Ballymote 3-9 Calry/St Joseph’s 0-7

Kieran Tighe

Ballymote remain two from two in the Expert Electrical Sligo Football U16 Division 2 League Group 1 after overcoming league leaders Calry/St. Joseph’s by 11 points in a very windy Corran Park on Sunday, March 29th.

The first score of the game came from Ballymote captain Niall Colsh with a sweet score just inside from the left touchline. This proved to be the catalyst Ballymote needed to finally break the resilient Calry defensive line and get more scores and a minute later Ballymote did just that after winning the opposing kick out Cian Brennan showed great bravery to win a 50/50 ball and lay off to Mark Keenan which created a 2 on 1 situation down the left hand side of the goals, his pass to Max Cryan brilliantly took out the Calry defender before Cryan buried a low shot past Calry goalkeeper Brian Flanagan.

Calry even though on the back foot in possession and against a harsh gale breeze showed great spirit and got off the mark with a well struck free from midfielder Brian Cox.

Calry now started to dominate the midfield battle with Cox again proving to be a menace seeing his goal chance just going outside of the right post. Calry’s second score came from a well worked free with Cox playing a short ball to Conall Stenson who delivered a ball inside to Golden and his smart turn gave him an extra inch to get his shot away before Mark Conlon could perform a block.

Ballymote now needed to get back on the scoreboard after going 10 minutes without scoring, and managed to get just that when Jack Heaver fired over. Further points from Colsh, Martin and Brennan sent Ballymote further into the ascendency before Calry’s Reit Solano pointed for the Sligo town side.

Heaver added two more scores for the Ballymote boys, but the turning point in the first half came when Oisin Conlon’s long ball with the aid of the breeze from the halfway line caught Calry keeper Flanagan out and ended up in the back of the net. Two further scores from Mark Keenan and Heaver put Ballymote in a commanding position at half-time with the score 2-7 to 0-3 in their favour.

The second half proved to be a dogged affair with heavy rain and no let up in the breeze making it difficult for both teams to play any form of flowing football. Calry got off the mark in the 1^st minute of the second half with Ciarán Needham pointing from a free.

Calry managed to add to their tally with an excellent 40^th minute score from Cox. The game became a war of attrition with both sides trading chances, with Calry managing to forge the better openings, but good defending from Conlon, O’Brien and a contender for man of the match Shane Langton helped Ballymote stay in control.

It took until the 55^th minute before the next score of the game came with Needham getting his second point of the game.  Ballymote then opened their account of the second half in the 58^th minute with the score of the game as Heaver got onto the ball inside the Calry 45’ metre line and beat three defenders before finishing in the bottom of right corner of the Calry net taking his tally to 1-4 for the day, and securing a well-earned win for his side.

 10-point win for Geevagh

Geevagh 2-14 St John’s 2-4

Aoife Conlon

As Gerard Higgins got this Minor league, Division Three game underway in Geevagh on Thursday last it was St. Johns who started the better, hitting two wide balls in the first five minutes giving Geevagh the chance to bring themselves together and gather the first score of the game with George Wall pointing a well struck 45’.

The first half from there was full of excellent skills from both teams but a point by Cian Clancy was to be the only score for St. John’s in this first half, giving Geevagh a very good start.

Points were struck by both Sean Heaney and Diarmuid Fallon as they gathered pace in search of more scores before half time.

There were plenty of goal chances for the home side too but skills showed by ever-willing keeper Conor McGovern proved to be the right answer to these attempts.

A huge hit from midfield followed from Shane Tighe scored the last point of the half, when his soaring, curling effort proved to be an excellent score. A free kick received by Adam Condon found its way to the hands of Conor Lavin, who displayed some fine finishing giving the home side a flying lead and the game’s first goal. This meant Geevagh held a 1-7 to 0-1 half-time lead.

As the second half started it was clear St. Johns were raring to get the response they needed to get back in the game.

Two quick points by Condon gave Geevagh the brighter opening but it wasn’t long until the visiting team got themselves their second point from Eoin Tuffy that gave them extra kick they needed to get back in the game.

Game changer Evan Davey came off the bench to carry the team forward with two beautifully hit goals a minute apart which were unstoppable, gliding past keeper Karl Jennings hands. The determination and work-rate put in by the St. Johns side from there was an immense effort.

Panic set in from the home side and it was known that any sloppy effort would ruin any chances of a win.

With four points in it the game’s first yellow was handed to St. John’s Tuffy which was the result of  a late tackle to add to the frustration of the visiting side. It wasn’t long until St John’s struck their next score by Cathal Jordan who displayed great effort throughout the game.

Geevagh midfield wasn’t slow to pick up the pace again with Condon lifting spirits, scoring a fine point from just inside the 45’.

Geevagh’s goal chances came from Lavin and Condon as the duo grasped their second goal with a blasting finish by Condon as with little effort was fisted into the goals giving Geevagh a lead of 2-12 to 2-3.

St. John’s did their best to fight back with excellent performances in all areas of the pitch but back-to-back points from Condon and Lavin proved to be too much for the visiting side.

A final clear shot from St. John’s Joe Spratt gave the team their final point with a soaring kick but was quickly followed by Geevagh’s O’Reilly sending a well-taken ball over the bar sealing Geevagh’s victory.

Geevagh: Karl Jennings, Sean Fallon, Niall Conlon, Eddie Farrell, Shane Tighe (0-1), Adam Condon (1-4), George Wall (0-1 45’), Diarmuid Fallon (0-2   45’), Sean O’Reilly (0-2), Conor Lavin (1-1), Sean Heaney (0-2) Subs used: Eoin Heslin, Steven Condon

St. Johns: Conor McGovern, Mark Connolly, Cathal Jordan (0-1), Eoan Tuffy (0-1), Cian Clancy (0-1), Cian Hough, Patrick Mc Donagh, Mark Connolly, Shane Egan, Jack Lynch, Joe Spratt (0-1) Subs used: Scotty McGarry, Evan Davey (2-0), Oisin Haran

Referee: Gerard Higgins

Aoife Conlon

U14 Showdown in Kilcoyne Park

Tubbercurry/Cloonacool               7-16

Shamrock Gaels                                0-3

By Kate Carty

Bruce Springsteen’s song lyrics ‘Can’t Start a Fire Without  a Spark’ rang true in a sunny but cool Kilcoyne Park on Thursday evening last, as old rivals Tubbercurry/ Cloonacool and Shamrock Gaels met in the first round of the Under-14 Division One League campaign. The spark was struck in 2014 after three tempestuous meetings of the sides. The fire was well and truly reignited as two well-tuned teams renewed old rivalries to serve up a cracking encounter in front of two sets of appreciative fans.

This encounter would have left Joe Brolly salivating as free flowing open football replaced modern defensive strategies. The final score-line did not reflect the competitiveness of the encounter. The opening score of the game came from the home captain Aaron Perry. The home team tagged on two well worked goals and a point. This proved to be the catalyst Shamrock Gaels needed to finally get through a strong defensive line and score their first point in the 7^th minute of the game.

Tubbercurry/Cloonacool’s Perry came back to score three points, before Shamrock Gaels’ Sean Carroll tried for a score but was blocked by Dean Maloney. In the last minute of the first half Perry scored a goal to ensure his side had a 3-11 to 0-1 advantage going into the second half.

A pass from Jack Flatley allowed Cathal Gallagher to open up the scoring for the second half. Shamrock Gaels didn’t hang around for long as Paul Leydon bagged his team a point. After the home team tallied up another four points and a goal, Shamrock Gaels were fouled and awarded a penalty. Johnny Kenny stepped up to take it, however keeper Griffin Gallagher made a superb save to ensure he maintained his clean sheet. In the last five minutes of the game Rian Moylan and sub Keith Gallagher each scored a goal, before the dynamic Sean Whitehead scored a last minute point to secure an impressive win for the Tubbercurry/Cloonacool lads.                     

Tubbercurry/Cloonacool - G Gallagher, T Grismanaskas, D Maloney, S Prendergast, E Carty, C Gavigan, S Kerrigan, S Whitehead(1-5), S Carnahan, C Matthews(0-2), J  Flatley, R Moylan(1-1), C  Gallagher(2-0), A Perry(2-8), L Carty. Subs: R Henry for L Carty, D Burke for E Carty, K Gallagher (1-0) for A Perry, G Conboy for C Gallagher, R Mitchell for C Matthews.

Shamrock Gaels- R Brennan, S Mullen, E Dwyer, D Mullen, C Kearns, C Monaghan, A McKenna, S Carroll, D Kelly, P Kenny, P Leydon(0-2), L Deignan, B Hailstones, D Conlon, R Thompson. Subs: J Kenny (0-1) for C Monaghan.

Referee: A McGowan