Refugees Continue To Shine

Wednesday Division 1

Last season champions, The Refugees started the Spring 2011 season in the same vein as they finished the 2010 Autumn season. Despite a first half hat trick by Padraig McGovern that earned Racing a 3-2 half time lead, The Refugees had plenty in reserve and finished comprehensive 8-3 winners. Pawel Pciak and goalkeeper Marcin Korona were again in outstanding form for the winners.

Newcomers, The Kids started their campaign with a fine 4-1 win over Temple Inn Tigers. These lads will probably be contenders in this division if they maintain this standard of performance.  Eoghan Murphy, who scored twice and Colin Hammond did well for the winners while Steve Dwyer tried hardest for Temple.

QEF Global proved to be too strong another new team, Match.Com. The excellent Ryan Nolan scored 5 times for QEF while Ray Keating also impressed.

Dynamo Tonduff got their campaign off to a good start with a 4-2 win over O’Donovan Electrical. It looked like O’Donovans had retrieved the situation when Mark Halahan equalised with his second goal half way through the second half ,but Brian O’Donovan secured the points for Tonduff with two late goals.

Wednesday Division 2

CUH had a great start to the season with a big win against Rosies. Thomas O’ Brien and Ivan Weir were excellent for CUH, but it was newcomer Sean Sheehan who was most impressive.

The Bons had a hard fought 5-3 win over Sons of Pitches. This Bons team can only improve with practise and will be contenders in this division. Jimmy Reardan, who scored twice was his usual handful for the Bons while Steve Crowley put in a good shift for the Pitches.

Douglas Mortgage went from 3 up to 3 down and came back to win 7-6 in a most amazing contest against Club Redz. Young, Connor Quirke scored 4 times for the Douglas lads, while man of the match Terry Yelverton  scored 4 for Club Redz.

FC Balaga Tonga and Far From Athletic shared 8 goals in another exciting game. A late John Duggan strike rescued a point for Balaga, forcing Far From to regret the many wasted opportunities that they had to put the fixture beyond doubt.

Wednesday Division 3

Barstoolona started life in Division 3 with an easy win over newcomers Marys Ramblers. Despite a great headed goal by Donal Crowley for Ramblers, the youth and fitness of the Barstoolona lads proved to be the difference between the teams. Ian Cotter and William Punch were in fine form for the winners.

It was one of those nights when everything seemed to work for BNYM FC as they easily defeated the Castle Martyrs. Kevin Murphy, Shay O Connell and Mark Kirby all had great games for the winners while Mick Ryan did all he could for the Martyrs.

Excellent finishing by Joe O’Sullivan proved to be the difference between the Average Joe’s and the Boca Seniors. He scored 4 times. Despite equalising before the break the Boca Seniors lost their way in the second half and ended up on the wrong side of the 6-3 score line. Philip “Blackie” Blackwell and Paul Cashman were best for The Boca boys.

Dan Williams was in sparkling form for Hit & Miss in their encounter with Sub Standard Liege. He scored a hatrick and was ably helped by the Sinnott Brothers. These lads will be contenders this season. James Mealy, Pat Coleman and Tony O Donovan scored for Liege.

Thursday Division 1

A well organised Ex Pats Athletic defeated their old rivals, The All Blacks in a very entertaining tie that ended 5-3. This was a case of organisation and team work defeating individual flair, which the All Blacks have in abundance. Niall Murphy and Dave Donnelly were always a threat for the Mount Oval lads while Dan Mannix and Eamon Kelleher, who scored two vital goals, were most effective for their opponents.

A spectacular volley by Paul Richardson with five minutes to go earned United a share of the spoils with The Unknown Quantities. A feature of this match was the silky skills of Chen, who is revelling on the new surface at Garryduff and the opportunities he created for his team mates. Padraig McGovern accepted most of what was on offer. He bagged a hat trick.

Last seasons Division 2 champions got their campaign in the higher flight off to a great start when they defeated The Boothouse Bingers 2-1. The Boothouse will consider them selves unlucky to have lost this affair. The high light of this game was Steve Cronin’s wonder goal for The Boothouse.

Thursday Division 2

Newcomers, TA Sheehans made a miraculous recovery when they recovered a 5-0 half time deficit.  Despite Rob Carpenters man of the match performance for JT Specials, John Collins’s men showed great spirit and did him proud in the second half.

It was experience and know how that won the day for the Flying Column when they defeated Apple Exiles 3-0. It was the Exiles first 7-a side encounter, but with some practise they will improve. Ray Regan(2) and Noel Hayes were on the score card for the Barrack Street lads.

Despite having the man of the match, Tim Crowley among their ranks, being a man short was just too much for The Net Busters. BNY FC won this game quite easily in the end. The ever green Philip Carey and Shane Lawler scored two a piece for the winners.

The other Bank of New York team in this division also won their match quite easily, despite being 3-1 down early on, when they defeated The Whitfords 7-3. Indeed, if it wasn’t for goal keeper Jasper Peterson, the BNY lads would have won by much more.