Carlow Soccer Sunday 18 June
Seniors Division One
Baltinglass Town 1
Burrin Celtic 3
On a warm evening, Burrin started the better and went ahead inside three minutes, when Paul Finn put in a fine cross and Paddy Byrne, headed home for 0-1.
Fifteen minutes later, Tony Carty set up Paddy Byrne for his second and he finished well for 0-2 and Burrin were well in control.
Baltinglass came more into the game and created a couple of chances of their own, through Paddy Sinnott and Paudie Swinburn, but the Burrin keeper made two fine saves to keep Baltinglass scoreless and it was 0-2 at half-time.
In the second-half, Baltinglass got on top and started to ‘boss’ the game and they pulled a goal back through Ken Donegan, who scored with a great shot from outside the box for 1-2.
Baltinglass strove hard to get the equaliser but some fine individual play from Burrin’s Alan Kelly and Paul Finn put them back in control and they sealed the victory, when they caught Baltinglass on the break and Alan Kelly got another for 1-3 and that was the final score.
Best for Baltinglass were Aidan Gannon, Alan Roberts and Declan Faulkner, with Marcin Bieniasz, Paddy Doyle and Paddy Byrne standing out for Burrin.
Carlow Rovers 1
New Oak Boys 4
New Oak played with five in midfield against Rovers four and they dominated this game from the off, as they went 0-1 up through Sheamus Farrell on two minutes and Rovers were struggling to get into the match, as they gave away possession too easily, by persisting in playing too many long balls.
New Oak doubled their lead on 12 minutes when Greg Sykula scored the ‘goal of the game’ with a stunning finish, after a 20 pass move for 0-2 and on 20 minutes Willard Kinsella made it 0-3 and New Oak were ‘strolling’.
Rovers had their best spell of the half when they had a goal disallowed for offside and Billy McDonald put in a fine shot that the New Oak keeper saved well and there was no further score as the interval came.
Rovers changed their tactics at half-time to match New Oak’s five in midfield and it worked as Rovers saw much more of the ball and it was a more even half, however, New Oak made it 0 – 4 through Adam Flynn, following some fine work by Greg Sykula.
Rovers were now starting to create some chances of their own and they pulled goal back on 50 minutes, when Padraig Nolan headed home an Anthony Slevin cross for 1-4.
Nolan hit home a stunning 20-yard volley but it was disallowed for another offside and New Oak saw out time for a comprehensive 1-4 win.
Best for Rovers were Paddy Stynes, Damien Byrne and Damien Sheehan, whilst it was a good all –round team performance for New Oak.
Crettyard Utd 2
Castle Rangers 1
On a hot, balmy evening, there wasn’t much to choose between these two well matched teams, as both teams eased their way into the match, although, Crettyard looked dangerous ‘on the break’.
Crettyard took the lead when a long ball from Mark Kelly was flicked on by Eddie O ’Riley to Noel Lawlor and he finished well for 1-0 and just after he was unlucky not to double the score as he forced the Rangers keeper to pull off a fine save.
Rangers stepped ‘up a gear’ and just before half-time they scored an equaliser through Ciallin Canning and both sides were level – 1-1 at the interval.
Both sides came out strongly in the second half, searching for that crucial goal, but both teams nullified each other, until with only minutes to go a Keith Nolan shot was deflected by a Rangers defender for an Own Goal and Crettyard took all three points with a 2-1 victory.
Best for Crettyard were John Jones, Mark Kelly and Keith Nolan, whilst standing out for Rangers were Ciallin Canning, Andy Madden and Johnny Farrell.
Seniors Division Two
Castlewarren Celtic 3
Vale Wanderers 3
It was a very tight start to this match, although Vale did ‘fashion’ some chances through Jim Curran, Richie Kearney and Mick Nevin, but they all came to naught.
Against the ‘run of play’ Castlewarren took the lead just before half-time when they scored from a corner and it was 1-0 to them at half-time.
A minute into the second half and it was 2-0 to Castlewarren, however, Vale started to get into the game, as Brendan Lillis found Brendan Flynn, who rounded the keeper but his shot was handled on the line and Mick Nevin scored easily from the spot for 2-1.
Vale pressed hard for the equaliser, but they were ‘caught on the break’ and went 3-1 down with only 15 minutes to go.
Vale ‘upped a gear’ and they introduced Colm Myles who had a marked effect as he won another penalty, which was duly converted by Mick Nevin for 3-2 and then with only five minutes left Gary Halligan made a fine run and passed to Colm Myles, who; rifled’ his shot in off the crossbar for the equaliser at 3-3 and that’s how it ended.
Best for Vale were Brendan Lillis, John Dowling and Dan Kearney, whilst it was a good all-round team effort by Castlewarren.
St Joseph’s FC 2
Killeshin FC 2
Joey’s went in front early in play, as a long ball into the Killeshin was bundled over the line for a 1-0 lead, even though Killeshin were the better side and they took this slender lead into the interval.
Joey’s doubled their lead to 2-0 early in the second – half, but with five minutes left Killeshin’s – Ian Brennan was pushed over in the penalty box and Glen Ryan calmly slotted home the resultant penalty for 2-1.
Two minutes later, a second penalty was awarded to Killeshin for a similar offence and Glen Ryan duly obliged again, with his second penalty, to leave the final score all-square at 2-2, which was a fair reflection of this even match.
Best for Killeshin were Glen Ryan, Eddie Hand and Mick Lowry, with an all-round team effort from the Joey’s lads.
Fixtures
Friday 23 June
Seniors Division One:
Baltinglass Town v New Oak Boys, Referee: M O’Reilly
Seniors Division Two:
St Fiacc’s FC v Killeshin FC, Referee: M Salter
Saturday 24 June
Seniors Division One:
Castle Rangers v Carlow Rovers, Referee: S Ivers
Crettyard United v Castle Villa, Referee: J Wynne
Seniors Division Two:
Burrin Celtic ‘B’ v Castlewarren Celtic, Referee: Mick Murphy
St Joseph’s FC v Celtic Stars, Referee: TBC
Vale Wanderers v Village FC, Referee: TBC
Friday 31 June
LFA Over 35s Cup – Round Two (40 Min aside, Penalties):
Irishtown Over 35s v Crettyard United, 7pm
Seniors Division Two:
St Fiacc’s FC v St Joseph’s FC, 7.30pm
Saturday 01 July
LFA Over 35s Cup – Round Two (40 Min aside, Penalties):
Carlow Rovers v Raheny United, 5pm
New Oak Boys v Confey FC, 5pm
Seniors Division One:
Castle Villa v Burrin Celtic, 6pm
Seniors Division Two:
Killeshin FC v Village FC, 6pm
Vale Wanderers v Burrin Celtic ‘B’, 6pm
Results
Seniors Division One:
Baltinglass Town 1-3 Burrin Celtic
Carlow Rovers 1-4 New Oak Boys
Crettyard United 2-1 Castle Rangers
Seniors Division Two:
Castlewarren Celtic 3-3 Vale Wanderers
Killeshin FC 2-2 St Joseph’s FC
MMI Golden Boot
Seniors Division One: Eddie O’Reilly, Crettyard United, 7; Bryan Carbery, New Oak Boys, 4; Paidi Swinburne, Baltinglass Town, 3; Paddy Byrne, Burrin Cel, 3; Gavin Dowling, New Oak Boys, 3; Grzegorz Sykvla, New Oak Boys, 3.
Seniors Division Two: Przemyslaw Smolarek, St Fiacc’s, 3; Fergus Nolan, Killeshin Fc, 3; Pawel Furtak, Burrin Cel, 2; Onorio Rocca, St Joseph’s Fc, 2; Kevin Shortall, Castlewarren Celtic, 2; Shane Austin, Celtic Stars, 2; Nicholas Branagan, St Fiacc’s, 2; Michael Lawler, St Fiacc’s, 2.
Seniors Division One
Team P W D L Pts
Crettyard United 6 4 2 0 14
New Oak Boys 5 4 1 0 13
Burrin Celtic 6 4 0 2 12
Castle Villa 5 2 1 2 7
Castle Rangers 5 2 0 3
Carlow Rovers 5 1 0 4 3
Baltinglass Town 6 0 0 6 0
Seniors Division Two
Celtic Stars 5 4 1 0 13
St Fiacc’s FC 6 4 0 2 12
St Joseph’s FC 6 3 2 1 11
Killeshin FC 6 2 3 1 9
Vale Wanderers 5 1 3 1 6
Burrin Celtic ‘B’ 5 2 0 3 6
Castlewarren Celtic 7 1 2 4 5
Village FC 6 0 1 5 1
