ROUND 1 - Wednesday May 23rd 2012
LEAGUE SPONSORED BY: O'BRIEN'S BAR, ROSSCARBERY
CUP SPONSORED BY: BERNARD HAYES TRAVEL, CORK
SHIELD SPONSORED BY: A CUT ABOVE SALON
The 2012 West Cork Masters League sponsored by O'Brien's Bar Rosscarbery began on Wednesday night with five fixtures down for decision writes Ger McCarthy.
Summer soccer returned for another campaign with the opening round of the West Cork Masters League completed this past week. All five fixtures produced five away winners with Ardfield's victory in Dunmanway the stand-out result of Round1.
Courtmacsherry 0 Cloughduv Celtic 3
All eyes were on defending champions Cloughduv Celtic who travelled to Courtmacsherry for their first assignment of the season on Wednesday night. The home side were short numbers at kick-off but produced a typically battling display to keep out the much vaunted Celtic attack with the sides going in tied at 0-0 at the interval. It took Cloughduv a full 40 minutes to eventually break the deadlock with John Madden netting 5 minutes into the second period.
Despite falling behind, Courtmacsherry (now up to a full 11 players) created a few half-chances before 2011's Golden Boot winner took centre stage for the visitors. Dermot Crowley rattled in 12 goals in all competitions during last year's title-winning campaign and got off the mark for 2012 with a confident finish to extend Cloughduv's lead. Crowley converted a penalty 5 minutes from time to cement a 3-0 win and underline the defending champions as serious title credentials once again this year. John O'Shea, Barry Cullinane and Paddy Doherty were the pick of Celtic's best performers.
Rosscarbery 0 Clonakilty Town 3
2009 League Champions and runners-up for the past two summers, Clonakilty Town, recorded a hard earned 3-0 win away to Rosscarbery in Carrigroe. Both sides were short a host of first team regulars but managed to produce an entertaining fixture on the well-prepared playing surface in Ardfield. Chances were few in the opening exchanges until Eamon Hurley latched onto a Kevin Kingston through ball and raced clear of the Rosscarbery defence before slotting into the net for a 1-0 Clonakilty lead.
The visitors wasted a glorious opportunity to double their advantage when Eamon Hurley saw a goal-bound penalty kick brilliantly saved by Mike Hubbard just before the break. Another Clonakilty Town breakaway saw Hurley grab his second of the evening early in the second half when the striker collected a John Leahy pass and rounded the goalkeeper to make it 2-0. Rosscarbery enjoyed their best spell towards the end of the fixture but couldn't convert their superiority into goals. Clonakilty Town made sure of the points when Kevin Kingston converted Town's second penalty of the evening to complete a 3-0 victory. Enda Favier, Ger Collins, Donal Santry and Sean Linehan were in fine form for Rosscarbery with John Leahy, Malcolm Harte and Eamon Hurley impressing for Clonakilty Town.
Dunmanway Town 2 Ardfield 3
No doubting the biggest surprise of the opening week occurred in Mohona where Ardfield came away with all 3 points following a 5-goal thriller with Dunmanway Town. Gary Smith powered the visitors in front with a fine header and Ardfield maintained their lead until the half-time break. Dunmanway Town responded with a Kevin Hurley equaliser 5 minutes after the interval and the same player pushed the home side 2-1 in front courtesy of a smashing half-volley.
Dunmanway would have been expected to see out the remainder of the game but Ardfield produced a barnstorming finish to equalise and then grab a late winner. The ever dependable Diarmuid Keohane finished from close range to bring parity to the score-line before Michael O'Mahony's speculative lob from the edge of the penalty area deceived the Dunmanway defence and found the back of the net for a 3-2 Ardfield lead.
The home side pummelled Ardfield's goal for the remaining minutes but the Carrigroe men defended heroically and held out for a merited 3 points. Pearse O'Sullivan, John Powell and Gary Smith were outstanding for Ardfield while Danny May, Kevin Hurley and Kieran O'Leary produced the goods for a disappointed Dunmanway Town.
Bunratty United 2 Drinagh Rangers 3
Drinagh Rangers began their 2012 campaign with an impressive 3-2 win in Schull over Bunratty United on Wednesday evening. A frenetic opening 30 minutes saw Rangers dominate territorially and race into a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Kieran Hourihne and Vince Collins. Collins is the League's oldest player and belied his tender age to convert a penalty and ensure Drinagh went in 2-1 to the good at half time. Bunratty were a constant threat on the counter-attack and got off the mark courtesy of a fine Ray Kingston effort.
Ger O'Donovan scored United's second goal of the evening from another penalty kick but Liam Curran made sure of the points for the Canon Crowley Park club with an astute finish to complete a 3-2 victory. New signing Philip Clifford marked his Drinagh debut with an eye-catching display and should form a potent strike force with the ageless Mike Doolan this summer. Best for Rangers included Philip Clifford, JJ Hurley and Kieran Hourihane while Bunratty United's Terence O'Reilly, Denis Murphy and Joel Davis were on top form for a battling Bunratty United.
Clonakilty AFC 0 Skibbereen 1
2010 Champions Skibbereen got the better of Clonakilty AFC in Ballyvackey on Wednesday night but were made to fight for their victory with just a single goal separating the sides. Fachtna Connolly netted the solitary strike of the evening just 5 minutes from full time to secure a welcome 3 points for the Baltimore Road club.
Before that Clonakilty AFC - under new manager Lorne Edmead - produced a terrific display to keep Skibbereen's powerful attack at bay for long stretches of the fixture. The home side had the ball in Skibb's net at one stage only for Tom Houlihan's effort to be ruled out for offside. Ballyvackey will be a difficult place to get points from this summer yet Skibbereen showed why they are considered one of the club's capable of mounting a title-challenge with a gutsy display to come away with the win. Tony Blinston, Keith Pointon and Witech Fraceck stood out for Clonakilty AFC while Skibbereen's best players included Eoghan Daly, John Allen and Morgan Hurley.
CLICK here to view all results in the results section.
CLICK here to view the latest League Table standings in the league table section.
CLICK here to view the latest GOLDEN BOOT standings in the golden boot section.
CLICK here to view next week's fixtures in the fixtures section.
LEAGUE SPONSORED BY: O'BRIEN'S BAR, ROSSCARBERY
CUP SPONSORED BY: BERNARD HAYES TRAVEL, CORK
SHIELD SPONSORED BY: A CUT ABOVE SALON
