Weather and Covid cause cancellations

There was only one game played last weekend in the league due to the bad weather of Friday and Saturday and also Covid-19 causing a cancellation on Sunday morning. The one game that survived was played on Friday night under lights at Cappoquin and what a shock result, with Valley Rgs B defeating the home team to record their first victory of the season in either cup or league.

The Valley Rgs A v Lismore and Kinsalebeg v Brideview B both fell foul of the weather as the pitches were deemed unplayable. We ourselves arrived at Fitzgerald Park to report on the Kinsalebeg v Brideview B game and both teams were at the venue, but referee Kieran Hayes, having inspected the pitch, correctly said the pitch was too soft following the heavy rain of Saturday night.

The league fixture secretary will now have to find dates for the cancelled games to take place later in the season.

Hopefully this coming weekend will see all four planned games take place, with Cappoquin/Railway opening the weekend under lights to Kinsalebeg and then on Sunday, there are two games. Let us hope all games will be played.

This week, we have a lengthy segment on the commencement of the Airtricity League, concentrating on clubs that many of our readers are interested in, Waterford, Cork City and Cobh Ramblers, in other words, the local clubs. We will do our best to give reports on their games weekly.

In our notes last week, we briefly wrote of the news that had just been announced, that the FAI with the English FA, Welsh FA, Scottish FA and Northern Ireland FA are making a joint bid for the 2028 Euros and we mention it again this week.

MARI MINA PHARMACY PREMIER Cappoquin/Railway 0 Valley Rgs B 2

How many times have we written that football is a funny old game when trying to predict any game. Our prediction for this clash at the Danes Field on Friday night under lights saw us make the home team favourites as they had won against Kinsalebeg the previous week, also under lights, and Valley had conceded eleven goals away to Brideview B previously. Valley went into the game having played and lost their three league games to date, while Cappoquin/ Railway had won two of their three games.

But it was Valley who attacked from the start and while chances were created, they failed to find the net. The same can be said of the home team as we had end to end football. But in the 35th minute Dylan Crotty found the net for Valley. They held this lead right up to the half-time whistle.

The second half saw the home team chasing the game as they tried to get the score that would bring them back into the game. The Valley defence played very well and had luck on their side on a number of occasions with the post saving them and their ‘keeper was excellent. In the 65th minute, Cuam Kearney scored to give the Conna team a two goal cushion, which they held to the final whistle for their first league win of the season.

The report reaching us on Friday night told us Valley played well and deserved the victory which is a great fillip for the team, but Cappoquin/Railway were disappointed that they could not find the net from all their endeavours. At the end of 90mins, it is the team who score the most win the game.

This Friday night Cappoquin/Railway have the top of the table leaders, Brideview B as visitors to the Danes Field.

RESULTS

Mari Mina Pharmacy Premier - Valley Rgs A v Lismore off, unplayable pitch; Brideview A v Inch off, Covid.

TheAvondhu 1st Division - Cappoquin/Railway 0 Valley Rgs B 2; Kinsalebeg v Brideview B off, pitch unplayable.

PREVIEWS

After last week’s disappointment of the cancellation of games, let us hope we can have a full programme this weekend. Cappoquin/Railway will commence the weekend on Friday night under lights, as they have done for the past two weeks and there will then be three games across the two divisions on Sunday.

Brideview A v Lismore

The teams met at the Castle Farm Ground three weeks ago which ended in a thrilling seven goal encounter, that saw the Tallow side victorious. Brideview A go into this game top of the table and unbeaten in their three league games to date and will no doubt be full of confidence for the visit of their near neighbours. Knowing Brideview, they will take nothing for granted as through the years the two teams have shown the height of respect for each other.

Lismore having lost their two opening league games at home, went to Sexton Park and took the three points home with a 2-4 victory. Against Brideview, the concession of goals like in the Inch game, will not do as the Tallow side will be as clinical as any team in the league and have scored ten goals in their three games. In fairness, Lismore have scored eight goals in the same number of games.

We agree with our colleague Paddy who reported on the game in Lismore that Brideview came out on top, when he wrote Lismore have a young team. We felt that against Inch they lacked a little experience playing at this competitive level but the games they have played they will have learned from.

Brideview as we all know play to the final whistle regardless of the score and will want early scores to settle them in front of their own supporters and we can expect plenty of attacking football from two attack-minded teams.

Not an easy game to call and if we go back to the President’s Cup final, only a goal was scored. We think, and how often have we been wrong, this game will end in a share of the points! No doubt, this is match of the day.

Inch v Valley Rgs A

Inch lost their last home game against Lismore and on the same day, Valley were drawing at home to Brideview A. Both teams have had a week off and we could have a very competitive game this Sunday at Sexton Park. Inch cannot afford to give away as much possession as they did in their game v Lismore, as Valley have shown they have players that are can score goals and in Facunda, one of the best goalkeepers in the league at present. Valley, similar to Brideview, are unbeaten in their three league games to date and the Conna club’s goal is to be crowned champions come the end of the season. For Inch, they must put the defeat to Lismore behind them and try and get their first league win. This is a tall order, but at home they have a good record overall with very few teams taking points away from Sexton Park. Although when one looks closely at this record, the three teams that have succeeded through the years are Valley Rgs, Brideview and Lismore.

So, what can we expect on Sunday morning? We predict a win for Valley as they have a more balanced team and can score goals, whereas Inch’s defence has conceded 10 goals in three games. Valley A to win.

Cappoquin/Railway v Brideview B

For the third consecutive Friday night, Cappoquin/Railway will play at home and this Friday they welcome the league leaders, Brideview B to the Danes Field. When the teams met a few weeks back at Leonard Fraser Park, Brideview came out on top on a 2-1 scoreline. Cappoquin/Railway had a player sent off in the first half of the game and this gave the Tallow team a numerical advantage, but the reports of the game tell us the losers played very well with a player short and should have scored that would have given them a share of the points.

Last Friday night there was a shock result from the Danes Field when Cappoquin/Railway lost out to bottom of the table Valley Rgs B. We received mixed reports on the game as Valley were on top in the opening half and the home side took the game to the visitors in the second half, but failed to find the net.

Brideview’s game away v Kinsalebeg on Sunday morning last was called off by the referee, as the pitch was too soft.

Cappoquin/Railway cannot afford to drop points on Friday night and a win for the visitors will see them open a gap at the top of the table. This has the makings of a cracking league game and is definitely too close to call. It will probably end with a share of the points.

Valley Rgs B v Kinsalebeg

When the teams met at Fitzgerald Park a few weeks ago, the home team came out on top 5-2 and were the better team on the day. However, we were impressed with Valley on the day. Kinsalebeg will need to be at full strength for the visit to Conna on Sunday afternoon and not take anything for granted. We do, however, expect them to take the three points.

FIXTURES FRIDAY, 18TH FEBRUARY

TheAvondhu 1st Division - Cappoquin/Railway v Brideview B 8pm, S Drislane.

SUNDAY, 20TH FEBRUARY

Mari Mina Pharmacy Premier - Inch v Valley Rgs A 11am, K Hayes; Brideview A v Lismore 11am, E Cusack. TheAvondhu 1st Division - Valley Rgs B v Kinsalebeg 2pm, S Drislane.

BEN HANNIGAN RIP

It was too late for our notes last week when we received word of the death of former League of Ireland star Ben Hannigan. For those of us who have followed the League of Ireland since the early 1960’s will recall seeing Ben Hannigan in action with a number of teams in those years. He won three league titles, playing with Shelbourne in 1962, Dundalk in 1967 and with Cork Celtic in 1974.

We have many memories of seeing him playing, especially with Shels and then with the great Jim McLoughlin led team of Dundalk, when he won a league medal in 1967. How many of the Blues supporters of that era remember the battles with Dundalk at Kilcohan Park? For ourselves, one our last memories of Ben Hannigan was when playing with Cork Celtic in the “old” Turner’s Cross, before any stands were built and the very last league game that saw Cork Celtic lift their only league title in April 1974 at the Cross, when defeating St. Patrick’s Athletic 3-0.

Playing alongside Hannigan on that historic day was Alfie Hale who had won 5 league titles with Waterford and scored the opening goal against Pats; Alex Ludzic in goal, Paddy Short and Bobby Tambling who scored the third goal with the second goal scored by Blondie Carroll, not forgetting a real Cork star and fan favourite, Carl Davenport. What household names of the time. The team was managed by Paul O’Donovan.

We hope this short piece will bring back memories of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s to a number of our readers. To the Hannigan family, we send sincere sympathy.

EURO BID

As we completed our notes last week, we heard that the FAI along with the English FA, Scottish FA, Welsh FA and Northern Ireland FA are making a joint bid to host the 2028 Euros. Originally the bid was going to be for the 2030 World Cup, but apparently Spain and Portugal will be better placed to host the World Cup and so the Euros are a better bet for the English and Irish associations.

There has been plenty of debate since the announcement was made last Monday, with the pros and cons discussed on radio and television, as well as with the written word. Will it be good for country or what advantage will it be to the game nationally? How many times have we read this and let us be honest, for games to take place in Dublin, we believe is bound to help the game at grassroots level. There has to be a knock-on affect for the game and needless to say, the FAI would be glad of the financial bonanza to help them get out of the debt that the new FAI inherited from the last regime. Although we hear the Association is projecting to record a surplus of €1.7 for 2022, based on many assumptions. There will be plenty of games this year at the Aviva and with no restrictions on crowds, there should be a number of games with full houses. The big game for many supporters is the friendly with Belgium on Saturday, March 26th. This will suit so many of the fans who normally have to travel midweek and for those with schoolgoing children, this is the ideal day and versus a top European team as well.

We will continue with this piece next week in our notes, as once again space is catching up with us and we are aware there are plenty of our readers interested in FAI affairs.

AIRTRICITY LEAGUE

Friday night next sees the start of the Airtricity League in the two divisions. Last weekend we spoke to supporters of the “local” teams, Waterford, Cork City and Cobh Ramblers and they are all looking forward to the new season. They are naturally disappointed that none of the three will be competing in the Premier Division and they accept that the 1st Division, or the ‘Southern Division’ as some are calling the division, will be difficult to get promotion come the end of the season.

When we look closely at the nine teams that comprise the division, one can see that any one of at least six teams could quite easily be top of the table come November. The past number of weeks have seen all the clubs playing friendly games, many against Premier opposition. We ourselves have seen a few of the friendly games and while they may be classed as only challenge games, it is obvious that teams will want to start off on the winning road on Friday night.

Waterford start their season having been relegated following a play-off with UCD at the end of a disappointing 2021, when they travel to play Athlone Town. Waterford’s new manager Ian Morris has been happy with the preseason games and will want his team to get off to a good start by taking home the three points. The manager was successful last season when he guided Shelbourne back to the Premier having been relegated the previous season. In fact, he has twice secured promotion in three years with Shels and one well known Dublin scribe wrote Morris is one of the best upcoming managers in the Airtricity League. Ian Morris is one of the youngest managers in the league, but the experience he has gained with Shelbourne in his short managerial role will stand to him at the RSC.

All Blues supporters were delighted when the Waterford club re-signed experienced players and former internationals Brian Murphy and Eddie Nolan. Another player who had a good season last year, Anthony Wordsworth, has also re-signed. Looking at the players, this is a good squad with the experience of having played in the Premier last season and supporters, while expectant, are hopeful of making a quick return to the top table.

There were great hopes also for Athlone last season, but Martin Russell is an experienced manager and his goal, like all other managers in the division, is to get Athlone into the Premier by next November. All Blues fans hope Waterford can get off to a winning start before they play Bray the following week at the RSC.

Cork City travel to the Carlisle Ground to play one of the favourites for promotion, Bray Wanderers and this game should tell us what to expect from two teams that we believe should be in the premier division.

We saw City play last Friday night at Turner’s Cross against Shelbourne in a preseason and before an attendance of 1,092 spectators on a cold windy and wet night, the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Shelbourne won the 1st Division last season with Waterford’s new manager Ian Morris in charge. However, during the break Shelbourne announced that Damien Duff was taking over as manager and his team on Friday night last, while they played second fiddle to a spirited and attacking display from the home team as they created the better goal scoring opportunities. But it was Shels who opened the scoring in the 34th minute. The second half saw Cork City equalise 15mins after the resumption and that is how the game ended.

Colin Healy has a number of injuries at present, but he is looking forward to the season and with a large home following at the Cross for the home games, Cork City we believe will be a force in the months ahead.

Bray have one of the most experienced managers in the league in Pat Devlin and any team he has managed has been successful and the Seagulls are already mentioned as being favourites to top the division. But Devlin knows this division is so difficult to get out of and will want points on the table from the first game, before they travel to the RSC the following week to play one of the other favourites, Waterford. This should be a brilliant game on Friday night at the Carlisle Ground.

Cobh Ramblers travel to Bishopsgate to play Longford Town on Saturday night. The home team made the play-offs last season and with Gary Cronin at the helm, they will be another team that will fancy their chances of making the play-offs. Cobh have been playing friendlies and defeated Bandon in the quarter-final of the Munster Senior Cup and will play Rockmount in the semi-final.

Darren Murphy is managing the Ramblers and has former Waterford manager, Franny Rockett and former Cork City favourite, John O’Flynn in his backroom team.

Many reading our notes through the years will realise we have great time for the Cobh club. In all our visits to St. Colman’s Park through the years, we have always said it was a family club. With a new committee for the past few years, this family atmosphere has returned and there is always plenty of local support, not to mention the support that comes from up the road in Cork and the East Cork area. We are very aware of the East Cork support as there are e-mails and text messages sent to us on a regular basis.

Now of course there is the Waterford connection with Ardmore’s Sean Barron in goal and Portlaw’s Daryl Walsh playing in defence. We hope both have a good season and we will look forward to the derby games against the Blues in the coming weeks and months.

While our notes are concentrating on the local three teams, let us not forget that there is another Munster team that will be a force battling for promotion, Treaty United from Limerick. For a club that only came into the league at the last moment in the 2021 season, they reached the knockout play-off stage when losing to UCD over two legs.

Not many gave them any chance when they started their league campaign, but manager Tommy Barrett assembled a squad that had a number of experienced players and added players who were playing junior premier football in the Limerick League. We saw them many times last season at the Markets Field and they have a wonderful Limerick following. They are captained by Jack Lynch, son of former Waterford manager Tommy Lynch. We believe any team visiting the Markets Field will find it difficult to come away with points, as they have a good home record.

Already this season, Treaty defeated Waterford 2-0 in the quarter-final of the Munster Senior Cup which was played at UL when the Markets Field was declared unplayable.

We have just heard that Shane Keegan is joining Treaty as overall coach at the club. Keegan was of course at Dundalk in the last regime and has had stints with Galway and Wexford. He has all the coaching badges required to coach at the top level.

Outside of the teams we have mentioned, we cannot forget John Caulfield’s Galway Utd who lost out in the play-off final last season. They will definitely pose problems for any of the other teams, especially at Eamonn Deacy Park. We have heard that Wexford have made some interesting signings during the close season and manager Ian Ryan is upbeat with his squad and they kick-off the season on Friday night at home to Treaty Utd.

We hope there will be many good games to write of in the coming season in our Airtricity League segment. The hope is that there will be large crowds at the games and we are guaranteed plenty of Munster derbies that should attract the fans. Looking forward to meeting all the fans again, especially our Blues fans.

Finally, the President’s Cup kicked off the Airtricity League last Friday night with Shamrock Rvs defeating St. Patrick’s Athletic in a penalty shoot-out, after the teams finished level 1-1 at Tallaght Stadium.