Evergreen held by Bray while Freebooters exit Leinster Junior Cup
After Evergreen’s exploits in recent weeks, last weekend saw Freebooters fly the flag for Kilkenny in provincial cup action.
’Booters made the trip to Carlow to take on New Oak FC in the last 32 of the LFA Junior Cup and it was the hosts who came away with a 3-1 victory.
An early goal for the home side tapped in by Lee Walker from a Roy Byrne ball into the box got the game fired up.
Before the half hour mark Dean Kelly popped up to head the ball over the keeper when he got on the end of a Jordan Harmon free kick.
That resulted in New Oak leading 2-0 at the break but Freebooters were very much back in the tie when Ger Hayes scored within a minute of the resumption.
This gave Freebooters more bite in the game but despite their best efforts their attacks never materialised as Craig Kearney was on hand to save comfortably.
Dean Kelly stepped up to seal the victory with a free kick just out side the box that caught the keeper out of position.
There was also Kilkenny representation in the Junior Plate where East End United won 4-0 away to Kildare side Kilcullen and the all local meeting of St John’s and Highview Athletic B seeing Highview claim a 2-1 success in Garringreen.
There was also domestic cup fare on offer with the final two quarter-finals in the Pat Maher Shield taking place.
Lions and Ormonde Villa met in a cracking tie at the Watershed and it was the Villa who came out on top in a five goal thriller (3-2).
Two second half goals from Mark Flynn did the trick for Ormonde and they will now take on Freebooters in the semi-finals.
Premier Division high fliers Deen Celtic were already assured of their place in the final four and they awaited the winners of Evergreen and Newpark who met on Sunday morning.
Newpark gave it a good shot but they still ended up on the losing side as a David Grincell double sealed Evergreen’s passage.
It was a fairly quiet weekend on the league front but there was still plenty of excitement and no more so than in Harristown on Saturday night as Thomastown secured a dramatic 6-5 win at Highview Athletic’s expense.
The loss for Highview continues their miserable start to the season that has saw them pick up just one point from their opening nine games.
The other game in the St Canice’s Credit Union Premier Division was also fairly eventful as Bridge United travelled to Rathdowney and came away with a 3-2 win against Clover United.
The final regulation fixture of the weekend took place in the Junior KCLR Scoreline.ie Division 1 League and it was Freshford Town who ran out 2-1 winners over bottom of the table River Rangers.
Leinster Senior Cup
Before Evergreen booked their place in the semi-finals of the Pat Maher Shield, they welcomed League Of Ireland Division 1 outfit Bray Wanderers to the Kells Road for their opening game in the Leinster Senior Cup on Friday evening.
There was a sizeable home support out to support their local heroes and also eager to get a front row view of the League of Ireland stars rolling into town as Bray stepped up their preparations for the new season.
The Wicklow team handed debuts to seven players but most of note to local readers was Killian Cantwell making his return to the Bray team as well as captaining the side.
Bray played most of the football but Evergreen were very organised in defence and can look back on a fine night’s work as they battled to a scoreless draw.
The tie was the first of three games in the group for premier division champions.
They travelled to Tolka Park on Tuesday to take on Damien Duff’s Shelbourne where they fell to a 4-1 defeat and will then take on Wexford FC at home on Saturday evening where there’s a 6.30pm start.
Evergreen FC: Nathan Owens; Damian Kelly, Adrian Cleere, Lee Delaney, Sam Hickey; Chris Whearty, Michael Drennan, Dean Cornally, Ethan Phelan; Jamie Owens; Andrew Wall. Subs: Declan McQuillan for Phelan (66); David Grincell for Owens (76); Dillon Lawless for Cornally (76); Anthony Mulvihill for Kelly (76). Not used: Vincent O’Grady, Dillon Lawless, Ryan Butler.
Bray Wanderers: Jimmy Corcoran; Cole Omorehiomwan, Kilian Cantwell, Evan Osam; Max Murphy, Darren Craven, Harry Groome, Kieran Cruise; Shane Griffin; Cristian Magerusan, Callum Thompson. Subs: Guillermo Almirall for Groome (61); Ben Feeney for Thompson (61); Freddie Turley for Cantwell (61); Peter Grogan for Magerusan (72); Thomas Morgan for Griffin (82).