Corach beat All Blacks to move to top of table

St. Leonards 0, Taghmon

United 1: St. Leonard’s faced Taghmon in a very tight entertaining game.

The Saints enjoyed some early success but were unable to convert any of their chances.

It was Taghmon that took the lead before half time when some clever play down the left wing by Alan Murphy lead to a pinpoint cross finished expertly by Ian Stafford when he flicked the ball off his heal into the Leonard’s net.

The second half offered opportunities for both to score but Taghmon held on to secure the three points. Fastnet Rovers 1, Raheen 1: Again there was a big crowd in attendance at the second round over 35 game between Fastnet and Raheen in Rathangan on Saturday evening.

In an even encounter the very strong breeze made it difficult for good play but both teams put in a 100 per cent in what was a strong and fair competitive battle.

The game was delayed for ten minutes in the first-half when Fastnet forward Gary Doran suffered a broken ankle and we all wish him a speedy recovery.

Fastnet were slightly on top in the first-half and a good three man move resulted in the first goal when Barry Roche’s cross from the right was met superbly on the volley by Oscar Pitt to send Fastnet in one up at the break.

Raheen came storming back in the second-half and with fifteen minutes to go a Mark Lee free-kick was parried by the goalkeeper into the path of an inrushing Tommy Quinn to bury to the net.

There were some half chances for both teams for the remainder as both teams went in search of the winner with some excellent saves from both keepers, one in particular from the Raheen keeper when Richie Walsh tried an excellent long-range effort.

Duncannon 1, Campile United 2: Duncannon entertained Campile in Nick Ryan Park on Saturday evening, with both teams looking to get their first win of the season after both had drawn their opening games 1-1 the week before.

Campile started better and were 2-0 up before half-time through James Keating and Anthony Rowe.

Duncannon went close through Johnny Kinsella.

An improved second-half performance saw Duncannon take the game to their local neighbours and after sustained pressure forced a few good saves from Colin Parle in the Campile goal.

The home side had a strong penalty claim waved away. Moments later a Joe Doyle shot was only partially cleared by the keeper and Bunch Waters was on hand to fire home from close range.

A frantic last few moments saw Campile hold out to take all three points and the local bragging rights.

All Blacks 0, Corach Ramblers 3: Corach moved to the top of the table after a hard-fought away win over the All Blacks on Saturday.

The away team started brightly but the All Blacks soon got themselves going and dominated the majority of the first-half.

They were dealt a killer blow however on 30 minutes as Corach’s Alan Diskin picked up a loose ball, skipped past a couple of players and hit an unstoppable shot from 20 yards to the top corner leaving Graham Whitty no chance in the Blacks goal.

Corach introduced Marty Keane and Paul Diskin at half-time and both combined to double the score on 48 minutes after good work from Niall Murphy.

The All Blacks then pushed on for the last few minutes and were always going to vulnerable to the counter-attack and so it proved as Niall Murphy set up Alan Bottomley for a cool finish to wrap up the points.

A solid performance from Corach and a good debut from the All Blacks who will only improve as the season progresses.

Fixtures

Fixtures for Week ending Saturday, May 27:

Campile United v. All Blacks (John Tobin, Saturday 7.30 p.m.); Taghmon United v. Kilmore United (Anthony Tobin); Corach Ramblers v. Fastnet Rovers (Eric Molloy, Sunday 6 p.m.); Raheen v. St. Leonards (Lar Doyle).