TSDL Premier League Round-Up: Huge win for Town over Villa
Clonmel Town 1 – 0 Peake Villa
A Lee Costello penalty twenty minutes from time was enough to give Clonmel Town all three points in the big Premier League clash against Peake Villa at the Dr Pat O’Callaghan Sports Complex last Sunday.
Peake Villa started the game without their talisman striker Pippy Carroll who is out injured, and this aided the home side in dominating the first half, with Rhys O’Regan the tormentor in chief as he forced the visiting defence into some last ditch defending.
In the 28th minute he looked to have been upended in the box but his claims were waved away, and just two minutes later Villa missed a glorious opportunity to go in front when Dale Loughnane did brilliantly to evade two Town defenders to pull the ball back but with the goal at his mercy Kieron Hennessy scuffed his shot wide.
As the game flowed over and back the away side were almost made to pay for that miss, when Jamie Ahearne was tripped in the box, and a penalty awarded, only for the Villa custodian Willie Tierney to be equal to Alan O’Donnell and save the penalty with his feet. Jack O Donnell and Lee Costello then had efforts on goal but they never troubled Tierney as the sides went in at half time all square.
It was the Thurles side who started the second half the better, and in the fifty seventh minute, Evan Comerford did brilliantly to deny Jack Ryan Casey, before the follow up shot from Dylan Cody was cleared off the line by Jamie Ahearne. Peake then thought they had the ball in the net when Cian McCormack managed to get up at the back post but his header hit the side netting. These missed chances seem to reenergise the home side and in the 64th minute Jack O’Donnell saw an effort from a Craig Guiry knock down scream inches wide. Minutes later Tierney was on hand again to push away an excellent Lee Costello free kick. Town were now dominating proceedings and were forcing Peake to concede a number of corners, one of which led to a second penalty decision. Lee Costello didn’t pass up the opportunity this time, as he buried the ball into the left hand corner of the net, to give the hosts the precious lead. The last twenty minutes were played at a frantic pace with both sides fully committed to the cause. Town nearly added a second, when Jack O’Donnell was fouled on the edge of the box but once again Willie Tierney was equal to Lee Costello’s effort.
Town introduced a number of substitutes late on, and the fresh legs proved decisive as they held on for a massive three points in their quest to win a first league title since 2011, with Peake Villa now wondering if this is going to be another year of sorrows for them, after early season form promised so much.
Wilderness Rovers 4 – 1 Vee Rovers
This was a massive game for both clubs on Sunday morning, with the home side battling to cement the Premier League place they won last season, and the visitors knowing they desperately needed points to try to stay in the division they’ve graced over the past number of years. And by the end, it was the home side that was happiest, despatching Vee with aplomb. They went at their opponents right from the beginning of the game, putting together some fantastic passages of play before they opened the scoring in the 7th minute when Sean Brown found the net after a brilliant Cillian Hogan assist. This gave them the impetus to really go after the visitors and they forced them back time after time in a dominant first half performance that only lacked a second goal.
The second half began where the first finished off, and the second goal finally came, albeit by the direct route, when a long kickout by Wildies keeper Oisin Lavin played in Cillian Hogan who capitalised with a smart headed effort over the advancing keeper. Not satisfied with a two-goal lead they pushed for a third, and got it when Danny Hogan found Graham Kelly alone in the box and he put the chance away coolly.
With 19 minutes left to play, they made it four, as they threatened to run riot, with Niall Kelly finishing off some good work by Brown at the top end of the pitch. To their credit, the Vee side never stopped trying to get back into the game, and although the final result was a foregone conclusion, they did pull a goal back with eight minutes remaining, to make it four goals to one. But they were never going to see that as anything more than a consolation effort as the home side closed the game out for a very important win.
Bansha Celtic 2 – 3 Cashel Town
This was destined to be a huge result for both teams when Cashel travelled to Bansha with the sides at the wrong end of the Premier League table. And after some sharp criticism in recent weeks, the young Cashel squad felt that they had something to prove, and did so, coming out on the right end of a five goal thriller. The visitors got off to a dream start and had the ball in the net inside the first thirty seconds, when a long ball fell kindly to the feet of Kyle Ryan, and he made no mistake from six yards out.
Still shell-shocked from giving that early goal away, the home side were two behind within five minutes, when once again they didn’t deal with a direct ball into the area, and Kevin Keating smashed home after a couple of blocked efforts eventually saw the ball land at his feet. The home side soon settled down and got into the game, and pulled a goal back on the half hour from a Tony Egan free kick from all of 25 yards out. This started a period of domination for the home side and it was all Bansha for the rest of the half, but Cashel defended well and went to the break a goal to the good.
The break seemed to kill the hosts momentum, and the visitors started the half well. But they were caught on the break just before the hour mark when Darren McGrath forced the ball home from close range. It was nip and tuck from then until the end, with both sides desperately needing the goal that would give them all three points, but that eventually fell to the away side, and Celtic will be kicking themselves when they look back as the reason why. Poor defending caused confusion in the home box, and after some scrambling and scuffed shots, eventually the keeper was beaten by a deflected effort, to the delight of the visiting team and their supporters. Both teams will still face a slog to stay up across the rest of the season, but Cashel’s journey will feel just a little lighter after this win.
St Michael’s 1 – 0 Two Mile Borris
It might have seemed strange that Premier League title holders St Michael’s went into this game starting behind their opponents from Borris, but they had played a few games less this season due to commitments in other competitions. By the end of the game, they had leap-frogged them, but they were made to work very hard against a young but competitive Borris side, who look to be bearing the fruits of some good foundation work at underage level over the past number of years.
In the end it was a fortuitous goal that separated the sides, with a DJ Cremins header being deflected that wrong footed the Borris keeper to give the Saints a one goal to nil lead at half time. The second half was mostly played in the middle third of the pitch, with a lot of stop start play that never really allowed either side to build up a head of steam, and chances that were already few and far between constantly went a begging. The one first half goal ended up being enough to separate the sides and Michael’s began what they hope will be a steady climb up the standings between now and season end.