Division 1 Title Race Hots Up

Division 1

After 10 weeks it looks a 3 horse race to the finish, with Sleazy Lemmons, Booze Crew and Trotters Traders all in close contention and very little between them in terms of standard.

The Booze Crew after a slow start, have put the best run together and are now unbeaten in 5 games. But the Lemmons and Trotters cannot be discounted with some quality players in both sides. It looks like it will go down to the last series of games to decide the destination of the title.

Abcde FC upset the Trotters and beat them 7-4, knocking them off the top of the table for the first time this season. Connie Murphy with 5 goals and David O Rourke were best for Abc who were very well organised by the experienced Joe O Sullivan in defence. Barry O'Mahony and Ian Cotter were amoungst the goals for Trotters with O'Mahony bagging a hatrick.

Sleazy Lemmons were too strong for Racing Club on the night, with the Lemmons having an explosive start to this game with 4 goals in the first 15 minutes. Andy O Mahony normally deployed as a defender played at centre forward, with excellent effect, scoring 4 times. John Daly inspired the Lemmons in midfield and was first to all loose balls and led the way in closing down Racing. Edward Noonan was best for Racing and scored a brace.

Crossbarry Legends were too strong for CSKA Tongo, beating them by a convincing 9-3 scoreline. Hughie O'Donovan showed some clinical finishing for Crossbarry and was easy pick for man of the match.

The Booze Crew also won by the same margin, beating the Thirty Somethings 8-2. This game was tighter than the scoreline suggests, with 5 goals in the last 15 minutes for Booze Crew. Jimmy Griffin was again best for them and scored with a sensational volley in the first half for the pick of the goals in all games this week.

Division 2

A suberb comeback by AC Standard to earn a valuable point against the league leaders Sliabh na mBan was the stand out team performance of the week. Tim O Connor scored three 2^nd half goals for Standard who were 3-0 down at the break and his side worked extremely hard for a deserved point. After a long period of sustained pressure by AC, O'Connors scored his 3rd with a well taken half volley with only 2 minutes left on the clock.

Dynamo Tonduff threw a spanner in the works in this title race and did Sliabh na mBan a big favour, as they beat 2^nd placed Fritzl Palace 5-2. Alan Forde was excellent for Tonduff and was the pick of the players on show, and scoring twice in the process. Dave Murphy and Ger Harte were also in top form for the winners, who are more than capable of beating the top teams if they can hold this team together, but may have left it too late to challenge for the title.

There was only one team in the contest between Douglas Mortgage and Bayer Neverlosin, with Douglas winning comfortably. Albert Hobbs and Eric Cotter with 4 goals each for Mortgage. James Adams scored a memorable consulation goal for Neverlosin who were not as effective without Jordan O'Leary in attack.

FC Coping Badly coped very well with and understrength Duffers side and also won comfortably. Robbie Doyle came out of goal for Coping to see if he could get on the scoresheet and within seconds he did so with a simple tap in.

Pitches Closing In On First Title

The Sons Of Pitches attempt to win their first Footy Title gathered pace as they won the all important top of the table clash with Balaga Tongo 4-2. Balaga deservedly went one up through a well taken Eoghan Kennedy goal after 15 minutes and looked to be well on top against a Pitches side that were finding it hard to get into the game. However they settled after a fortunate own goal and the Pitches never looked back going in front early in the 2^nd half with a goal from Polish man Andrejs Nousous. Eoin Barrett scored his sides 4^th to seal 3 vital points for the Pitches and to bring his impesssive tally to 20 goals for the season.

An injured Justin Banks scored 4 times for the Lemmons in their 4-4 draw with Men Utd. This was a highly entertaining game played in a very sporting manner on a very warm evening. Both sides gave 110% and pushed hard for the win, but a draw was a fair result. Defender Jason Lake was best for Men Utd who also had Bernard Parkes and Danny Driscoll in good form.

John Browne impressed for the Boca Seniors scoring twice for the league leaders in their 4-2 over the JT Specials. Boca who were 3-0 mid way through the 2^nd half and looked to be a banker for the win, but The Specials never gave up and were rewarded with 2 goals from Sean O Neill and the lively Dan Hegarty, and were pushing for the equaliser when the experienced Browne scored Bocas 4^th to seal a valauble win.

The Chancers remain a point behind after their 4-2 win over Mount Oval. The scoring followed the same format as the Boca v Specials game with Mount Oval coming back from 3-0 down to 3-2, only for Gavin O'Driscoll to score a late breakaway goal for the Chancers to maintain their title challenge.

O'Driscoll proved to be the difference between the sides, showing his prowness in front of goal with 3 well struck goals.

The addition of Darragh O'Regan might prove crucial in Unreal Madrids title challenge as he scored 4 times in their 8-3 win over the Dragons. Ronan Sherman was also in excellent for for Madrid, whose crucial fixture next week against Boca Seniors vital to their hopes of honours. Madrid are 4 points behind and will need a win to get back in touch of the leaders

Los Pistoleros put in their best performance of the season but still came up short against Oxford International losing 5-4. Again Conor Hawes was impressive for Oxford scoring 3 times for the league leaders. It was Oxfords toughest test yet this season. Arthur Kerr scored a brace for Pistoleros but their lack of a proper goalkeeper on the night proved costly.

The Kids and EZY FC kept pace with Oxford with rather easy victories over Joga Bonito and Red Shirts respectively. An understrength Bonito side did well to hold the Kids up to half time, but the Kids ran riot in the 2^nd half with Cian Hammond, Michael Doody and the very skilful Terry O'Connell all scoring hatricks.

John Daly was best for Ezy FC who were too strong for Red Shirts winning by an 8-1 scoreline. The Reds played some excellent football but could not breakdown a strong Ezy defence who were also more clinical in front of goal. Dave Johnson at centre forward is proving to be a vital cog in the Ezy wheel being very central to most of their goals.

CSKA Squeeze Out Lemmons

Wednesday Division 1

The tie between CSKA Tongo and the Sleazy Lemmons was without doubt game of the week in last weeks fixtures, with CSKA coming out on top 5-4, with the energetic Martin Dunlea scoring a late winner. Philip Cotter was outstanding for the winners here, as were Steve Dwyer and Alan Greaney for Sleazy. Lemmons remain in 2^nd spot behind Trotters Traders who had a good win over the 30 Somethings. Eoin Stephens and Keith McGrath were best for Trotters who remain 3 points clear. Expect a few twists and turns with a few surprising results likely to happen in this division as some of the teams that are lower down being very capable of producing good performances and upsetting the top teams.

Crossbarry had a excellent 8-5 win over Racing Club, with JP O Mahony and Jurgen Bukowski being the top players on show for their sides, with Golden Boot contender Bukowski adding a further 2 goals to his tally for the season. Crossbarry looked reasonably comfortable throughout this game and were 4-1 up at the break, extended their lead to 6-1, only for Racing to comeback to 6-5 with 10 minutes left. Crossbarry then scored 2 late goals to seal 3 useful points.

Booze Crew continued their good form and must be serious title contenders, as they had a 6-3 win over their Cobh rivals Abcde FC. Jimmy Griffin again in superb form for the Crew scoring an impressive 4 times. Martin Deady looked a top player for Abc who upped their game in a tight 2^nd half, but they were always 2nd best on the night especially in the first half when Griffin ran in his 4 goals.

Wednesday Division 2

Slaibh na mBan stay in pole position after their 5-2 victory over the battling Bayer Neverlosin.

Paul Tierney was again best for na Mban who look like strong favourites to take this division 2 title with 6 games remaining. Tierney scored twice for the winners as did Ronan O Sullivan. However the most impressive goal of the evening fell to Jordan O Leary when he struck an unstopable shot from 25 yards right into the top corner, for a definite goal of the season contender. This goal was applauded by both sides, as O'Leary overall performance was in keeping with his goal. Marius Hanialiak led the battling spirit of Bayern.

AC Standard kept up their recent good run of form when they beat a below strength Douglas Mortgage side. Tim O'Connor and Tim Dempsey being best for AC who are now up to 3^rd spot 4 points behind the leaders.

Mike Wren starred for Fritzl Palace beat FC Coping Badly 3-2 in a very hard fought game.

The well organised Palace side are only 3 points off the pace, and it looks like their fixture against Sliabh na mBan on the 24^th of July will be crucial.

Adian O Connor and Martin Hallahan scored for Coping Badly who were a little unlucky not to get something fronm this game.

James Mullins and Alan Forde both scored twice for Dynamo Tonduff in their 5-3 win over the Duffers who remain rooted to the bottom and still without a point. However the Duffers commitment and never give up attitude remains very admidirable.

Johnson KOs Kids

Thursday Division 1

Dave Johnson starred for EZY FC scoring 3 times and showed some excellent finishing as they beat their old rivals The Kids 7-2 to move above them in the table and into 2^nd place. The Kids had most of the possession and played some excellent football, but missed some good chances at the start of the 2^nd half which proved costly as the more direct and fast breaking EZY were more clinical in front of goal. Steve Dwyer and John Daly were also excellent for Ezy where Michael Doody was tops for The Kids and scored both his sides goals.

Oxford remain top and are now 6 points clear of Ezy and The Kids after another impressive display in beating Joga Bonito 10-4. Colm Coveney was instrumental in their victory pulling all the strings in their midfield, setting several of Oxfords goals. Brian O Sullivan was also impressive and scored a hatrick. Oxford have a very strong side, very well organised and are now strong favourites for to take the title at the half way stage of the season.

Los Pistoleros and Red Shirts played out an exciting 4-4 draw, with Los Pistoleros doing well in the 2^nd half coming back from 3-1 down to take a share of the spoils. Donal Collins impressively scored all sides goals and with Ken O Connor had an excellent game. Mark Kitteringham scored a brace for Red Shirts and should have been out of reach at the 30 minute mark, with the post and crossbar coming to Los Pistoleros rescue just before half time.

Thursday Division 2

Boca Seniors and The Chancers are pulling away from the other teams in this division as they both had good wins over the Dragons and Jt Specials respectively. Boca had too much for The Dragons who are suffering from too many weekly changes in their side.

Dave Peterson scored 5 times for Boca and along with the skilful Paul Tierney were both excellent.

The Chancers looked impressive in taking a 4-1 lead against The Specials, but The Specials who are in division 2 for the first time battled hard with Neil Gordon to the fore and fought back to 4-3 after 2 goals from Ian Cahalane. But the Chancers hit a late goal to settle this tie and remain 2 points ahead of Boca Seniors. Barry O Sullivan worked tirelessy in midfield for the Chancers covering a lot of ground and winning back possesion many times. Gavin O Driscoll and Ross Long both scored twice for the winners.

Unreal Madrid and Mount Oval fought a tough battle that ended 1-1, a fair result for 2 fully commited teams. This game remained goalless for 50 minutes, until Dave Hogan pounced on a loose ball to put Mount Oval in front, only for Ashley Gyves to score a very late equaliser for Madrid.

Thursday Division 3

The Sons of Pitches look determined this season to make up for being so close to winning division 3 a few times now, and put in a very display in their 6-3 win over the Whitfords. This game was nicely poised 3-3 at half time, but the younger Pitches side pulled away in the 2^nd half, with goals from Eoin Barrett. Ken O Connor scored the pick of the goals just before half time after an excellent run out of defence before a powerful low strike into the corner of the Whitfords goal.

The Nobodys put in their best display so far with a good win over Men Utd. Derek O Brien scored a hatrick for the 5-3 winners, who had newcomer Larry Lee in tremendous form. Bernard Parkes and Jason Lake played well for Men Utd but too many substitutions are affecting this sides rythym.

Balaga Tonga stay in 2^nd spot behind the Pitches on goal difference after they beat the Lemmons 5-4 in the pick of last weeks Footy games. The Lemmons battled hard and came back from 4-1 down to 4-4, only for Eoghan Hayes to score a dramatic late winner to seal 3 crucial points for Tongo. Cormac Murphy was best for The Lemmons who were a little unlucky not to get something from the game. Tongos Eoghan Kennedy and Josh King were a constant threat to the Lemmons defence and were amoungst the goals.