Villa FC v Killarney Celtic

KILLARNEY Celtic have a huge game next Saturday evening when they travel to Waterford to play Villa FC in the semi-final of the Munster Junior Cup.

Opponents don’t come much bigger than this side who are well used to winning silverware in big competitions. While Celtic will go into this game as outsiders they are well capable of defeating any side on their day.

They have been very impressive on their road to the semi-final and will be hoping to lower the sails of the Waterford side, but it is a tall order.

The game has came at a good time for Celtic as Steven McCarthy is back playing again after been out with injury for a long time. Meanwhile, Wayne Sparling is back playing with Celtic after a season with Limerick side Pike Rovers and is a huge addition to the squad.

It will take a gigantic effort by Celtic to defeat Villa in their home patch at Ozier Park, but they will be hoping to squeeze out a win. While the odds are stacked against them they could upset the apple car if they play to their full potential.

No doubt Diarmuid Daly and Stephen Hayes will have their charges firing on all cylinders for the big showdown and they won’t be travelling to the Sunny South East to make up the numbers and they will try and produce a game plan focusing all their strategy to try and engineer a win.

Soccer fans around the county will be keeping their fingers crossed that they can progress to the provincial decider. If Celtic win they will play St Michael’s Tipperary in the final. They defeated Avenue United of Clare 2-1 in the other semi-final. The final will probably played at Turners Cross.

The club are running a supporters bus to the game and it will be leaving Killarney town on Saturday morning at 10.30am.

The price will depend on the number that are travelling and will be probably be €20 or €30. It is very important to get the names in early to guarantee a seat.

Castleisland bounded back in typical fashion after losing to Killarney Celtic the previous Sunday in the Greyhound Bar Cup with a big win over Listowel Celtic at Georgie O’Callaghan Park on Saturday night.

The Fealesiders went ahead early in the first half and they could have extended their lead, but they were denied by a great save by Castleisland keeper Steven Bartlett.

Castleisland woke up after this taking the bull by the horns and they equalised on the half hour mark. There was only going to be one winner after this with the Islanders scoring five more goals without reply and ran out easy winners at the end.

While the other league title contenders were on cup duty on Sunday Castleisland now move up to third in the table and they will be well in the mix in the battle to make it to the league decider.

The scorers for the winners were Colin McCarthy (three), Jason Brennan (two) and Stan Divane.

Killarney Celtic are moving in on a place in the Premier A League final after a comprehensive win over Mastergeeha.

They were much too strong for their neighbours on Wednesday night and won this game very comfortably. Matt Keane (two), Liam Spillane, Terry Sparling, Brendan Falvey and Steven McCarthy scored for the winners.

There will be a great battle between Killarney Celtic, Castleisland, Tralee Dynamos and Killarney Athletic for those two slots in the league final.

Killarney Celtic are five points clear at the top of the table at present and are odds on to make it to the decider and there will be an intriguing battle for that second slot.

CHARLEVILLE CHEESE DIVISION 1

Tralee Dynamos move up to third on the table after a great win over table toppers Mainebank on Friday night in Tralee. Christy Burke, Thomas Burke, Moises Olalde and Vlad Bukowski scored for the winners.

Rattoo Rovers narrowed the gap at the top of the table despite being held to a 2-2 draw by Castleisland B. Cathal Shire and Matthew Browne scored for Castleisland.

This was a big game for both sides who are heavily involved in the title race and Asdee Rovers needed to bounce back after losing to Ballymac Celtic the previous week. They faced a young Killarney Athletic side who have been getting some good results since the start of the season.

Asdee took the lead after 30 minutes when Conor Twomey played a great through ball to Callum McSweeney and gave the Athletic keeper no chance with a good finish. Niall Downey added a second just after half time with an unstoppable shot from 25 yards.

Athletic were pushing to pull a goal back in the second half but defensively, Asdee were solid throughout with Joe Downey calling the shots between the posts.

They extended their lead in the 70th minute when Eoin Kennedy found Gavin Casey with a perfect pass and he applied a great finish. The team worked tirelessly throughout the game with Eoin Kennedy setting the tone covering every blade of grass in the final third of the pitch.

Liam McElligott was influential when he was introduced using his experience to play the game more carefully ensuring they would not let their opponents pull a goal back and the plan worked with Asdee winning in comfortable fashion at the end.

This win moves moves Asdee up to second in the table four points behind table toppers Iveragh United with a game in hand, while Atletico Ardfert are lurking close by a point behind.

CS Abbeydorney moved up to mid table at Mounthawk Park on Sunday with a big win over Killarney Athletic C. They were the dominant side for most of the game and ran out very easy winners at the end.

They came off the blocks very quickly and went ahead after just three minutes with Mikey Kelliher latching on to a long delivery from his keeper Mike Clifford and he breezed past the challenges of two defenders and buried his shot in the back of the net.

They doubled their lead 10 minutes later with Ruairí Donovan providing the assist for Kelliher and he fired home his second goal of the game.

Killarney Athletic created their first chance in the 25th minute and a decent shot by Ian Prendergast was saved comfortably by the CS Abbeydorney goalie Mikey Clifford.

Prendergast had another chance a few minutes later but he shot wide and JP Mullins had another effort in the 40th minute but he could not hit the target.

CS Abbeydorney took a firm grip on the game just before half time when Mikey Kelliher done brilliantly to get past a defender and put Ruairi Donovan through on goals and, while his shot was parried out by the Athletic keeper, Donovan was following up and made no mistake second time round to put his side in the driving seat at the interval.

Killarney Athletic enjoyed a bit of decent possession at the start of the second half but after two good attacks they did not test the Abbeydorney keeper.

CS Abbeydorney tagged on another goal on the hour mark with Ruarí Donovan using his pace to get past and opponent and while the goalie advanced to narrow the angle Dovovan made no mistake from close range. Two more goals from Shane Conway completed the rout by the winners.

Second on the league table Ballyheigue Athletic dropped two league points being held to a draw by Emerald Eagles at Mounthawk Park on Saturday night. Mike Foley was the Emerald Eagles goal scorer and this point moved them up to mid table.

CHARLEVILLE CHEESE DIVISION 4

Castlegregory moved up to second in the table after an important win over Listowel Celtic B. Conor O’Brien and Jason Griffin scored for the West Kerry side.

CHARLEVILLE CHEESE U17 DIVISION 1

Newcomers Strand Road gave Listowel Celtic a good run for their money with the Fealesiders collecting the three points after a narrow win. Evan Daly and Stuart Daly scored for Strand Road.