Campile see off Fastnet
CAMPILE United 2, Fastnet Rovers 1: It was a beautiful evening in Campile as the home team and Fastnet battled it out in the Richie Dwyer Over-35 soccer league.
Fastnet took the lead after five minutes with Campile conceding a penalty expertly dispatched by ‘Whacker’ Murphy. But three minutes later Campile got the equaliser from John Whitty getting on the end of a Graham Howlin header across the box from an Alan Myler free-kick.
Both sides got chances to take the lead but didn’t capitalise. Campile’s best chance came from the penalty spot but Fastnet ‘keeper Dermot Reville made a great save from Alan Myler.
In the 26th minute John Whitty scored his second to give the hosts the half-time lead after a mixup in the Fastnet defence.
The first chance of the second-half saw the Fastnet ‘keeper tipping the ball over, denying John Whitty his hat-trick after a great cross from Alan Myler.
Campile had an Ollie Cummins shot hit the side-netting to the dismay of the home crowd. With the hot evening and teams tiring, the game was opening up but neither side was able to add to the scoreline.
On the final whistle Campile won 2-1 but credit to both sides, with some great performances on display in a great evening’s entertainment.
All Blacks 2, St. Leonards 3: It was a high-scoring game in Casey Park on Friday as the All Blacks hosted St. Leonards.
St. Leonards got off to the best possible start when Matty Flynn found the net to give the visitors the lead, but Thady Redmond equalised for the All Blacks.
Half-time saw the teams deadlocked. St. Leonards regained the lead in the second-half with a second goal from Matty Flynn, this time from a free-kick, and at this stage, the All blacks were chasing the game.
Some good work from Pat Sinnott and James Delaney resulted in a penalty to the home team which was expertly converted by Anthony Dowd to make it 2-2 as the game entered the home straight.
With Leonards on the attack in the dying moments, the ball found its way to Bob Whitty who tried one from distance and, to the delight of the away side, his kick somehow made its way to the All Blacks net and the final whistle sounded soon after to give the three points to St. Leonards.
It was hard on the home team but that’s sport. Leonards now go joint second in the table with Raheen, Campile and Taghmon whilst the All Blacks have a shield semi-final to look forward to.
Corach Ramblers 3, Kilmore United 1: Well, what can you say about this game? It had it all: early goals, a comeback, a red card, a penalty...we even saw Lazarus (Paul Diskin) rise from the dead.
Corach started like a team possessed. Two cracking goals in the first and fifth minutes from Paul Diskin put the home team in complete control of the tie, but Kilmore, to their credit, never gave up and pulled one back midway through the second-half.
A Jay Malone free-kick was brilliantly struck, but Toddy Barry in the Corach goal got a slight hand on to it and pushed it on to the post. As the ball rebounded, Willie Keating reacted quickest and finished to the net to make it 2-1.
A couple of harsh offside decisions denied the hosts before Niall Murphy was pulled down late on to give Diskin a chance from the spot at the hat-trick where he made no mistake. 3-1 it finished and it’s not too often a hat-trick hero doesn’t end up with a man of the match award but despite an heroic, awesome, display from Paul there’s no doubt that David ‘Lurch’ Currid was unplayable at times in midfield. He was everything that was good about the home team on the night.
Overall it was a brilliant game of football played by two teams who want to play the way the game should be played. The win puts Corach in charge at the summit with two rounds remaining, but there will be many twists and turns in this inaugural Richie Dwyer Memorial Over-35 league.
Duncannon could not muster a team due to shortage of players and thus had to concede a walkover to Raheen.
Round eight fixtures: St. Leonards v. Corach Ramblers (Anthony Tobin); Fastnet Rovers v. All Blacks (Matt Colfer); Duncannon v. Taghmon United (Peter O’Rourke); Kilmore United v. Raheen (Damien Donovan).