Brideview draw to stay joint top, as Lismore draw

After the postponements the previous week due to Storm Kathleen it was back to league football again last weekend in the Waterford and District League. Brideview drew away in Stradbally, while Lismore drew away with league leaders Portlaw.

In the Airtricity League, Waterford FC once again failed to get the better of John Caulfield’s Galway with a scoreless draw at the RSC. Cork City could only draw away at the Bowl against UCD, while Cobh Ramblers played their first game under new lights at St. Colman’s Park, but lost to Wexford.

Sunday next will see the final of the Oscar Traynor Cup with the Waterford League playing the Mayo League.

The FAI announced on Monday morning that CEO, Jonathan Hill will step down from his post at the end of the month.

We must apologise to our readers, especially those who enjoy our weekly look back through the archives, that with so much happening nationally in the game and the news regarding the FAI CEO, we do not have the space this week for our ‘Memories’ spot. Hopefully we will be able to continue our look back through the league’s history next week.

WATERFORD AND DISTRICT LEAGUE Portlaw 2 Lismore 2

Lismore reversed their fixture on Saturday with top of the table Portlaw, when the Castle Farm Ground failed a pitch inspection and the game was played at the league leaders’ Paddocks venue.

Lismore went on the attack from the very start with Sam Uniacke closing down the Portlaw goalkeeper who was well outside his area and the ball fell to Dave Smith, who then lobbed the keeper and a defender from all of 40 yards for the lead goal.

Play was swinging from end to end after this and chances were being created at both ends. Portlaw were then awarded a penalty and equalised with the spot kick.

Lismore hit back with Aaron Whelan finding the net from a tight angle – 1-2 at half-time.

The second half was more or less the same as the opening half, with both teams playing attacking football. Lismore then lost Alex Bennet through injury which necessitated his removal to hospital. This did not deter Lismore from continuing to play attacking football as they tried to get a third goal, but the league leaders battled hard to get the score that would bring them to parity and they succeeded late in the game, finding the net.

The full time whistle sounded, with a share of the points for both teams and Portlaw continue to lead the table.

This Saturday, Lismore will travel to Connor Park to play the Villa in 2B, with a 7pm kick-off.

Stradbally 1 Brideview 1

Brideview had a top of the table clash at Stradbally on Saturday evening in Division 2A and came away with a share of the points. There was no score at half-time, but within five minutes of the restart the home team took the lead.

Brideview hit back on 73 minutes when Gavin Fives scored and this was the score at full time 1-1.

This was a good result for the Tallow team who were short three of their normal starting squad, and they stay joint top of the table, but Stradbally have a game less played.

This Saturday, Brideview will be on the road again when they travel to Kilmacow in Division 2A with a 5pm kick-off.

On Saturday, Ballyduff Rovers will have home advantage in Division 3A when Ballinroad are the visitors. Kick-off at the Community Field is 4pm.

OSCAR TRAYNOR CUP FINAL

This Sunday will see the final of the Oscar Traynor Cup take place between the Waterford and District League and the Mayo League. The Oscar Traynor competition was revived this year since the pandemic caused its cancellation back in 2020. This year it was played on a provincial basis before it went national.

Waterford won the Munster region and in the semi-final, defeated the fancied Donegal League. Mayo defeated Sligo/Leitrim League and now the final is set for Sunday next, 21st April and will be played at Umbro Park, Milebush Park, Mayo with a 1pm kick-off. We wish the Waterford team the very best.

FAI CEO TO STEP DOWN

Just as we complete our notes for this week on Monday morning, we received the news that Jonathan Hill will leave his post as FAI CEO at the end of the month.

In a statement issued by the FAI on Monday morning, an interim CEO will be appointed by the FAI which will be followed by “a structured search for a full time successor”. Jonathan Hill replaced John Delaney as CEO in 2020 during the Covid-19 crisis.

Hill has had much criticism in the past number of months, not only by those involved in the game at grassroots level, but also by the TDs on the committee when he appeared at a Public Accounts meeting. His performance, in our eyes as we watched the proceedings, did nothing to enhance the Association. There is no need to go into that meeting here as it has been well and truly thrashed out in the daily media and on television.

No doubt the appointment of the new head coach of the men’s senior international team, that we were told will be announced this week, will now be delayed. We will have to wait and see what transpires over the next number of days.

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL Ireland 0 England 2

Tuesday night last saw Ireland ladies host the Euro champions and World Cup runners-up, England, at the Aviva in the Euro 2025 group stage. At the final whistle, England, ranked 2nd in the world rankings to Ireland’s 25th, were winners.

With 32,742 in attendance, the English, especially in the opening half displayed why they are second best in the world. They took the lead in the 12th minute after some sloppy play in the Irish defence allowed Lauren James shoot from inside the area giving Irish keeper Brosnan no chance. This was the start the Irish did not want and six minutes later, there was more catastrophe in the Irish defence when a penalty was awarded against Littlejohn for a handball. From our view this appeared to be harsh, but as was quickly pointed out to us, a handball in the area results usually in a spot kick. Engand’s Greenwood sent Brosnan the wrong way for a two goal lead.

Ireland had yet to have a shot on goal and two goals down, it was going to be a long night. Worse we felt was to follow when England were awarded another penalty for another handball. Our interpretation of handball apparently is not the same as referee Lina Lehtovaara of Finland as she penalised Louise Quinn, when to us the ball came off her arm from a deflection. However, this time Greenwood’s spot kick came off a post and rolled across the goal and over the end line. We felt justice had been done. Halftime arrived and the visitors held the two goal advantage.

The second half saw Eileen Gleeson make a number of changes and the introduction of Megan Campbell injected some new life into the girls in Green and the Irish fans. Campbell’s long throws into the area had the English defence working harder in this half than the opening forty-five minutes. A number of chances, limited admittedly, but better than against the French the previous week and goalkeeper Hannah Hampton had to make a few saves, and very nearly in the last five minutes present Ireland captain, Katie McCabe with a goal after McCabe blocked the keeper’s clearance but shot straight at the keeper. A goal with a few minutes to go would definitely have changed the atmosphere around the Aviva. But at the end of the game, Ireland recorded their second group defeat and will now have a double feature against Sweden at the end of May and start of June.

From watching the two games, against the French and England, the standard is much higher than the Irish girls have played against, especially last season. Mistakes at this level are punished and players do not get the opportunity to dwell on the ball. We have seen this with two of the best players Ireland have in their squad, Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan. They are of course singled out by coaches of top class countries and will be marked, denying them time and space, which will then have problems for the rest of the Irish team, and a disappointing feature for us was the passing of the ball at this level by most of the players, as they failed to find a colleague. Coach Eileen Gleeson will have plenty of work on with her squad before the end of May to try and remedy the faults.

Ireland will play Sweden at the Aviva on Friday, May 31st and will play the return four days later in Sweden on Tuesday, June 4th. The top two teams in the group will qualify automatically and the bottom two will play off to see who will go forward for a play-off against another group team.

NEW MANAGER?

We now turn our attention to the headline that has been dominating the game since last November, when Stephen Kenny lost his job as international manager and the hunt to replace him since then. In the months since November, we have heard so many names with, as we all know, Lee Carsley being the favourite until a few weeks back when we discovered he informed the selection committee that he was not interested. We were told the appointment was imminent, but then it was after the two women’s internationals, and now we are led to believe it may be this week or next. We just do not have the space to write what we really think of the charade that has taken place in Abbotstown with the appointment, but we promise we will give it space in the next week or so.

AIRTRICITY LEAGUE

We will start with the fixtures

from last Friday night, but there was so much happening off the field of play and in committee rooms, we will give a report further down in this segment.

Waterford 0 Galway 0

Waterford after their great victory the previous week in Dalymount Park against Bohemians, had John Caulfield’s Galway Utd. as visitors on Friday night. When the teams met at Eamonn Deacy Park at the start of the season in February, Galway came out on top 2-1.

Friday night with an attendance of 2,500 saw Waterford go on the attack from the very start with the experienced Brendan Clarke in the Galway goal brought into action after only a few minutes, when he saved from Maleace Asamoah and shortly after, saved brilliantly from Rowan McDonald. At the other end the dangerous Stephen Walsh forced a good save out of Sam Sargeant.

Just before the break, Walsh was through on goal only for a last ditch tackle and save by McDonald. Halftime arrived with the teams failing to find the net.

The second half was only a few minutes restarted when Hammond got on the end of Connor Parson’s cross but headed over the bar. Chances were created at either end, but there was no one able to find the net. The Blues felt they had a penalty when Parsons ended up on the ground in the area, but the referee waved play on. In the final minute, Ryan Burke received a red card for a second bookable offence. In injury time Waterford were denied victory when a Hammond free kick was brilliantly saved by Clarke as he dived full length to push the ball round the post for a corner kick. Paul Norton’s whistle sounded shortly after and the teams had to settle for a share of the points.

There is no doubt Brendan Clarke’s top class save at the very end ensured Galway departed with a point, but denied the Blues all three.

This is the sixth occasion in two years that the Blues have failed to defeat Galway. John Caulfield’s team have had four wins and two draws in the six games played, with Waterford losing and drawing in their two games played this season. The result shows Waterford are fourth last in the table, but with a game more played than Dundalk, Drogheda and Galway Utd.

This Friday, Waterford travel to Inchicore to play St. Patrick’s Athletic. When the teams met at the RSC at the start of March, Waterford came out on top 2-1 and many felt this was going to be the start to the league that we all looked forward to. But as we know, this was not the case. Last week Pats had a scoreless draw away at Oriel Park to Dundalk and at present are just two points clear of Waterford and level on games. Through the years Inchicore has not been the happiest of venues for Waterford teams, but to come away with a point will keep the Blues tipping along in the league table.

UCD 0 Cork City 0

In the 1st Division, league leaders Cork City travelled to the Bowl to play UCD. When the teams met at Turner’s Cross at the start of March, City won by the only goal of the game, so another tight game was expected.

Our City colleagues told us this was not a great game with the two defences protecting their respective goalkeepers and not many scoring chances being created in the opening half. Greg Bolger and Evan McLoughlin did have, what we were told were half chances, but did not cause any problems for the home defence. UCD keeper Moore saved from Jack Doherty and at the other end, Brad Wade was not called into action on too many occasions and at the break there was stalemate.

The second half did not see much of an improvement and the only chance of note for the league leaders we were told, was Moore saving from Barry Coffey after 15mins play of the restart. UCD did attempt to up the tempo, but lacked quality in front of goal and when the final whistle sounded the sides had to settle for a share of the points, which keeps Cork City at the top of the table. Better news for City was the defeat of nearest rivals Finn Harps, who lost away to Athlone by the only goal of the game.

This Friday, Cork City are to be at home to Longford, but with Turner’s Cross closed, we are not sure where the game will take place. It is possible the fixture may be reversed. Longford are bottom in the table, not having won a game since the start of the season and lost at home on Saturday last to Bray 3-0 and after the game, manager Stephen Henderson was relieved of his duties, replaced by Gavin Peers as interim manager. Regardless where the fixture will be played, Cork City will have to look for the three points to ensure they stay top of the table.

Cobh Ramblers 2 Wexford 4

Cobh Ramblers played their first game under their new lights, but lost out to Wexford in a six goal thriller. Having lost the previous week to Cork City at Turner’s Cross, the Ramblers were hoping to get back to winning ways on their home patch. But Wexford had other ideas and Thomas Oluwa gave the visitors the lead after only four minutes. Cobh did have a few chances in this half, with visiting keeper Owen Mason saving from David Bosnjak, but at the break the visitors were leading 0-1.

The second half saw Wexford score twice in a few minutes with Mark Hanratty scoring both goals to give the team from the South East a three goal lead with only eight minutes gone in the second half.

But the Ramblers hit back within two minutes with two goals in as many minutes. Jack Larkin scored ten minutes after the restart and a minute later they were awarded a penalty which was converted by Jason Abbot. This cut the deficit to a goal and over thirty minutes remaining.

With twenty minutes remaining Wexford scored their fourth goal when a mistake by the home defence allowed Oluwa score his second goal. At the final whistle, Cobh ended up losing their fourth game in nine league games played and they remain in second last position in the table.

This Friday night, Cobh will play at home to second in the table Finn Harps, which is a reverse fixture as they played in March at Ballybofey when St. Colman’s Park was not available. The Ramblers caused a shock that night as they won with a Jack Larkin goal. Harps lost last week away to Athlone and are four points adrift of leaders, Cork City. The Ramblers will want to get a victory to get them moving up the league table.

OTHER NEWS

As we wrote at the commencement of our Airtricity round-up, that there was much activity off the field of play and early in the week, we learned that the FAI Disciplinary Committee met to discuss the referee’s report of the Drogheda v Shelbourne league game, that saw linesman Dermot Broughton struck on the back of the neck with a flare resulting in the game being suspended for fifteen minutes while the linesman received medical attention. The committee’s decision will see the Shelbourne supporters banned from their next away game which is this Friday at Eamonn Deacy Park against Galway Utd. There is no doubt a fine will also be imposed on the club.

On Tuesday the news broke that the Munster Football Association was closing Turner’s Cross while repairs were carried out to the pitch. This of course means Cork City will have to find an alternative venue for their upcoming home games. The Cross has been in constant use since the start of the season with games every Friday night as Cobh Ramblers have been using the pitch while St. Colman’s Park has had an AstroTurf pitch laid. On our last visit to the Cross, we could see the wear and tear and all of this is of course from the bad weather that has seen constant rain falling since last year, and as we all know every field in the country is saturated. Farmers are in serious trouble, unable to get their machinery into fields with the planting of crops running late.

So, sports fields are similar, with so many games being called off and all leagues having a backlog of fixtures. Turner’s Cross we hear will be out of action for a month and hopefully the weather will improve to allow the pitch get back to what we all know Turner’s Cross to be, one of the best pitches in the country.

Friday night saw all league games in the two divisions start five minutes late as the referees wanted to take a stand with the FAI over issues regarding safety and pay. The referees stated they have asked for a meeting with the FAI, but they have heard nothing in response. This protest was, they felt, the only way for them to get the FAI to listen and sure enough, a meeting has been arranged for either this week or the following week.

While there are always two sides to every story, communication has never been one of the FAI’s best traits and once again, the Association shoots itself in the foot with negativity. Have the hierarchy in the Association learned anything from the past?

We were disappointed to see Dundalk’s Stephen O’Donnell, manager Dundalk FC, lose his job last week. Stephen has given wonderful service to the club through the years and was an exceptional captain in the Stephen Kenny era. We hope he gets back into football sooner than later.

On Saturday evening, Longford’s Stephen Henderson was relieved of his duties as manager of the club, with the club not having a victory since the season commenced in March

Both Henderson and O’Donnell join Declan Devine, former manager of Bohemians, as three managers who have lost their jobs in the three months of the new season. Who would want to be a manager?