Rosegreen Rangers 0 – 1 Suirside
Suirside responded well to their first defeat in almost a season and a half last weekend by travelling to Nijinsky Park in Rosegreen and coming away with a hard fought single goal win. The two teams played out a hard but fair game, and the only moment of real class was that which yielded the goal ten minutes before the break, when Jason Coffey took advantage of a slip by a defender to clinically punish him and fire home from the edge of the area. Rosegreen battled hard throughout the second period to try to pull the game back level, hitting the woodwork on a number of occasions, but in the end the single goal was enough for Suirside to get back on track in their push for successive promotions through the TSDL Divisions.
Dualla 2 – 1 St Nicholas
This was a very slow tentative game with both sides having some early chances but never really looking like they were going to break the deadlock in the turgid first half. The visitors came closest midway through, when they forced an excellent save from Eoin Batman Fitzgerald, in the Dualla goal, while the home side were reduced to living off scraps especially from set pieces, before the two sides went in goalless at half time. The hosts seemed more anxious to get a grip on the game in the early parts of the second period, but after committing to an attack, they found themselves behind when a quick break by the Saints found John Shanahan all alone and he made no mistake. Things got worse for the home side when they were reduced to ten men, but they got a lifeline back into the game in the sixty fifth minute when Michael Barron headed home a free kick to level the game. Despite being a man down, the home side were the ones doing all the pressing and took the lead late on when Ger O’Dwyer was quickest to react at another set piece and he tapped the ball into an empty net. Stunned by this, the visitors pushed to try to get a leveller and thought they had found one in the final minute when a striker found himself in space, only to fire his effort high and wide and ensure the points would stay in Dualla.
Cullen Lattin 2 – 1 Galbally United
Cullen welcomed neighbours Galbally to Aisling Park, Cullen for a derby game on Sunday, and dominated the early exchanges, almost opening the scoring in the third minute when Danny O’Dwyer rattled the cross bar, and Micheàl Elligott denied from the rebound only by a point blank clearance by visiting defender Bernard O’Brien. The early pressure finally did pay off though, when midfielder Tony O’Neill picked up the ball 30 yards from goal and ran at the visiting defence before unleashing a left-footed shot into the bottom corner to put Cullen one up just after the hour mark. But the advantage lasted only minutes when Galbally equalised through Owen O’Sullivan who converted a peach of a cross from Josh Dineen. That wasn’t to be the end of the first half scoring though, as Galbally had barely finished celebrating before O’Dwyer and Mc Elligott combined again with the latter heading home minutes before the break. Cullen should have added more in the second period as they were creating the better chances, but a stout defence and some wayward shooting meant that while they won the points, they were unable to add anything to the score board. Galbally finished strong with a few long throw-ins and free kicks delivered into the box but the Cullen defence hung on for the win
Cashel Town 1 – 2 Clerihan
All the goals arrived in the first half here, as the home side continued their inconsistent start of the new season, against the visitors who picked up their second win of the campaign. Clerihan took the lead on 15 minutes with a goal from Aidan Phelan who finished well from ten yards out after some good build up play. But the hosts Cashel equalised in the 27th minute when a free kick from Sean Cormack left the visitors keeper stranded on the line, with no chance to keep the ball out. The celebrations barely lasted a minute however as Clerihan forced the home defence into a mistake less than a minute later and Brian Landers took full advantage to score from just inside the area. After that both sides played out a pretty even contest with some half chances going a-begging. But it was the visitors day as they leap-frog their neighbours in the title and promotion race.