Table turned on its head in early going

By Gary Culbert

A month is a very short time in football, especially in the North Tipperary & District League Premier Division.

The two teams that contested the Ricky Fogarty cup final on July 17th now sit bottom of the table, whilst the new entrants to the division occupy the top three positions in the early going.

Borroway Rovers 2-7 Clodiagh Rangers

This seemingly inverted Premier Division table started to take shape last Wednesday, when Clodiagh Rangers travelled to Thurles to take on Borroway Rovers. Unfortunately, Borroway are a diminished side this season, as key players from last season made the switch to the TSDL during the transfer window. Borroway put up a valiant fight, but the Division 1 champions ultimately ran out 7-2 winners. For the away side, Brian Hanrahan scored a hat-trick, whilst Paudie Guidera, Daniel Maloney, James Murray, and Rhys Loughnane all pitched in with goals.

Moneygall 1-1 Killavilla United

Also on Wednesday, Killavilla made the short trip to Moneygall. The hosts took the lead on the 34-minute mark, when some quick thinking from Niall O’Lone released Josh Wynne down the left and allowing the ball to bounce once, unleashed a left-footed half-volley over the keeper and into the net. Killavilla made the change to a back 3, this allowed them to overload the wide areas. The equaliser came from here as Tom Ahearne’s looping a ball in saw Paul Kirwan to power home a headed finish.

Ballymackey 2-1 Borrisokane

The only other midweek game saw Ballymackey defeat Borrisokane in Ballinree. The hosts found the net through Aidan White and David Haverty, whilst Stephen D’Arcy was on the scoreboard for the visitors.

Killavilla United 2-1 Ballymackey

On Saturday, Killavilla hosted an understrength Ballymackey side. To their credit, the away side were in the game up until the last kick, but Killavilla were dominant and deserved all three points.

The Roscrea sides’ recent form has been brought about through a change in formation, three at the back instead of four. This change has seen Michael Ryan operate as a wing back, where he can fully utilise his impressive running power in advanced areas. Indeed, the home sides opening goal, just before half-time, came when Ryan got to the end-line and pulled the ball back for Paul Kirwan, who made no mistake from twelve yards.

On the stroke of half-time, Killavilla doubled their lead; Ruairi Murphy intricately playing in Dion Carney, whose shot agonisingly trickled over the line after Brendan Hayes got a hand to it.

Cathal Delaney came off the bench and got a goal very late on for the visitors, who will be starting to look over their shoulders. On the other side, Killavilla are improving with every game and will fancy themselves when Celtic come to town this Wednesday.

BT Harps 4-3 Nenagh Celtic

Speaking of the champions, Nenagh Celtic travelled to Templemore on Sunday but came out the wrong end of a seven-goal thriller with BT Harps.

The home side took the lead on the 13 minutes, Stevie Nolan playing in young striker Ben Stapleton, who made no mistake in scoring his fourth goal of the season. Almost instantly, Celtic were awarded a free kick which was swung in and forced home in the resulting skirmish by Martin Harty.

Just before half-time, Stapleton got his second to give Harps the lead. On sixty minutes, former Celtic youngster Killian Fennell made it 3-1 in favour of his new club, a goal which came about after pressing the Celtic back line.

Celtic got one back through Roberto Ipsalat as the hosts began to tire, but Henry Newman’s side weren’t done yet; they pinned Harps in with the help of the wind and began to turn the screw, with five minutes remaining a cross from the right was headed home by Brian Mitchell to level the scores.

You could be excused for thinking that Richie Kennedy’s newly formed side would be content with a draw against the reigning champions, but they weren’t with seconds of injury time remaining, Harps went again. They broke down the right with Ciarán Barry, who outpaced his man and knocked the ball past the keeper, the ball teetered along the edge of the whitewash before Jamie Boland tapped home, sparking wild celebrations.

The result pushes Celtic further down the table, they are now in a corner with their backs against the wall, which is a dangerous place to put serial winners.

Clodiagh Rangers 3-2 Moneygall

The other Premier Division upset at the weekend was Clodiagh Rangers bringing Moneygall’s unbeaten run to an abrupt halt.

The visitors made a great start, Tony O’Connor scoring early on when he was played through by captain Eddie Simmons. After 24 minutes the hosts equalised through Paul Doyle.

Adrian Cooke pulled off some highly impressive saves to keep the scores level before Danny Maloney gave Clodiagh the lead on the stroke of half-time.

Midway through the second period, Clodiagh extended their lead through Rhys Loughnane. With fifteen minutes remaining, a Jack Hassett cross caused chaos in the Clodiagh box, Jason McCormack pounced on the loose ball to set up a grandstand finish. Adrian Cooke and his defence stood firm to secure the win, which will give them confidence ahead of their tough away trip to face Lough Derg at the weekend.

Borrisokane picked up three points in the only other Premier Division game after Borroway Rovers conceded a walkover

Division 1

Arra Rovers continued their high scoring start to the season when, in Portroe, they scored three goals in each half against Clodiagh Rangers ‘B’. The visitors did find the net in either half through Tom Purcell and Mikey Griffin, but Arra just had too much firepower. Man of the match Callan Cottrell netted a hat-trick; whilst Ruadhan Mulrooney brought his tally to for the season to six after netting twice, with Eoin Maloney also finding the net for Arra.

Birdhill took a shock two goal lead into the half-time break when they travelled to take on Thurles Town, goals coming through Lowell Ryan and a Thomas Floyd penalty. However, Thurles rallied in the second half and found the net through Tommy Brophy and Jack O’Donnell. It’s an unexpected point for Birdhill, but they will be disappointed that they didn’t hold on to secure all three.

When Portumna played host to Cloughjordan, Adam Fogarty won and converted an early penalty to give the home side the best possible start. Cloughjordan worked their way into the game and were awarded a penalty of their own midway through the half, which Dean O’Meara dispatched. Both sides had chances to win the game in the second half, but a 1-1 draw was probably a fair result in the end.

Division 2

Holycross are setting a frightening pace in the third tier. They were two-up at half-time when they hosted a young Moneygall ‘B’ side. Vinny O’Meara’s charges ran out 6-0 winners, with a goal each coming through Jack Ryan, Mikey Nally, and Callum O’Connor whilst Jojo O’Meara scored a hat-trick of goals.

It’s a demoralising defeat for the young Moneygall ‘B’ players, but really, Holycross are a Division 1 standard team, who are hitting a rich vein of form right now. Mark Moroney’s side won’t be the last to suffer a heavy defeat at the hands of Holycross this season.

Ballymackey ‘B’ kickstarted their season with a fine 2-1 away victory to new entrants, Rearcross ‘B’. Dean Moloney and Colm Maher got on the scoresheet for the Ballinree outfit, whilst Eoin Sheldon found the net for Rearcross. The man of the match was Cillian Bergin.

The final game saw Sallypark make the trip to face Templetouhy. The away side were two up at half-time and ran out 2-1 winners, thanks to goals from Ross Donnelly and Sean Ryan.