Brideview A win the big local derby

The Brideview bandwagon rolls on following the return to football last Sunday after the break the previous week due to pitches being unplayable. The two Brideview teams won their respective games and both are top of their respective divisions. We ourselves report on both games and while the Brideview B team had to work hard for the win away to Kinsalebeg, the Brideview A team had a high scoring victory at home to Valley Rgs A in a top of the table clash. We have reported on so many of these local derbies through the years and rarely have we ever seen such a comprehensive victory.

This weekend we have a top of the table clash in The Avondhu 1st Division, when Cappoquin/Railway visit Brideview B.

The shortage of referees is once again highlighted by referees having to double up this coming Sunday. Elsewhere in the notes we print an e-mail we received from the Referee Executive FAI asking us to inform clubs and individuals that referees beginners courses are taking place this month, courses which can take place online.

We hope, for the sake of the league, that some few will commit to the course and a few new referees will be available to the league fixtures secretary.

SYMPATHY

Sincere sympathy from the WW/EC Junior League to long-time Lismore club man and former player, Joe Tobin and the extended Tobin family, on the death last week of Joe’s brother, Tom Tobin, Currareigh, Lismore.

Sincere sympathy to Mrs May Lawton, Towns Park, Lismore and the extended Lawton family on the death last week of Michael Lawton, Swords, Co. Dublin. Michael’s brothers played with Lismore AFC in the Red House League and his niece, Karen Duggan, is a former Irish international and plays with Peamount in the Women’s National League and also acts as a television analyst.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh siad.

DEATH

We were saddened to hear on Sunday morning last of the death of former Waterford player Seamie Casey. Seamie played right full back on the first Waterford team to win the league in season 1965/66. His late brother Al Casey was also a member of that league winning Blues’ team. Seamie went on to become a committee member of the Waterford and District League when the Red House League was an associate member.

To the extended Casey family, we offer sincere sympathy.

Ar dheis Dé ar a anam.

REFEREES’ BEGINNERS COURSES

We received an e-mail from Rob Hennessy, Referee Executive FAI, to include in our notes this week that the Referees’ Department have confirmed two online beginner courses due to take place in March and can be carried out in our own area.

The online courses consist of 9 hours of self-directed learning that the participants complete in their own time.

This then is followed by 6 hours on Zoom spread over two nights with FAI instructors. The dates are March 14th and 15th from 7pm to 10pm, and March 15th and 16th from 7pm to 10pm.

Anyone interested, male or female, please contact the WW/EC Soccer Society or ourselves through the notes.

We are continuously writing on the lack of referees and the disinterest from clubs. There is no need to go into what happens when there is no referee available to take charge of a fixture. Any time we write on this scenario, it appears to be a rant from ourselves.

So, this week we give the dates for the beginners’ course and leave it to the clubs themselves to encourage someone to take up the whistle.

MARI MINA PHARMACY PREMIER Brideview A 6 Valley Rgs A 0

In our preview of this game last week, we wrote there is never much between the teams at the final whistle. We have reported on so many of Brideview/ Valley Rgs derbies through the years and only a goal or two was ever the difference. We predicted a draw, but concluded by saying we have been proved wrong on many an occasion. Sunday afternoon was one of those occasions!

We travelled to Leonard Fraser Park from Fitzgerald Park, where we had seen Brideview B defeat Kinsalebeg.

The Tallow pitch was in excellent shape considering two underage games had taken place on Saturday. It was a beautiful spring afternoon when Eamonn Cusack got the game in motion. Both teams attacked from the start, with Brideview playing into the country goal and we felt their midfield was beginning to get on top in those opening ten minutes and they took the lead through Richie Ryan on 10mins. However, Valley started to come more into the game but were not causing too many problems for Jamie Murphy in the home goal. Play was swinging from end to end, with Paul Geary in the Valley goal the busier of the two ‘keepers.

Murphy was called into action and saved at the expense of a corner kick and from the resultant flag kick, Graham O’Neill headed over the bar. This was one of the few chances created by the visitors as the Brideview defence was firm, with Ryan Grey and Kieran Geary in the central defensive role in total command.

A wonderful Brideview movement from defence resulted in a goal for the league leaders. The ball was played out to Michael Curley who passed on the wing to Eric Hickey and he crossed for the inrushing Dave McInerney, to give Paul Geary no chance as the ball nestled in the net. A wonderful team goal and this was the score at half-time, 2-0.

We wondered what Valley would do in the second half but the game was taken out of their hands in a ten minute period. Richie Ryan found the net from a Curley cross in the 47th minute, Shane Roche added another in the 57th minute and two minutes later, we had the goal of the game when Roche volleyed to the net from 25 yards out. It was a brilliant goal and Geary had no chance in goal.

At the other end, Murphy was forced into a save and he then saved brilliantly from a John Noonan free kick at the expense of a corner. Brideview’s Ryan saw his effort come off a post from a McGrath cross. With time running out Michael Curley scored the sixth goal from a McInerney cross and shortly after the full time whistle sounded.

Brideview were the better team throughout the 90mins and deserved the win. Valley Rgs disappointed on the day and never seemed to get into the game. The home defence and midfield were totally on top and while the half-time score showed a two goal advantage, Brideview could in fact have had a bigger lead if all the chances were converted. McGrath on the right wing caused endless problems for the Valley defence and in Ryan they had an excellent finisher, helped by McInerney. Murphy in the home goal had little to do until the closing 20mins of the game when he was called upon to make two very good saves.

Paul Geary was definitely the busier of the two ‘keepers and cannot be faulted for the goals that beat him as the defence in front of him found the opposing attack too hot to handle.

For ourselves as a neutral, a disappointing local derby.

Brideview A - Jamie Murphy, Kevin Henley, Ben Aherne, Ryan Grey, Kieran Geary, Eric Hickey, Eoin McGrath, Shane Roche, Michael Curley, Dave McInerney, Richie Ryan. Reserve - Dylan Mangan.

Valley Rgs A - Paul Geary, Ivan Ohrim, Hector Alberto, Rob English, John Carr, Graham O’Neill, Tom Hartnett, Kevin Cotter, Adrian Carr, John Noonan, Stephen Carr. Reserves - Kelvin Gleeson, Jack Lazack, John Murphy, Stephen O’Donovan, Luke Heffernan.

Referee Eamonn Cusack kept the game flowing as much as possible and was helped, it must be added, by two very sporting teams.

Colour scheme, both teams passed.

Man of the Match Award - Brideview players were the players in line for the award, although John Noonan and Stephen Carr were the Valley players that caught our eye.

Ryan Grey, Kieran Geary, Eoin McGrath, Michael Curley and Richie were serious contenders for Brideview. But we give the award to Brideview’s Shane Roche for his display at midfield, scoring two goals with the second goal one of the best we have seen at Leonard Fraser Park.

Having written in our preview how close the results are when these two meet, we had to do a little research on Sunday night for any scores similar to Sunday. We are correct when we wrote all games between then have been close, but back in February 2017 Brideview won 8-0, 11-1 in December 2018, and the same score as Sunday last 6-0 in December 2014. In that game in 2014, Dave McInerney scored and he did likewise last Sunday. Just a little bit of history.

This Sunday, Brideview A travel to Sexton Park to play Inch and Valley Rgs A have Lismore at Conna.

Lismore v Inch

This game was called off on Sunday morning when it was discovered the Castle Farm Ground was unplayable.

Disappointing for everyone.

THE AVONDHU 1ST DIVISION Kinsalebeg 1 Brideview B 2

We took in this game on Sunday morning at Fitzgerald Park and it was the first occasion this season to see the league leaders, Brideview B play in the league. On a beautiful spring morning, the pitch was in excellent condition and this helped both teams who gave us a very entertaining 90mins.

Brideview went into the game as favourites having won their three league games played, while Kinsalebeg had only one victory to date. The Tallow team started off the better and Sean O’Sullivan saw an effort go over the bar from a Ciaran Crawford cross. Shane Martin in the Brideview goal was called into action and saved well from a Soren Delaney shot. On 10mins Brideview took the lead when an Ethan Scotton cross from the left wing found O’Sullivan and he gave Aaron Joyce no chance in the home goal. Kinsalebeg settled after this and started to put pressure on the Brideview defence and Martin saved well from Glen Lynch. Kinsalebeg were creating chances, but unable to convert them into scores until the 25th minute when David Lynch crossed from the left wing and Delaney finished for a deserved equaliser. Credit both teams, play swung from end to end, but many passes were going astray and half-time arrived with the teams level 1-1.

The second half continued as the opening half with both teams playing attacking football. Joyce in the home goal saved brilliantly from Jake Chambers and at the other end, Martin had to be alert to deny Conor French.

In the 65th minute the game turned when Kinsalebeg had a player correctly red carded by the referee and while they battled with a player short and made Brideview fight hard for possession, the extra man was having an effect on the home team. In the 72nd minute Brideview scored when Adam Crawford found the net. This was a killer blow to Kinsalebeg and while they tried hard, the extra man was too much and at the final whistle Brideview had the points and now have maximum points from four games.

Overall, an entertaining game with the sending off the only blemish on a sporting game and Brideview will know they had a tough battle for the three points.

Kinsalebeg - Aaron Joyce, Glen Lynch, Aaron Lyness, Graham Guiry, Trevor Kenneally, Andy Walsh, Soren Delaney, Dylan Holohan, John Flynn, Conor French, David Lynch. Reserves - Luke Wade, Alan Kelly.

Brideview B - Shane Martin, Jake Chambers, Ethan Scotton, Eamonn Forbes, Shane Ryan, Sean O’Sullivan, Joas Almedia, Stephen Pratt, Adam Crawford, Darra Buckley. Reserves - Andy O’Riordan, Stefan Tobin, Noel Condon.

Referee Eamonn Cusack had a good game with the advantage used as much as possible in an entertaining game. Colour scheme - Kinsalebeg pass, Brideview fail.

Man of the Match Award - there was only one player to stand out and we give the award to Graham Guiry, Kinsalebeg who had a wonderful game as centre half, even though on the losing team.

This Sunday Kinsalebeg travel to play Valley Rgs B and Brideview B have Cappoquin/Railway as visitors.

Valley Rgs B 0 Cappoquin/Kinsalebeg 4

When the teams met a few weeks back at Cappoquin, Valley Rgs B caused a shock defeating Cappoquin/Railway. Sunday morning last saw the visitors with only ten players and they took the lead through Sean Hale, Bernard Wright added a second and this was the score at half-time.

The second half saw the visitors have a player receive a red card and this meant Cappoquin/Railway had to play with nine players. However, they managed to score two more goals through Hale and Craig Dunne and ended up comfortable winners.

This Sunday Cappoquin/Railway travel to play Brideview B in a top of the table clash, while Valley Rgs B have Kinsalebeg as visitors.

PREVIEWS

We have four league games this Sunday with two games in the morning and two fixtures in the afternoon, with a shortage of referees the problem, ensuring one referee will have to double up.

Valley Rgs A v Lismore

Valley welcome Lismore to Conna on Sunday morning hoping to put the defeat last week away to Brideview behind them. That defeat really hurt the players and management as it is a number of years since the Conna team conceded six goals to their neighbours.

No doubt manager Paul Geary will have worked on getting his team motivated for Sunday’s game with Lismore and no better way to get that game out of the system only to get back to winning ways. They cannot afford to drop points and leave the league leaders open a gap at the top of the table. The visitors have not played since the first week in February and their last outing was a win away to Inch in which they scored four goals.

When Lismore played Valley in January at the Castle Farm Ground they were leading by the only goal of the game up to the last minute when the Conna side equalised and in injury time scored the winner. Sunday’s game is the ideal opportunity for them to reverse that result, and we think this has the makings of a very good game. With so much at stake, we think we may see a share of the points.

Inch v Brideview A

The league leaders visit Sexton Park after securing a six goal victory last week. They are the form team, undefeated in their four league games played and have scored 16 goals in the process. They were excellent on Sunday in every position and Inch will have to be at their very best if they are to take anything out of the fixture. Inch have not played since they lost at home to Lismore at the start of February.

Having seen both teams playing in the league, and especially last Sunday, the speed of the Brideview midfield and their attacking flair maybe too much for an Inch team that depends on their experienced players, especially in defence, to take them out of trouble. Brideview to win.

Brideview B v Cappoquin/Railway

A top of the table clash at Leonard Fraser Park on Sunday afternoon when the league leaders and second in the table clash. Brideview go into the game having won their four league games, while the visitors have lost twice in five league games - one of the defeats (2-1) was to Brideview at the end of January, also played at Tallow, where Cappoquin/Railway had a player sent off after 30mins. They played very well and were unlucky not to secure a draw. Since then, they have lost at home to Valley Rgs B, but reversed that result last Sunday with a comprehensive victory.

We saw Brideview last Sunday morning against Kinsalebeg and they had to battle hard for the win and were helped by the home team having a player red carded midway through the second half. We believe Sunday’s game will live up to our prediction of a cracking attacking game and a draw the likely outcome.

Valley Rgs B v Kinsalebeg

Both teams lost at home last Sunday with Valley conceding four goals to Cappoquin/Railway and Kinsalebeg losing to Brideview B. They had a player sent off and this definitely hampered them in the closing 20mins of the game.

When the two sides met at Fitzgerald Park at the end of January, Kinsalebeg scored five goals without conceding. We predict that they will complete the double on Sunday.

FIXTURES SUNDAY, 6TH MARCH

Mari Mina Pharmacy Premier - Inch v Brideview A 11am, E Cusack; Valley Rgs A v Lismore 11am, S Pratt.

The Avondhu 1st Division - Brideview B v Cappoquin/Railway 2pm, E Cusack; Valley Rgs B v Kinsalebeg 2pm, S Drislane.

AIRTRICITY LEAGUE

Friday night last saw the second series of games played in the 1st Division and we did not see the same number of goals scored as the previous week.

Waterford, after their fantastic win away to Athlone the previous week, had Bray Wanderers as visitors. The Seagulls conceded six goals the previous week to Cork City and we felt the experienced Pat Devlin would have his charges ready to blot out that defeat.

Before an attendance of just under 2,500, Waterford started well and had two great chances to open the scoring, but Louis Britton failed to convert. However, he atoned in the 27th minute when he found the net from a Richard Taylor cross. Britton is on loan at the RSC from Bristol City and looks a good addition to the squad that manager Ian Morris has assembled. Waterford did have other opportunities in front of goal as the half progressed, but unfortunately these did not end up in the net. Bray were content to soak up the pressure and did not really threaten Brian Murphy until he saved smartly just before the break from Rob Manley.

The second half was more of the same and Murphy was called into action after 15mins when he saved again from Manley, and overall, the Blues were the better team, but what maybe is alarming is the finishing as goal difference could have a very important role to play come the end of the season.

Bray were disappointing and we wrote a few weeks back we felt they would be one of the teams to battle for promotion as the season progresses. Only two games played and they have conceded seven goals without scoring, but it’s early days yet.

This Friday, Waterford travel to Eamonn Deacy Park to play Galway Utd who had a wonderful win away at Turner’s Cross on Friday last. Many feel that Galway will be Waterford’s toughest opposition this season and while John Caulfield has lost a number of players, he has recruited well and has assembled a good young squad including former Cork City players Conor McCormack and Ed McCarthy. This game will tell us much of Waterford’s progress to date.

As mentioned, Cork City lost at home to Galway on Friday night before an attendance of just under 5,000, and this shows the following City have, even in the 1st Division. This was a game that Cork City will look back on as a game of missed chances. The opportunities that they failed to convert definitely cost them the points. One must also mention the goalkeeping of Chris Kearns in the Galway goal, who made a number of excellent saves. Cork City were by far the better team in the opening 30mins but a lack of finishing was costing them and they were made to pay in the 37th minute when former City player Ed McCarthy scored to give Galway the lead, a lead they would not relinquish.

Early in the second half Galway lost a player to a second yellow card and City piled on the pressure and missed some wonderful chances in front of goal. Also, good goalkeeping by the visitors who had ex City and ex Waterford ‘keeper Matt Connor as reserve ‘keeper.

The City faithful were disappointed at the final whistle, but for manager John Caulfield this was a winning return to a club he gave so much to as player and manager. On Friday night he sat in the gantry over the Donie Forde stand as he served a suspension carried over from last season. Galway, definitely a team to watch for the rest of the season.

Cork City travel to Bishopsgate to play Longford on Friday night.

On Saturday we heard Cork City manager, Colin Healy was taking a break from the game for a short while, but no further news was forthcoming except the club asked for privacy.

Cobh Ramblers played their first home game of the season when Wexford FC were the visitors to St. Colman’s Park. The Ramblers had no game the previous week as the Bishopsgate pitch at the Longford venue was unplayable. Wexford travelled after a hammering at home by Treaty Utd the previous week. Friday night we saw plenty of late drama in a five goal thriller.

Cobh took the lead in the opening half through Jack Larkin when he beat former Ramblers ‘keeper Paul Hunt and this was the score at half-time. With 20mins remaining the game changed as the Wexford management made substitutions and a player we mentioned last week who felt he was very good against Treaty, Tom Considine, equalised. With 16mins remaining Cobh went back in front through O’Brien-Whitmarsh. In the 81st minute substitute Dinny Corcoran, who we feel is a star signing for Wexford, equalised. With two minutes remaining Wexford were awarded a penalty for a handball which saw Brendan Frahill red-carded and Corcoran beat Sean Barron with the spot kick and that gave Wexford the three points. Disappointment for the Ramblers to start the new season with a home defeat.

This Friday night Treaty Utd are the visitors to St. Colman’s Park.