Ballymote 3-9
Calry/St Joseph’s 0-7
Kieran Tighe
Ballymote
remain two from two in the Expert
Electrical Sligo Football U16 Division 2 League Group 1 after overcoming
league leaders Calry/St. Joseph’s by 11 points in a very windy Corran Park on
Sunday, March 29th.
The
first score of the game came from Ballymote captain Niall Colsh with a sweet
score just inside from the left touchline. This proved to be the catalyst
Ballymote needed to finally break the resilient Calry defensive line and get
more scores and a minute later Ballymote did just that after winning the
opposing kick out Cian Brennan showed great bravery to win a 50/50 ball and lay
off to Mark Keenan which created a 2 on 1 situation down the left hand side of
the goals, his pass to Max Cryan brilliantly took out the Calry defender before
Cryan buried a low shot past Calry goalkeeper Brian Flanagan.
Calry
even though on the back foot in possession and against a harsh gale breeze
showed great spirit and got off the mark with a well struck free from
midfielder Brian Cox.
Calry
now started to dominate the midfield battle with Cox again proving to be a
menace seeing his goal chance just going outside of the right post. Calry’s second
score came from a well worked free with Cox playing a short ball to Conall
Stenson who delivered a ball inside to Golden and his smart turn gave him an
extra inch to get his shot away before Mark Conlon could perform a block.
Ballymote
now needed to get back on the scoreboard after going 10 minutes without
scoring, and managed to get just that when Jack Heaver fired over. Further
points from Colsh, Martin and Brennan sent Ballymote further into the
ascendency before Calry’s Reit Solano pointed for the Sligo town side.
Heaver
added two more scores for the Ballymote boys, but the turning point in the
first half came when Oisin Conlon’s long ball with the aid of the breeze from
the halfway line caught Calry keeper Flanagan out and ended up in the back of
the net. Two further scores from Mark Keenan and Heaver put Ballymote in a commanding
position at half-time with the score 2-7 to 0-3 in their favour.
The
second half proved to be a dogged affair with heavy rain and no let up in the
breeze making it difficult for both teams to play any form of flowing football.
Calry got off the mark in the 1st minute of the second half with
Ciarán Needham pointing from a free.
Calry
managed to add to their tally with an excellent 40th minute score
from Cox. The game became a war of attrition with both sides trading chances,
with Calry managing to forge the better openings, but good defending from
Conlon, O’Brien and a contender for man of the match Shane Langton helped
Ballymote stay in control.
It
took until the 55th minute before the next score of the game came
with Needham getting his second point of the game. Ballymote then opened their account of the
second half in the 58th minute with the score of the game as Heaver
got onto the ball inside the Calry 45’ metre line and beat three defenders
before finishing in the bottom of right corner of the Calry net taking his
tally to 1-4 for the day, and securing a well-earned win for his side.
10-point win for Geevagh
Geevagh 2-14 St John’s 2-4
Aoife Conlon
As Gerard Higgins got this
Minor league, Division Three game underway in Geevagh on Thursday last it was St.
Johns who started the better, hitting two wide balls in the first five minutes giving
Geevagh the chance to bring themselves together and gather the first score of
the game with George Wall pointing a well struck 45’.
The first half from
there was full of excellent skills from both teams but a point by Cian Clancy was
to be the only score for St. John’s in this first half, giving Geevagh a very
good start.
Points were struck by
both Sean Heaney and Diarmuid Fallon as they gathered pace in search of more
scores before half time.
There were plenty of
goal chances for the home side too but skills showed by ever-willing keeper
Conor McGovern proved to be the right answer to these attempts.
A huge hit from midfield
followed from Shane Tighe scored the last point of the half, when his soaring,
curling effort proved to be an excellent score. A free kick received by Adam
Condon found its way to the hands of Conor Lavin, who displayed some fine
finishing giving the home side a flying lead and the game’s first goal. This
meant Geevagh held a 1-7 to 0-1 half-time lead.
As the second half started
it was clear St. Johns were raring to get the response they needed to get back
in the game.
Two quick points by
Condon gave Geevagh the brighter opening but it wasn’t long until the visiting
team got themselves their second point from Eoin Tuffy that gave them extra
kick they needed to get back in the game.
Game changer Evan
Davey came off the bench to carry the team forward with two beautifully hit
goals a minute apart which were unstoppable, gliding past keeper Karl Jennings
hands. The determination and work-rate put in by the St. Johns side from there
was an immense effort.
Panic set in from the
home side and it was known that any sloppy effort would ruin any chances of a
win.
With four points in it
the game’s first yellow was handed to St. John’s Tuffy which was the result of a late tackle to add to the frustration of the
visiting side. It wasn’t long until St John’s struck their next score by Cathal
Jordan who displayed great effort throughout the game.
Geevagh midfield
wasn’t slow to pick up the pace again with Condon lifting spirits, scoring a
fine point from just inside the 45’.
Geevagh’s goal chances
came from Lavin and Condon as the duo grasped their second goal with a blasting
finish by Condon as with little effort was fisted into the goals giving Geevagh
a lead of 2-12 to 2-3.
St. John’s did their
best to fight back with excellent performances in all areas of the pitch but
back-to-back points from Condon and Lavin proved to be too much for the
visiting side.
A final clear shot
from St. John’s Joe Spratt gave the team their final point with a soaring kick
but was quickly followed by Geevagh’s O’Reilly sending a well-taken ball over
the bar sealing Geevagh’s victory.
Geevagh: Karl
Jennings, Sean Fallon, Niall Conlon, Eddie Farrell, Shane Tighe (0-1), Adam Condon
(1-4), George Wall (0-1 45’), Diarmuid Fallon (0-2 45’), Sean O’Reilly (0-2), Conor Lavin
(1-1), Sean Heaney (0-2) Subs used: Eoin Heslin, Steven Condon
St. Johns: Conor
McGovern, Mark Connolly, Cathal Jordan (0-1), Eoan Tuffy (0-1), Cian Clancy
(0-1), Cian Hough, Patrick Mc Donagh, Mark Connolly, Shane Egan, Jack Lynch,
Joe Spratt (0-1) Subs used: Scotty McGarry, Evan Davey (2-0), Oisin Haran
Referee: Gerard
Higgins
Aoife Conlon
U14 Showdown
in Kilcoyne Park
Tubbercurry/Cloonacool
7-16
Shamrock Gaels 0-3
By Kate Carty
Bruce
Springsteen’s song lyrics ‘Can’t Start a Fire Without a Spark’ rang true in a sunny but cool
Kilcoyne Park on Thursday evening last, as old rivals Tubbercurry/ Cloonacool
and Shamrock Gaels met in the first round of the Under-14 Division One League
campaign. The spark was struck in 2014 after three tempestuous meetings of the
sides. The fire was well and truly reignited as two well-tuned teams renewed
old rivalries to serve up a cracking encounter in front of two sets of
appreciative fans.
This
encounter would have left Joe Brolly salivating as free flowing open football
replaced modern defensive strategies. The final score-line did not reflect the
competitiveness of the encounter. The opening score of the game came from the home
captain Aaron Perry. The home team tagged on two well worked goals and a point.
This proved to be the catalyst Shamrock Gaels needed to finally get through a
strong defensive line and score their first point in the 7th minute
of the game.
Tubbercurry/Cloonacool’s
Perry came back to score three points, before Shamrock Gaels’ Sean Carroll
tried for a score but was blocked by Dean Maloney. In the last minute of the
first half Perry scored a goal to ensure his side had a 3-11 to 0-1 advantage
going into the second half.
A pass from
Jack Flatley allowed Cathal Gallagher to open up the scoring for the second
half. Shamrock Gaels didn’t hang around for long as Paul Leydon bagged his team
a point. After the home team tallied up another four points and a goal,
Shamrock Gaels were fouled and awarded a penalty. Johnny Kenny stepped up to
take it, however keeper Griffin Gallagher made a superb save to ensure he
maintained his clean sheet. In the last five minutes of the game Rian Moylan
and sub Keith Gallagher each scored a goal, before the dynamic Sean Whitehead
scored a last minute point to secure an impressive win for the
Tubbercurry/Cloonacool lads.
Tubbercurry/Cloonacool
- G Gallagher, T Grismanaskas, D Maloney, S Prendergast, E Carty, C Gavigan, S
Kerrigan, S Whitehead(1-5), S Carnahan, C Matthews(0-2), J Flatley, R Moylan(1-1), C Gallagher(2-0), A Perry(2-8), L Carty. Subs: R
Henry for L Carty, D Burke for E Carty, K Gallagher (1-0) for A Perry, G Conboy
for C Gallagher, R Mitchell for C Matthews.
Shamrock Gaels- R
Brennan, S Mullen, E Dwyer, D Mullen, C Kearns, C Monaghan, A McKenna, S
Carroll, D Kelly, P Kenny, P Leydon(0-2), L Deignan, B Hailstones, D Conlon, R
Thompson. Subs: J Kenny (0-1) for C Monaghan.
Referee: A
McGowan