After the weather break of the previous week, it was back to football last Sunday with just one game unable to take place, Kinsalebeg at home to Brideview, due to a waterlogged pitch.
League leaders Kilworth had their away game to Inch transferred to their own ground at Pound Lane as Sexton Park was deemed unplayable on Saturday.
Unfortunately for the East Cork side, Kilworth were at their very best and scored eight times without reply. This was the sides second meeting this season and in the previous game, Kilworth scored nine goals, thus scoring a total of seventeen goals in two games.
Valley Rgs defeated Cappoquin at the Conna venue and this result see Valley confirm their third spot, increasing their lead over Cappoquin to five points with five league games to play.
In The Avondhu 1st Division, Clashmore see their lead at the top of the table cut to just a single point following their defeat to nearest challengers Brideview in Tallow.
Clashmore have a game less played, but with only six games to play they need to start winning again, having now lost two games on the bounce. Mogeely continued their good run of victories with another win at home to Valley Rgs B.
This coming Sunday we have only three league games with a chance for clubs to play their back games.
Our ‘Blast from the Past’ this week goes back to the 1981/1982 season, especially January 1982, when snow and ice caused cancellations.
MARI MINA PHARMACY PREMIER
Kilworth 8 Inch 0
Originally scheduled for Sexton Park, the pitch was deemed unplayable on Saturday and switched to Pound Lane for the afternoon kick off. When the sides met last November in Sexton Park, Kilworth scored nine times.
As a contest, this game was well and truly over at half-time with the home side scoring four goals without reply. The second half was similar with Kilworth again finding the net on four more occasions.
In fact it was one way traffic from the very start with Inch not causing any problems and this win leaves the current champions and league leaders with an eight point advantage over their nearest challengers, Brideview, and both with six games to play.
Scorers for Kilworth, Owen Condon had a hat-trick, Johnny Lane had two goals, with Jason McCarthy, Aidan Condon and George Heskin a goal each. What is remarkable, that while eight goals were scored, the Golden Boot leader and goal scoring supremo, Paudie Lynch, did not find the net.
Valley Rgs 3 Cappoquin 1
After the results of the previous series of league games, Valley Rgs leapfrogged Cappoquin in the league table and so we expected last Sunday’s meeting to see if Cappoquin could pull back the three points with a win.
Our prediction was a draw and our colleague Michael travelled to the Conna venue to report on the game for our notes.
The game was played on a lovely sunny March morning on a pitch that held up well considering the recent bad weather.
Valley Rgs attacked from the start and on 11mns, Keane hit a post with a cracking effort from 25 yards. They had the ball in the net on 21mns but were called back for offside.
However the home side eventually made the breakthrough on 37mns when, with the ball bobbing about in the box, Philip Keane, from the edge of the area, connected and the ball was in the back of Shane Lambden’s net.
Indeed Lambden was the busier of the two ‘keepers with some excellent saves. Two minutes to half-time, Cappoquin were awarded a penalty and Kieran Flynn despatched the ball to Ryan O’Neill’s net to leave the sides level after 45mns, a goal each.
The second half was not long restarted when O’Neill made a brilliant save as he finger tipped the ball over the bar for a corner kick. Valley regained the lead on 58mns when Rory Galvin hit the Cappoquin net with a volley from the edge of the area.
At this stage, it was a very good game of football with Cappoquin chasing the equaliser.
But as often happens, Valley escaped the offside trap and were awarded a penalty and Galvin scored with his spot kick.
Valley Rgs deserved to win, but credit Cappoquin they never gave up and battled hard to the final whistle.
Valley Rgs – Ryan O’Neill, Kevin Cotter, Shane Cogan, Chris Kelly, Stephen Carr, Ed Kenneally, Eoin Corcoran, John Noonan, Rory Galvin, Eoin Condon, Philip Keane. Reserves – Will O’Neill, Paul O’Donovan, Dave Leahy, Ed Hennessy.
Cappoquin – Shane Lambden, Chris O’Shea, Mark Ronayne, Mark Barry, Eamonn Mernin, Kieron Flynn, Shane Kenny, Stephen Hally, Xander Coolbear, Sean Reaney, Shane Dunne. Reserve – Jason O’Keeffe.
Referee – Seamus Forde
Colour scheme – both teams passed. Best for Valley, Ryan O’Neill in goal, Shane Cogan and John Noonan. Best for Cappoquin, Shane Lambden in goal, Mark Ronayne and Eamonn Mernin.
Man of the Match Award goes to Valley’s Stephen Carr for his all-round performance at centre half.
So Valley have completed a double over Cappoquin.
Brideview 2 Clashmore 1
We wrote this was match of the day, with the league leaders playing the second placed team. With Brideview breathing down their necks, Clashmore knew they had to get at least a point, but all three would see them open a gap at the top of the table, so we were expecting a close and exciting game.
Brideview took the lead through Ben Aherne, but Clashmore hit back through the division’s leading goal scorer, Paul O’Connor for the equaliser. But back came Brideview and they regained the lead when Lee McElroy found the net and this was the score at half-time.
The second half was stalemate with Clashmore unable to break down the home defence and at the final whistle, Brideview claimed the three points and are now only a point adrift in second place, albeit Clashmore have a game less played.
Mogeely 2 Valley Rgs 0
Mogeely picked up another three points when defeating Valley Rgs B on Sunday afternoon last at Railway Park. This was their fourth league victory. At the time of compiling our notes, we do not know who scored for Mogeely as we have received no result or report from the club.
PREVIEWS
This weekend, St. Patrick’s weekend, we have just three games, allowing clubs play games already lost due to the adverse weather conditions of the past few weeks.
With Kilworth not playing, Brideview have an opportunity to cut the lead at the top of the table when they host Cappoquin at Leonard Fraser Park, while Inch have Kinsalebeg as visitors to Sexton Park. There is only one game in the first division when leaders Clashmore travel to Railway Park to play Mogeely.
Brideview v Cappoquin
Having lost last Sunday away in Conna, Cappoquin travel to Leonard Fraser Park to play Brideview. Brideview’s last outing was at Pound Lane two weeks ago when losing to Kilworth 3-0.
This will be the third time these teams have faced each other in the league, both games played in the Danes Field, with Brideview winning on the last occasion, 4th February 1-2. While, when the sides met in Cappoquin on St. Stephen’s Day, the result was a 1-1 draw.
Kilworth’s easy victory last Sunday at home to Inch see the league leaders increase their lead at the top of the table and Brideview have a real chase on their hands to catch them with games starting to run out, only six games remaining, while Cappoquin have lost ground with Valley Rgs replacing them in third spot and they have only five games to play.
For the two teams on Sunday, the result is more important for the home side than Cappoquin, as anything less than three points will see the title almost certain to stay in North Cork.
With so much at stake for the Tallow team, we believe they will take the three points and restore pressure on the league leaders.
Inch Utd v Kinsalebeg
Both teams occupy the last two rungs of the premier league with Kinsalebeg a point behind second last placed Inch. Sunday’s fixture is a re-fixture as both teams were to play in Sexton Park on 17th February, but again the heavy rains made pitches unplayable at both venues.
The two sides met back in September at Fitzgerald Park with Kinsalebeg winning 5-1. Both clubs after their good results before the split saw them make the “big” six of the premier, but up against the strong teams in Kilworth and Brideview, even though Kinsalebeg did defeat Brideview at Fitzgerald Park. The result here next Sunday will help either team move up the table. We expect Kinsalebeg to take the three points.
Mogeely v Clashmore
The form of both teams has changed dramatically in the last few weeks with Mogeely at present the form team having managed to win their last three league games, while league leaders Clashmore have lost their last two, a shock home defeat to Valley Rgs and an away defeat last Sunday to Brideview.
Clashmore’s seven point lead at the start of February has been cut by Brideview to just one point six weeks later, with Mogeely a further two points adrift.
However, Clashmore have a game less played than both of these teams and Sunday’s game was originally scheduled to be played on Sunday, February 18, but the weather intervened.
The sides met in Mogeely in late September with an Owen Coughlan goal the difference at the end of 90mns. They also met in the final of the Tony Bolger Plate on the October bank holiday Monday at Fitzgerald Park and Clashmore ran riot, winning 8-1. This is an important game for both teams.
A Clashmore victory and they increase their lead at the top to four points and level on games with Brideview and both having five games each to play. If Mogeely take the three points, they go joint top of the table with Clashmore, but with four games to play.
Clashmore’s current form is causing headaches for manager Pablo, especially having surrendered such a strong lead at the top of the table. Sunday’s game is definitely a must win game for the visitors, while Jake knows a home win will alter the rest of the season in the run in.
With so much at stake, we think Clashmore will take the three points, but they have proven our predictions wrong in their last two games.
FIXTURES
Sunday, March 18: Mari Mina Pharmacy Premier – Inch Utd v Kinsalebeg Celtic 2pm, S Pratt; Brideview v Cappoquin 2pm, E Cusack. The Avondhu 1st Division – Mogeely v Clashmore 2pm, S Drislane.
DELEGATE MEETING
There was a league delegate meeting held last Monday night at the Leonard Fraser Park Complex. League Chairman Noel Hegarty presided. We will give a report in our notes next week.
GOLDEN BOOT
Following last week’s games there are changes in the Golden Boot in both divisions.
In the Mari Mina Pharmacy Premier, Paudie Lynch, Kilworth has 22 goals, Chris Murphy Brideview 13, Shane Bennett Brideview 12, John Lane Kilworth 11.
The Avondhu 1st Division sees Paul O’Connor, Clashmore on 7 goals, Ethan Hayes Mogeely and Paddy Prendergast, Clashmore have 5 each, Mark Stewart and Adam Crawford, both Brideview, have 4 goals each.
BEST OF LUCK
We wish neighbours Dungarvan Utd the very best next Sunday when they play St. Brendan’s of Tralee in the semi-final of the Munster Youth Cup at Kilrush with a 2pm kick off.
The winner here will play Douglas Hall from the Cork Youth League, who defeated Avenue Utd from Ennis in the Clare League at the County Grounds, Ennis last Saturday 1-0.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
We have for the past few weeks been writing more about the weather than football and we mentioned two weeks ago the snow that caused problems for the Red House League, back in 1978 and 1982. We are indebted to our colleague Pat who contacted us last week with some history relating to 1982.
On 10th January 1982, only one game was played, Youghal defeated Clashmore 5-2. Games that were called off that weekend included Brideview v Valley Rgs, Affane v Modeligo, Piltown v Shamrocks, Killeagh v Lismore. All these games were cancelled because of the icy conditions.
We then go forward from January to 28th March, same year, 1982 with a report, as follows: ‘Affane 0 Modeligo 3.
By virtue of their three-nil win over their neighbours and last year’s champions Affane, Modeligo clinched the Red House League on Sunday last. This was a great performance from the Modeligo side who were unbeaten in a total of eighteen games from a possible twenty, and in fact the only sides to take points from them were Shamrocks (2pts), Valley Rgs (3pts), Cappoquin and Lismore (1 point) each. They have been unbeaten since November 15th 1981.
The final round of league games were played on Sunday, 4th April 1982, with Lismore defeating Killeagh.
The league table for that season, 1981/82, show Modeligo as champions with 33 points, Valley Rgs 32pts, Affane 30pts, Lismore 24pts, Youghal 22pts, Brideview 20pts, Cappoquin 17pts, Shamrocks 16pts, Killeagh 14pts, Piltown 13pts, Clashmore 7pts.’
The above report was written by our great friend, the late Tony Bolger who was the league’s PRO at the time and his report appeared in the local papers. Also at that particular time, the late Dermot O’Leary of Cappoquin also acted as a PRO within the league, reporting for the Waterford City papers.
The very first cup competition organised by the league took place in 1982 when the late Noel Faherty, Dungarvan Tyre Centre, presented the Dungarvan Tyre Centre Cup to the league in March 1982 for competition and Lismore became the first winners, defeating Youghal 2-0 in the final played at Brideview Park.
We will look into the history of the Dungarvan Tyre Centre Cup in the weeks to come.
AIRTRICITY LEAGUE
We commence our Airtricity League round-up with Waterford’s fantastic victory away to Sligo Rvs on Friday night last. In our notes last week we wrote that to come away with a point would be very good, but three points would be a real bonus and the win sees the Blues go joint top of the table with Cork City who lost away in Oriel Park. With former Blues player Patrick McLean having signed for Sligo and playing in the centre of defence, this was going to be a tough game for the newly promoted club from the banks of the Suir.
Waterford took the lead at the Showgrounds through Gavin Holohan and this was the score at half-time. The second half saw Sligo up the tempo and it took a few very good saves, including two double saves by new ‘keeper, Lawrence Vigouroux, to deny the Bit O ‘Red an equaliser. However Sligo did find the net on 67mns when Adam Morgan scored and the home team could have taken the lead only for the inform Waterford goalkeeper, who was excellent. With a draw looking the likely result, Waterford struck in the last minute when Courtney Duffus scored from the edge of the area, giving Waterford all three points and three victories from four outings, a very good return from a club back playing premier football after ten years in the 1st Division.
Cork City made the trip to Oriel Park to play Dundalk and having won seven of their last clashes, including the President’s Cup at the same venue at the end of February, and undefeated in the league after three games, the league champions were expected to come out on top again. Once again Stephen Kenny showed how good a manager he is and has been for the past number of years and team building with the present squad, he got his tactics right on the night.
Dundalk took the lead after only 4mns when Pat Hoban took advantage of a mistake by City ‘keeper Mark McNulty and the ball was in the back of McNulty’s net. Dundalk were the better team for the rest of the game and while McNulty made some good saves, including a penalty save from Robbie Benson, Dundalk should have added to their single goal with Duffy missing at least three great opportunities.
The final whistle saw what this victory meant to the County Louth club, as the players and fans celebrated.
While there are only four games played, it is great to see Waterford joint top of the table with Cork City, followed by Dundalk, Shamrock Rvs and Limerick.
By the time our notes appear in print, Waterford will have played at home to Bohemians and Cork City at home to Shamrock Rvs – both will have played last Monday night. For Both City and Waterford, these are important games with the results having a bearing on the league tables and the fixtures for the rest of March.
This Friday night Waterford make the trip to Oriel Park to play former league champions Dundalk who are back in the groove. This will be a real test for the Blues, playing against one of the best sides in the league for the last number of years.
The same night, Cork City make the trip to the Markets Field for a Munster derby with Limerick FC.
Cobh Wanderers picked up three points last Friday night at Stradbrook when defeating Cabinteely by the only goal of the game, scored in the opening half.
After two league games, Cobh and Galway are joint top with four points each. This Saturday, Cobh play at home when Finn Harps are the visitors to St. Colman’s Park.
| MARI MINA PHARMACY PREMIER | |||||||
| 11/03/2018 | |||||||
| Pl | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Kilworth | 13 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 67 | 15 | 36 |
| Brideview A | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 43 | 17 | 28 |
| Valley Rgs A | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 32 | 30 | 24 |
| Cappoquin | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 30 | 27 | 19 |
| Inch | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 19 | 39 | 16 |
| Kinsalebeg | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 21 | 34 | 15 |
| THE | AVONDHU | 1st | DIVISION | ||||
| Clashmore | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 23 | 25 | 17 |
| Brideview B | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 28 | 23 | 16 |
| Mogeely | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 25 | 14 |
| Valley Rgs B | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 16 | 61 | 3 |
