Ballyduff Rovers share the points

Ballyduff Rovers were the only team involved in a fixture last weekend when they travelled to Kilmacthomas and shared the points in a scoreless draw. Lismore will have played in midweek away to St. Pauls in the league. This Saturday, Lismore will travel to Waterford again to play Johnville, while Brideview will have Southend as visitors and Ballyduff Rovers will have home advantage against Piltown in the cup.

In the Airtricity League, there were three victories for the three local teams. Waterford got back to winning ways with a very good win away in Sligo and they move up the table. Cork City travelled down to Tralee to play Kerry FC in the Munster derby and came away with the three points to stay clear at the top, while Cobh Ramblers had the official opening of their new pitch on Friday night and delighted their large following with an impressive victory over a Bray team that had not lost in their last four league games.

We give a short report on the FAI Junior Cup final and look forward to the upcoming internationals in our ‘International’ section.

This week we continue in our ‘Memories’ section, the 1993/94 season that we touched on last week and give a short report of the 1st Division, which was one of the most exciting for a number of years. We shall return to 1993/94 again next week.

MUNSTER SENIOR CUP FINAL

Our friends in Kerry FC were in touch and they are delighted to be playing in the Munster Senior Cup final on Monday, June 24th at Turner’s Cross against Waterford. Considering the club is only two years old, reaching a final is a wonderful success. In the semi-final, Kerry defeated Treaty, while Waterford defeated Wilton. The Blues played mostly their U19 team in that game, but will have to have a stronger team for the final as Kerry will play their best team in that game. However, much might change between now and then as there are at least six weeks of league football to be played. But it’s a final for both clubs to look forward to.

WATERFORD AND DISTRICT LEAGUE

With the leagues starting to wind down and coming to the crunch periods for many clubs with promotion and relegation the priority, clubs will then be turning to cup competitions.

Kilmacthomas 0 Ballyduff Rovers 0

Sunday afternoon last Ballyduff Rovers travelled to Kilmacthomas in Division 3A and came away with a point following a 0-0 draw. Ballyduff belied their lowly position in the league table with their football in the opening half and should have taken the lead when Billy Carroll found himself one on one with goalkeeper Nicky Kiely, who thwarted the Ballyduff striker with a very good save. There was plenty of attacking football from both teams, but neither team could make the breakthrough and at half-time, the sides were scoreless.

The second half saw Ballyduff keep pressing for the goal that would give them the lead, but credit here to the home team who defended well and created their own chances, with both keepers kept busy for the 45mins. At the final whistle there was no score and the two teams had to settle for a share of the points in a 0-0 draw.

This coming Saturday, Ballyduff will have Piltown as visitors in the Division 3 Cup.

In the league, by the time our notes appear in print, Lismore will have travelled to play St. Pauls in Division 2B on Tuesday night.

This coming Saturday, May 11th, there are three teams in action. In Division 2A Brideview will have home advantage against Southend with a 5pm kick-off. In Division 2B, Lismore will travel to play Johnville with a 2pm kick-off.

While, as mentioned, in the 3rd Division Cup Ballyduff Rovers have home advantage v Piltown with a 2pm kick-off.

FAI JUNIOR CUP FINAL Cockhill Celtic 1 Gorey Rangers 1 COCKHILL WIN ON PENALTIES

The FAI Junior Cup final was played on Sunday afternoon last at Eamonn Deacy Park between Cockhill Celtic from the Innishowen League and Gorey Rangers from the Wexford League. It was a thrilling game with Gorey taking the lead after 14mins and this was the score at half-time.

Cockhill piled on the pressure in the second half and were rewarded when they scored the equaliser in the 75th minute and the sides were deadlocked at the final whistle 1-1. Twenty minutes of extra time failed to produce a score and so it went to a penalty shootout. The hero here was Cockhill Celtic goalkeeper, Harry Doherty who saved three of the Gorey penalties, resulting in a victory for the club from the North of Donegal.

History was made as the winners became the very first team from the Innishowen League to win the FAI Junior Cup and this made up for the disappointment of last season when Cockhill Celtic were defeated in the final.

The match officials were from the Cork Branch of the ISRS and running the lines were JP Grey and Finn Sullivan, who began their refereeing careers in the WW/EC League and we congratulate both.

AIRTRICITY LEAGUE

Last weekend was double fixtures for the twenty teams in the two divisions with games on Friday and Monday.

As we were on duty on Friday night at Ferrycarrig Park, we depended on our friends and colleagues to keep us up to date on the games involving Waterford, Cork City and Cobh Ramblers. We are thankful to them as usual.

Sligo Rvs 0 Waterford 1

Waterford made the trip to the Showgrounds on Friday night to play Sligo Rvs who were just a point ahead of them in the table. When the teams met at the RSC a number of weeks back, Rovers came out on top 0-1, and having lost the previous week to Derry at the RSC, the Blues travelled hoping their away form would help them. The game was held up for at least 15 minutes when referee Gavin Colfer declared that a piece of astro turf in one of the goalmouths was dangerous and had to be replaced by sand.

The reports reaching us from our Waterford colleagues are, Sligo were short a number of their usual squad through injury, but before an attendance of 2,000 the home team was the first to create a chance in front of goal when a header from Max Mata went over the bar. Sligo were finding it difficult to break down the Blues defence, a defence that is often criticised in these notes, and in fact Waterford created a number of chances themselves from Conor Parsons and Ben McCormack, but could not find the net. Just before the break Sligo thought they had a goal, but in a goalmouth scramble the ball was cleared off the line by Grant Horton and Sam Sargeant had to be at his best to keep the teams level at the break 0-0.

We were hearing that Waterford had played well with the defence better than in previous games. The second half was only one minute old when the Blues made the breakthrough. A ball into the area by McCormack was brilliantly controlled by Parsons who fired the shot into the back of McGinty’s net for the goal that would give the Blues the points at the end of the game. They were by far the better team in this half as Sligo went in search of the goal that would bring them to parity. They had a few chances, but nothing to cause too many problems for the Waterford defence.

Indeed, McGinty kept the score as it was with a brilliant save in the last ten minutes from Padraig Amond. In injury time Sligo were awarded a free, but the ball sailed over the bar and shortly after referee Colfer blew for full time. Waterford had the three points and leapfrogged Sligo in the process by two points. The win was very important for the Blues as they had lost five games and won just four, while four were drawn. But their position, while in the lower half of the table, shows that two or three more victories can see them move up into the upper half. Shelbourne, the league leaders, are ten points clear of Waterford with a game more played and the halfway stage not yet reached. More consistency at the RSC and at least a draw in their away fixtures will push the Blues much further up the table.

By the time our notes will be with the editor, Waterford will have play Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium on Monday afternoon. When the teams met at the RSC at the start of April, Rovers came out on top by the odd goal of three. Last Friday the Hoops had to come from behind to draw with Bohemians at Dalymount Park 1-1, and that result sees them two points adrift of lead

ers Shelbourne. As this has a 5pm kick-off, a large number of Blues supporters will make the trip up the motorway and hopefully see them come away with at least a share of the points. Playing in Tallaght and with an expected attendance of 4,500-5,000, a draw will be a good result, but as we know three points will be so much better.

Next Friday, Waterford will play at the RSC v Dundalk. We all know the Lilywhites are going through a rough patch and have had only one victory since the start of the season, with six defeats. Noel King was appointed manager two weeks ago and he has overseen a win and two draws since he took over. They are languishing bottom of the table since the season commenced, but the recent displays under King are helping to get confidence back into the team. Dundalk will have played a local derby with Drogheda on bank holiday Monday and Waterford will try to get a win at the RSC, a home venue they are not getting the three points from in any league fixture. Let us hope they get the three points this Friday.

Kerry FC 0 Cork City 1

Cork City travelled to Mounthawk Park for the first ever league meeting at the Kerry venue between themselves and Kerry FC. When they met at the start of the season at Turners Cross, two Jack Doherty goals gave City the three points. Since the start of the league, Cork City have been top of the table and they are the only unbeaten team of the twenty teams in the two divisions and in the thirteen

league games played they have only conceded three goals.

Mounthawk was full for this Munster derby with the atmosphere electric and we had wonderful reports from colleagues in both camps. There were only eight minutes played when there was a defensive mix up in the Kerry defence. Both goalkeeper Antonio Utah and defender Andy Spain got in a right tangle and the ball spun across the area to Cathal O’Sullivan, whose shot on goal hit the arm of Kevin Williams and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Evan McLoughlin took the spot kick and the ball nestled in the back of the Kerry net.

The start Cork wanted, but definitely not what the home team wanted. Cork created a few more chances, but the goal poaching of Jack Doherty was missed. Jaden Umeh had two such chances but Tuta saved one and another was cleared off the line by Sean O’Connell. Before the break, Kerry’s Dan Okwute had an effort saved by Brad Wade in the City goal and at halftime there was just the one goal separating the teams.

The second half saw City control the game, but yet they were unable to break down the Kerry defence with O’Sullivan forcing Tuta into a save that saw the ball hitting a post and cleared. Wade in the City goal was called into action twice in the half and at the final whistle, Cork City are seven points clear of nearest rivals UCD and ten points clear of Finn Harps.

Bank holiday Monday will have seen City play their first game at Turner’s Cross since the venue was closed a number of weeks back. Wexford were visitors and the home team will be expected to take the three points. We have seen Wexford twice in the past three weeks and on each occasion, they have let a two goal lead slip to end up sharing the points. City are without doubt the form team and have been playing a number of their academy players due to a few injuries that Tim Clancy’s squad have suffered in recent weeks. A win on Monday night will set them up for the local derby this Friday night at St. Colman’s Park against Cobh Ramblers. A large crowd is expected at the Ramblers venue on Friday.

Cobh Ramblers 2 Bray Wanderers 1

Cobh Ramblers had a large attendance on Friday last for the official opening of the new pitch at St. Colman’s Park. The cutting of the tape was carried out by Paul O’Neill, brother of the late Ramblers star, player Frank O’Neill who died two weeks ago.

On the field of play, Bray Wanderers were the visitors and the Seagulls came to the venue after a good run of four victories that saw them move into mid-table. Our Ramblers contact informed us there was a great atmosphere on the night, but the home fans were quietened after only two minutes when Bray scored after the ball was not dealt with by the home defence. This was the worst possible start on such an important night for the home team.

But four minutes later, the Ramblers equalised with Beineon O’Brien-Whitmarsh scoring from just outside the box. Ramblers’ keeper Darragh Burke made a good save to keep the teams level and at the break the score was 1-1.

The second half burst into life with Bray’s experienced keeper Stephen McGuinness making a wonderful save from Pierce Phillips and at the other end the visitors were awarded a penalty. Former Waterford player Shane Griffin saw his spot kick saved by Burke. Dale Holland gave Cobh the lead in the 66th minute and Griffin saw his free kick saved by Burke and then Bray had the ball cleared off the line by a Cobh defender. The final whistle sounded with a Cobh Ramblers victory on such an historic night for the club and supporters.

On Bank Holiday Monday, the Ramblers were to travel to the Bowl to play UCD. The students are second in the league, seven points adrift of the league leaders and when UCD played the Ramblers at Turner’s Cross in March, they scored twice in the last few minutes to take the points. A draw for the Ramblers will set them up for the big local derby next Friday night when they have Cork City as visitors. The Cobh venue will definitely be rocking for the visit of the league leaders and this fixture should see the largest attendance of the season so far. Gary Hunt’s team will remember when the teams met at Turner’s Cross at the start of April and former Ramblers player, Jack Doherty opened the scoring as

City won 3-0. A draw here for the home team will help them in their league standings.

Finally, we must mention the attendances at the various venues in the league each week. The attendances are definitely up on previous years in both divisions, especially the Premier with Shamrock Rovers leading with the attendances at Tallaght Stadium. The local derbies in Dublin are bringing out the crowds while down south Waterford are seeing 2,000 plus passing through the turnstiles, while for the visit of Shamrock Rvs at the start of April, the RSC had 3,600 present. Eamonn Deacy Park is averaging over 2,500 for the Galway club.

In the 1st Division, Turner’s Cross is leading the way with large attendances for all of Cork City’s home games. We wrote at the start of the season, what a pity both Waterford and Cork City are in different divisions as one can imagine the attendance figures for a Munster derby between the neighbours. Hopefully we may have this clash next season. Overall, the figures for attendances nationally are much better than previous years and we believe they could be much better if facilities were improved at many grounds. This is a topic to be discussedanother day.

MEMORIES OF 1993/94 SEASON

Last week we only touched on season 1993/94 as space prevented us, as it has for a number of weeks past with so much happening on the national front with the Airtricity League and on the international scene we have written extensively on the no show from the FAI with the appointment of a new head coach.

Reading through the archives for the season 1993/94 the Tony Bolger Cup was the first competition with sixteen teams entered. The draw for the four sections of four teams in each section was made by Noel Wallace, Waterford League representative. The sixteen teams were Lismore, Valley Rgs, Killeagh, Modeligo, Pinewood Rgs, Affane, Glen View Utd, Brideview A, Cappoquin B, Inch, Ballyduff, Brideview B, Mogeely, Glen View B, Cappoquin A and Youghal. The opening fixtures took place on Sunday, 5th September 1993. Unfortunately the Lismore club had to withdraw from the competition which we read was a big disappointment considering, the work Tony Bolger had done for the club.

The Tony Bolger Cup final was played at Tallow on December 28th, 1993 and was an all Brideview affair with Brideview A defeating Brideview B 2-0. The goals were scored by JP Grey and Philly Curley. The report of the game tells us, there was a large attendance but the game never reached the heights expected. We give the two teams on an historic occasion for the club.

Brideview A -B Sheehan, T McCarthy, T Sheehan, G Sice, K Murphy, M Geary, JP Grey, G Hogan, M Curley, Philly Curley, M McCarthy. Reserves - D Henley, M Henley, B Henley, B Power.

Brideview B - S O’Brien, S Hampton, S Curley, D Martin, D Doyle, L Ahearne, S Barry, P Murphy, D Flaherty, JJ Henley, T McSweeney. Reserves - J Doyle, E Cusack, F Murphy,

P McDonnell, D McGrath. Referee Noel O’Donoghue.

The Bolger Cup was presented to Brideview captain, Timmy Sheehan by league chairman, Paddy Pollard.

In the league there were two divisions with ten teams in each division. In the 1st Division, Cappoquin had two teams as the B team won promotion the previous season. In the 2nd Division, Glen View had two teams, Glen View Utd and Glen View Celtic. Also in the league, Brideview had two teams, one in each division.

Reading the reports from the 1st Division games, there were some very exciting games, especially the local derbies, Lismore v Brideview, Brideview v Ballyduff. As the season unfolded, four teams were in the running for the league title, Ballyduff, Mogeely, Cappoquin A and Brideview. With only a handful of games remaining Ballyduff were leading in the table, followed by Brideview. In April at Ballyduff, we had the proverbial cracker. A win for Ballyduff and they were champions, a win for Brideview and they would need two points from their two remaining games to clinch the title. Ballyduff seemed to be coasting in the game as they took a two goal lead through Ger Hickey and Kenneth Geary. However, a JP Grey goal with ten minutes to the break brought Brideview back into the game and this was the score at half-time.

The report goes on to say the second half started at a furious pace and there was some brilliant football played and when Mark Geary was fouled in the area, Gerard Hogan converted the spot kick and the teams were level. Referee Paul Marks had his hands full as tempers began to fray. It took two outstanding saves by Sheehan to deny Twomey and Scanlon from restoring the Ballyduff lead. Ballyduff pushed forward to get the goal that would give them the championship and with just three minutes remaining Maurice Hartnett got a pass from Dermot Henley and with Ballyduff players up in attack, Hartnett raced down the wing and keeper Quirke came off his line but Hartnett chipped the ball over him and into an empty net.

The home team did not throw in the towel and Hickey and Ryan went close for the equalizer, but at the final whistle Brideview were winners 2-3.

The reason we selected this game to give a short report, as the PRO of the day gave such a report, reading it felt as if we were back at the game.

The Tallow club needed two points from two games to leapfrog Ballyduff and this they did with a draw in Conna, 0-0, for a point (a win was two points at the time) and in their last league game Brideview won the title defeating Killeagh 1-0 at Brideview Park.

Michael O’Leary presented the league trophy to Maurice Hartnett, Brideview captain.

The two teams relegated to the 2nd Division were Cappoquin B and Pinewood.

Next week we will continue with memories from the 1993/94 season.