Brideview A defeat Lismore in local derby
Sunday evening saw the Brideview club hit the headlines with both club teams winning their league games and both the As and Bs are top of their respective divisions.
There were four league games played on Sunday with a total of 23 goals scored and some excellent and exciting games, with results in doubt until the final whistle.
The big local derby at the Castle Farm Ground saw Lismore lose out to neighbours Brideview A in a seven goal thriller. The win sees the Tallow side go top of the league with two wins from two games played. Lismore have now lost their two opening home league games and occupy last position in the table. Valley Rgs A had to come from behind to share the points with Inch at Conna.
In TheAvondhu 1st Division, Brideview B won at home to Cappoquin/Railway and go top of the table while at Fitzgerald Park, Kinsalebeg got back to winning ways when defeating Valley Rgs B.
This Sunday morning see the oldest derby in the league, Valley Rgs A v Brideview A take place. This local derby stretches back 40 years.
In our notes this week, we enclose an e-mail from the FAI Referee Executive informing all clubs or individuals of two referee courses that will take place online in February. With the problems that exist in the league, we hope some club/s will take heed.
As we wrote last week, it is wonderful to be able to get out and about to games again each weekend. We spoke to a few last weekend from other leagues and all are delighted that football is back and fans are allowed into games.
The Airtricity League will commence 18th February with the Premier Division, followed the week after by the 1st Division. We will then start back on the Airtricity League segment in the notes each week with the emphasis this season on the 1st Division, where Waterford, Cork City and Cobh Ramblers will be playing.
MARI MINA PHARMACY PREMIER Lismore 3 Brideview A 4
When these two neighbours meet the result is usually in doubt up to the final whistle and Sunday afternoon last was no different with the visitors taking the three points in a seven goal thriller.
We expected this game to be a cracker with Lismore wanting to avenge their defeat to Brideview in the Pollard President’s Cup final before Christmas.
Our colleague Paddy took in the game for our notes. He tells us it was a murky afternoon, but the drizzle held off until near the end of the game.
Lismore had a young team and were unlucky not to take the lead on 8mins when Brideview ‘keeper Jamie Murphy misjudged a ball and beat him, but Lismore failed to take advantage and the ball was cleared - a let off for the visitors. However, 5mins later a Brideview ball from the wing was dummied and it ran on to Michael Curley who gave the Tallow team the lead. On 20mins, Dave Prendergast in the home goal saved well from Richie Ryan. Eoin McGrath was unlucky when he met a cross and was only inches wide of a post. Brideview doubled their lead when Dave McInerney scored following a free from Richie Ryan. With just a minute to half-time, Kyle Bennett scored for the home team to cut the deficit and at the break, Brideview led 1-2.
On the resumption, in the 51st minute Donnacha Mulcahy went through the middle of the defence and hit the corner of the net to restore the visitors’ two goal advantage. A minute later Lismore were awarded a penalty which Finbarr Reaney converted - back to a goal deficit. But within a minute, Shane Roche found the net from a deflection and so a whirlwind start to the second half with three quick goals. Prendergast saved well from McGrath in the 63rd minute. At the other end Jamie Murphy was kept busy as he was called on to make a few top class saves to keep Lismore out. In the 90th minute Lismore got through to score when John Roche found the back of Murphy’s net. Unfortunately, the goal arrived too late as there was not enough time to get the equaliser.
The game lived up to expectations as both teams played well and played an attacking game.
This was Lismore’s second consecutive home defeat, losing to the two favourites for the title, Valley Rgs and Brideview. They still have plenty of games to play to get them back into a challenging position.
Brideview have won their two opening league games and are now top of the table.
Lismore - David Prendergast, Paddy Foley, Fionn O’Gorman, Sam Ryan, Jamie O’Keeffe, Caelin O’Gorman, Ben Shanahan Quinn, Finbarr Reaney, Kyle Bennett, Aaron Whelan, John Roche. Reserves - Pearse O’Rourke, Keith O’Sullivan.
Brideview A - Jamie Murphy, David Kingston, Kevin Henley, Kieran Geary, Shane Roche, Eric Hickey, Eoin McGrath, Donnacha Mulcahy, Michael Curley, Dave McInerney, Richie Ryan. Reserves - Chris Murphy, Ryan Grey, Ben Aherne.
Referee Simon Drislane was helped by two very sporting teams in this local derby. Colour scheme - both teams passed.
Man of the Match - There were a few candidates from both teams challenging for the award. For Brideview Kieran Geary, Shane Roche, Eoin McGrath and Michael Curley, while for Lismore David Prendergast, Sam Ryan, Jamie O’Keeffe and Ben Shanahan Quinn. However, Paddy selected Brideview’s goalkeeper Jamie Murphy as his ‘Man of the Match’.
Lismore travel to Sexton Park on Sunday to play Inch and Brideview A travel the short distance to Conna to play Valley Rgs A.
Valley Rgs A 2 Inch 2
One of the favourites to lift the league title at the end of the season, Valley Rgs A had to come from behind in the second half for a share of the points at home with Inch. This was a good game of football with very little to choose between the teams.
Valley went into the game as favourites following their away win in Lismore the previous week, while Inch had lost at home to Brideview A. The game was only 10mins old when Le Mac found the net for Valley. Inch hit back before half-time when Ger Griffin found the net and this was the score at the break, 1-1. The second half saw plenty of attacking football from both teams and it was Inch who took the lead when a Ger Griffin corner kick was finished to the net by long serving Leonard Byrne.
This really put it up to the Conna side and they went in search of the equaliser and it arrived in the 85th minute when Rob English found the net. Either team were then unable to make a breakthrough in the final minutes, and the points were shared with Valley now in second place behind next week’s visitors to Conna, Brideview A. Inch play Lismore at Sexton Park.
THE AVONDHU 1ST DIVISION Kinsalebeg 5 Valley Rgs B 2
Both teams went into this game last Sunday following defeats. We took in the game for the notes and it was our second consecutive week seeing Kinsalebeg play at home. We were critical of their performance the previous week when losing to Cappoquin/Railway but it was obvious from the start they were more tuned in with a better mentality.
Played on a cold frosty but dry morning, Kinsalebeg attacked from the very start. The home midfield played much better than the last home game and they gave plenty of passes to the front runners, but they were not availing of the opportunities. The visiting ‘keeper and his defence was under constant pressure in the opening 20mins and he had to be alert to save from John Flynn at the expense of a corner kick. From Soren Delaney’s flag kick, Alan Kelly shot wide. During this time the home team forced five corner kicks, with Graham Guiry denied by some last-ditch goalline saves and he also headed wide. When Valley finally broke away from the shackles of the home team, it took a good save by Aaron Joyce to stop Hyle Ettoh from finding the net. He looked dangerous when allowed run into the area. When he disposed Guiry on 40mins his effort on goal was saved at the expense of a corner. The corner kick was not dealt with by the home defence and it appeared to be a game of head tennis with no player prepared to clear the ball out of the area and a headed effort went over the ‘keeper and Guiry, in an effort from almost under the bar, only helped the ball into the net for a goal totally against the run of play.
Last week we reported on the failure of the Kinsalebeg defence to deal with corner kicks, and Sunday was déja vu. However, within 2mins the teams were level when the home team were awarded a free from about 30yds out and Alan Kelly’s kick saw the ball enter the net with the goalkeeper managing to get his hands on the ball but unable to keep it out. The half ended with the teams level 1-1.
Within 9mins of the restart, Kinsalebeg took the lead when John Flynn scored, but three minutes later the visitors scored when they were awarded a penalty. The spot kick was into the corner of the net by team captain Stephen O’Donovan, giving Joyce no chance. Within a minute Valley were denied by the crossbar when Ettoh beat Joyce from the edge of the area and the ball flew off the bar and away to safety. A let off for the home team.
Kinsalebeg did regain the lead in the 77th minute when John Flynn scored and three minutes later the visiting ‘keeper saved from Kelly. However, a wonderful run down the touch line and along the end line by Flynn saw him pass to Kelly who scored goal number four in the 84th minute. In the 88th minute Graham Guiry completed the scoring for the home team, who claimed the three points.
This was a much better game than the one we witnessed last week and credit Valley B, they played well after the opening 20mins when Kinsalebeg should have had been in the lead. Overall, an enjoyable game with the better team taking the three points.
Valley Rgs - Walced Nowaz, Ryan Crotty, Dave Walsh, Finbarr O’Connell, Michael Cronin, Conor Kearney, Francis Warren, Dan O’Connell, Hyle Ettoh, John Cattigan, Stephen O’Donovan. Reserves - Ryan Upton, Granjon Platek, Luke Heffernan, Prince Budeki, David Coffey, Dylan Crotty, John Hurley.
Referee Eamonn Cusack kept the game moving and played the advantage rule as much as possible. Colour scheme - Kinsalebeg passed, Valley Rgs failed with a couple of pairs of socks. But credit the Conna club, they had 18 players available for selection and also had their A team playing in the afternoon.
Man of the Match Award - There were a few contenders from both teams this week. Stephen O’Donovan, Hyle Ettoh, Dave Walsh all from Valley Rgs, while Graham Guiry and Alan Kelly shone for Kinsalebeg. We give the award to John Flynn, Kinsalebeg for his two goals and setting up Alan Kelly for the 4th goal.
Next Sunday, Valley B travel to Leonard Fraser Park to play Brideview B, while Kinsalebeg travel to play Cappoquin/Railway under lights on Friday night.
Brideview B 2 Cappoquin/Railway 1
Both teams won their opening league games last Sunday, so we expected a cracking game at Leonard Fraser Park on Sunday morning. This turned out to be a very good game of football and Brideview’s victory see them go top of the table in TheAvondhu 1st Division.
The Tallow side took the lead early in the game when Joas Almeidia scored. Kieran Crawford doubled the Brideview lead. On 20mins Cappoquin/Railway were awarded a penalty which was converted by Craig Dunne. The visitors then had a player sent off and had to play the rest of the game – 60 minutes - with a player short. Half-time arrived with Brideview holding a goal lead and in the second half, both defences held firm and there was no further scoring.
Cappoquin/Railway played very well and the reports reaching us say they did not appear to be short a player. But at the final whistle, Brideview took the three points and next Sunday have neighbours Valley Rgs B as visitors. Cappoquin/Railway play Kinsalebeg this Friday night, which will be the first game of the season under lights.
PREVIEWS
This weekend the league will start on Friday night under lights with Cappoquin/Railway playing at home to Kinsalebeg. On Sunday, the two games in the Premier will kick-off at 11am and the one remaining game in The Avondhu 1st Division will be at 2pm.
Valley Rgs A v Brideview A
No doubt about the match of the day on Sunday will take place at Conna when Valley A host Brideview A at 11am. We believe, open to contradiction, that a derby involving these two clubs is the longest running derby fixture in the league. Year after year they meet in Conna and Tallow with unbroken service and both clubs must be credited with the effort they make to have two teams representing their club every year in the two divisions.
We have previewed and reported on these local derbies for so many years and enjoyed so many of the clashes for well over 40 years. This Sunday our colleague Paddy will report for our notes.
This season the two teams met in the Bolger Cup final in the middle of October with Brideview winning 3-1 and they met again in the Pollard President’s Cup semi-final in early December in a two leg encounter. In the 1st leg at Conna, the visitors came out on top 1-2 and the return game the following weekend at Tallow saw Brideview win 3-0, and that result saw Brideview through to the final 5-1 on aggregate. The Tallow team then went on to win the President’s Cup, defeating Lismore in the final 1-0. A good start to the season for the Brideview club holding two trophies already.
Valley have earmarked the league as a priority this season after the disappointment of losing three consecutive Bolger Cup finals. Paul Geary has a strong squad at his disposal, a squad that has experienced players, many playing in those cup final defeats and young players who have come through the various underage teams and the B team. We have seen them on many occasions and saw them lose to Brideview in that cup 1st leg game at Conna in December.
Brideview go into the game top of the table with two wins from their two games played and have scored eight goals. Similar to Valley, Paul Forbes has an experienced squad to select from and players who are used to winning trophies. This is a game that should see a large attendance and as usual, we find it difficult to predict a winner. With only two points separating the teams the result here can go either way. We will settle for a share of the points as our prediction, but as has happened so many times through the years, we will no doubt be proved wrong!
Inch v Lismore
The teams met in the President’s Cup in Lismore in the 1st leg with Lismore winning 2-1, but in the return leg at Sexton Park, Inch won comfortably 3-0, a game we reported ourselves in the notes.
Last Sunday Lismore lost at home to Brideview 3-4 - the report from last week said they had a young team on duty against Brideview. Inch have an experienced team themselves with a few younger players who have come through from their strong underage section.
Inch will undoubtedly start as favourites to take the three points, but Lismore with two defeats so far cannot afford to drop many more points or their league aspirations will disappear. This game could end in a draw.
Cappoquin/Railway v Kinsalebeg
This game will kick-off the weekend with the teams playing under lights for the first time this season. When they met at Fitzgerald Park two weeks ago Cappoquin/ Railway won 0-3. We reported on the game and there was no doubt the better team won on the day. Admittedly some of the goals came from defensive mistakes by the home defence and it was a very poor performance by the team. This has the makings of a good game and with home advantage, we make Cappoquin/ Railway favourites, but we were impressed with Kinsalebeg last Sunday.
Brideview B v Valley Rgs B
The two A teams will have met in Conna on Sunday morning, so the two B teams have the afternoon kick-off to themselves as the only afternoon game this Sunday. When the teams met in Conna two weeks ago, Brideview won by the only goal of the game.
The Tallow team won at home to Cappoquin/Railway last Sunday and at the same time Valley B were losing away to Kinsalebeg. Valley had 18 players in their panel last week and while the team was defeated, they played very well but did lose to the better team.
Brideview are top of the league table with their two victories and should remain top with a win on Sunday against their near neighbours.
FIXTURES FRIDAY, 4TH FEBRUARY
TheAvondhu 1st Division - Cappoquin/Railway v Kinsalebeg 8pm, K Hayes.
SUNDAY, 6TH FEBRUARY
Mari Mina Pharmacy Premier - Inch v Lismore 11am, S Pratt; Valley Rgs A v Brideview A 11am, E Cusack.
TheAvondhu 1st Division - Brideview B v Valley Rgs B 2pm, S Drislane.
DELEGATE MEETING
By the time our notes appear in print, a delegate meeting will have taken place on Tuesday night at the Conna Community Hall, hosted by the Valley Rgs club.
A number of important items were on the agenda, fixtures, Over 35s, the shortage of referees and the request to the clubs from the committee for at least two extra members to come onto the committee until the end of the season, or to even help out with some of the workload. Hopefully we will receive a report from the committee after the meeting that we can include in the notes next week.
REFEREES
We are not writing here on the shortage of referees ourselves as all clubs are aware of the problems that exist at present. We print a notice from Rob Hennessy, Referee Executive FAI which was sent to the WW/EC Referees Branch.
Two online courses have been launched that will take place in February and Rob is asking that anyone interested can book a place on either course by using the link Event Calendar (fainet.ie).
If anyone has any questions, Rob Hennessy can be contacted and either Simon Drislane or Eamonn Cusack or ourselves will give the details.
Hopefully someone in a club can see the problem that exists at present with the lack of referees. We will leave that rant to another day!
FAI 2022-25 STRATEGY
At the weekend the FAI issued their Strategy Consultation Process Report covering years 2022-25
At the FAI AGM held in July 2021, a commitment was given to conduct a thorough and meaningful consultation process with the members and wider football community regarding directional strategy. Between September-November 2021, a thorough consultation process with the wider football community saw much debate at meetings held throughout the country and online on the future of the game. The feedback provided key information and this was then discussed by the FAI and the board is delighted with the quality engagement and the feedback received.
The consultation process allowed the FAI to establish clear priorities on issues that need to be resolved and identify the challenges further engagement and consultation into 2022 and beyond. It sets out the blueprint for Irish football covering four years and beyond. Everyone will play an important role in delivering this strategy.
We have not read the full document yet as it is very comprehensive and what we have seen so far the views and suggestions of the grassroots of the association are being listened to. This is something we have been advocating for many years as there are so many volunteers involved with clubs throughout the country that their suggestions of improving the association must be listened to.
The “new” FAI appear to be doing this, but we will wait to read the full document and hear the views of other stakeholders before we pass comment on the content of the report.
AIRTRICITY LEAGUE
We apologise again this week to those readers who follow the Airtricity League segment in our notes. Unfortunately space this week is against us, but we promise we will make a start next week to have a look at the three teams we will concentrate on during the season, Waterford, Cork City and Cobh Ramblers.
At the weekend Waterford played their second pre-season game when they hosted Dundalk at the RSC and before 500+ for a challenge game, the Blues came out on top 2-1. Speaking to some who attended the game, they are very excited about the new season and expect Waterford to be back in the Premier come next November.
By the time our notes appear in print, Waterford will have played Treaty Utd on Tuesday night at the Markets Field in the quarter-final of the Munster Senior Cup. The winners will have home advantage against the winners of Cork City v Midleton. Cork City drew with Finn Harps 1-1 at Abbotstown on Saturday in a pre-season game.
Cobh Ramblers are into the Munster Senior Cup following their 0-2 away win against Bandon. The Ramblers will play Rockmount in the semi-final, after Roy Keane’s old club defeated Cobh Wanderers 3-1.