Relegation battle roars

THE Andy McEvoy Premier 1 battle to avoid relegation looks set to go right down to the wire. Three of the four unlucky contenders were in action this week and it was a roaring success for Arklow Celtic A.

A 3-1 triumph over St. Fergal’s AFC A at Celtic Park has catapulted the Arklow side to within touching distance of Premier 1 football again next season. The goals came from Tommy Larkin, Mark Doyle and Pa Monaghan for Celtic.

That defeat was the Saints’ second outing of the week. Their other fixture also ended in defeat as Newtown United A inflicted a 41 loss on the Bray side.

Matthew Kennedy, Ross Odlum and Marty Williams (2) all found the net for the Magpies as they closed the gap on league leaders Rathnew AFC to a single point.

Ashford Rovers also faced a double- header this week with both clashes coming against Wicklow Town. And it did not fare well for the Ballinalea Park side, but they put up a good fight.

On Wednesday, they travelled to Finlay Park and went down by four goals to one. Wicklow’s goals were provided by Brendan Cox, Eddie Kelly, Kevin Coady and David “DOC” O’Connor, while Rovers’ reply came from Brendan Manning.

The pair locked horns again on Sunday in Ashford and despite the best efforts of Danny Byrne, Town again emerged victorious.

The Ashford attacker netted a hat-trick but it wasn’t enough, as Town ran out 3-4 winners. Brendan Cox struck a double, with Kevin Coady and Jordan Quinn also notching for Town, who are now level on points with third placed Arklow Town. Wicklow Cup semi-finalists Ashford Rovers now have three games to save their skins.