Aisling), Adi O'Meara (Aisling), Aaron Guerin (Aisling).

FAI U17 Cup

In the FAI Under 17 Cup, Fairview Rgs hit Nenagh for five without reply courtesy of Dion Phayer 2, Sean Crowley, Noel Odiase and Breen Buckley.

Lough Derg A ran riot against Corbally Utd running in scores from A Flynn 3, O Shanahan 2, M Jugowiec 2, C Hass, G Morgan, R O'Callaghan and S O'Brien. B Flanagan claimed a double for Corbally.

K Conway and D Byrnes were on the mark for Bridge Celtic but they fell 5-3 to Holycross whose goals came from C Donnelly 2, Yevhen Teliatnikov, D Adams and K Reale.

In Youth League Division One goals from S Mitchell and R Keogh gave Herbertstown the spoils at home to Charleville while in Division Two, there were wins for Kilmallock and Caherconlish over Summerville and Murroe respectively.

A hat trick from Ronan Collins and one from F Freyne helped Herbertstown to a 4-2 win over Summerville Rvs for whom A Piotrowski and T Wong-McNamara replied.

Mike Koyce also bagged a hat trick in Caherconlish’s 5-2 win over Murroe. A Ryan and A O'Brien made up the winner’s tally; H Gleeson and D McGahon scored for Murroe.