KDFL SENIOR DIVISION TEAM FOCUS

League Shield Action !

Prosperous Utd (Div 1) 0 Newbridge United FC 3

Callum Sinclair was the star of the show as Newbridge United secured a confident win, with the forward netting a brace and playing a key role in a commanding performance.

The match sparked to life almost immediately, with Sinclair opening the scoring in just the 4th minute. A well-weighted pass from Adam Murphy unlocked the defence, allowing Sinclair to calmly slot the ball past the keeper to give his side the perfect start. After a composed first half, Sinclair doubled his tally early in the second period. In the 52nd minute, Niall Corrigan delivered a precise assist, and Sinclair made no mistake, firing home to make it 2–0. The game was put to bed in the 72nd minute when Corrigan got on the scoresheet himself. Murphy turned provider once again, threading a clever pass to Corrigan, who finished clinically to round off a dominant team display. With two assists and a goal between them, Murphy and Corrigan were instrumental, but it was Sinclair’s early strike and second-half finish that set the tone for a convincing team performance.

Man of the match Syzmon Stepniak for newbridge.

League Action !

Clane Utd 6 Arlington FC 0

A depleted Arlington FC where no match for Clane United in their Friday evening fixtures which saw them come out the wrong end of a 6-0 scoreline. Clane hosted Arlington Friday evening looking to bounce back after a disappointing midweek draw.  The home side  started with intent in the opening five minutess going close through Rasdi Nsimba and Aidan Ralph .  On even minutes the home side took the lead as Eoghan Maguire played a ball in behind for Ralph who made no mistake to put Clane ahead .  On twenty five minutes Eoghan Maguire was the provider again as he laid a ball across the box for the on rushing Rasdi to make it 2 0.  Three minutes later it was 3-0 to the home side as Rasdi grabbed his second . Despite the score line it wasn’t all one way traffic as Arlighton had their spells in the first half but Clane went into the break with a deserved strong advantage.  Clane came out strong in the second half with Maguire grabbing a deserved goal to make it 4 .  On fifty minutes Rasdi grabbed his hat trick with a fine individual goal to make it 5 0.  Arlington had a chance from the spot but were denied by John ball .  Mark Kelly completed the scoring on 81 with a free kick to make it 6 0.  Best for the winners were Rasdi Nsimba and Eoghan Maguire. Best for Arlington were Cian Byrne, who showed great composure on his debut, and Sean Bennett, who gave a tireless display in midfield and was involved in most of Arlington’s attacking moments.

Naas United FC 4 Coill Dubh AFC 0

A hat trick from Paul Ometeso and superb strike from substitute Jack Conway secured a valuable three points for Vernon Nolan’s side. Both sides had to adapt to some very warm weather conditions in the early stages and it took five minutes for anything major to happen as Travis O’ Neill struck over from distance for Naas, before three minutes later Keith Higgins was forced into a spectacular save when Sean McMahon got lucky as the ball ricocheted past Pearce O’Neill and McMahon whipped a low cross where Jason Devine stood four yards out and just had to tap home, but United’s captain Keith Higgins flew across the goal and made an incredible save from close range and kept the score at 0-0. Naas united’s first real opportunity came in the seventeenth minute after Owen Moran beat his man down the left wing, he cut inside and struck a shot across the keeper but Bagnall just got enough on it as Travis O’Neill slid agonizingly and just couldn’t get a touch on the ball. Two minutes later Moran was unlucky again as Joe Murray did excellent to sprint past his man and whipped in a perfect cross, but Moran didn’t connect cleanly and Coill Dubh blew a sigh of relief. That relief didn’t last long though as Naas made 1-0 in the 21st minute when a quick throw from Stephen Tilly saw him set away by Scott O’ Neill and Tillys cross was controlled brilliantly by Paul Ometeso who rolled his man a struck perfectly to the bottom corner leaving Coill Dub Keeper Bagnall flat footed. Naas were winning the Midfield battle with Leon Doyle and Scott O’Neill in partnership looking very solid. O’Neill was absolutely everywhere and Coill Dubh just could not keep up with his energy as he set the tempo for the game with some lovely one touch football keeping possession and making the away side work hard to try to win the ball back. Naas had a couple of half chance with Murray,  Leon Doyle and Ometeso all striking from distance, but Coill Dubh didn’t have to worry as all 3 efforts flew off target. Stephen Tilly almost scored a fantastic goal just before the break as Coill Dubh swung a cross to the back post, a little flick off a defender saw the ball set to go out for a corner as No. 11 Jason Devine jogged towards it expecting the ball to role out of play, but Stephen Tilly has the heart of a lion and tore after it and never gave up as he kept it in, Devine swiped, but Tilly jumped over the tackle and flew up the left hand side, Joe Bowers flew across from midfield and again his tackle was hurdled by Naas United’s left back, away he went up the wing, a one two with Travis O’Neill set him perfectly through on goal and he struck past the keeper, but it was blown for offside and the half ended 1-0. 

The second half saw Naas just start a little flat as the warm conditions took their toll. Coill Dubh almost snuck an equaliser in the 55th minute when substitute Cian McMahon miss hit a cross from the left but it skinned the top of the cross bar and almost caught Higgins off guard. With the warm weather taking affect Naas decided to make a triple change on 55 minutes as Niall and Daragh Faherty made their return to the fold after winning the league last year. They were accompanied onto the pitch by former Coill Dubh star Dylan Hannon and all 3 players gave a huge boost of energy to the home side. And combined brilliantly in the 57th minute as Hannon set Daragh Faherty away on the wing, Faherty laid the ball back to right back Pearce O’Neill who swung in a great cross for Niall Faherty who saw his header saved well by Bagnall. Naas finally made it 2-0 in the 62nd minute when a long ball was flicked on in midfield and Paul Ometeso showed great strength to outpace and hold off Adam McLoughlin and a drop of the hip saw him take the ball around the outrushing keeper. McLoughlin wasnt giving up and he almost got back to nip the ball away, but Ometeso held him off again before smashing home his 2nd goal of the day. Naas were now enjoying themselves and another double change saw Jack Conway return to action after 5 weeks out and Jamie Boyd joined him as they replaced Leon Doyle and Pearce O’Neill to freshen it up further. Daragh Faherty almost made it 3-0 in the 68th minute when he showed good skill to beat 2 players down the right before cutting back onto his left, and a beautiful curling effort was set for the top corner, but Coill Dubh’s keeper Bagnall made a great save to tip it onto the cross bar and out. Naas made it 3-0 on 79 minutes and Daragh Faherty was in the tick of it again as he again beat 2 with ease on the right, he cut inside again but instead of shooting this time he laid the ball back perfectly for Jack Conway to run on to and from 30 yards out Conways shot flew past the keeper into the bottom corner for the goal of the game and a possible goal of the month contender. Naas made it 4-0 just 2 minutes later when yet another Stephen Tilly quick throw caught Coill Dubh out, A lovely flick from Niall Faherty put Ometeso perfectly in on goal and he made no mistake to complete his hat trick with a lovely finish low to the keepers left.  Best for Naas were joint man of the match Scott O’Neill who was powerful in midfield and seemed to be everywhere before coming off for a rest on the hour mark, while Hat Trick man Paul Ometeso dominated up front just as he did when scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win away to Coill Dubh earlier in the season. Jamie Dunne, John Paul Higgins, Pearce O’Neill and the tireless Stephen Tilly all made sure Kieth Higgins had a quiet day and Leon Doyle also deserves a mention along with the hard work from Travis O’Neill, Owen Moran and Joe Murray.  

Rathangan AFC 0 Newbridge Hotspurs FC 1

On what was a scorching hot day for a game off football, Hotspurs were again on the road as they travelled to Rathangan to try and get back on track after last weekend’s result. With it being very hot, you would think both teams might take a few minutes to settle into the game but that was not the case.  After only 5 minutes, Rathangan created the first opportunity when the ball was played forward by the number 8 on the right to Lee Moore up front for Rathangan. Moore then laid the ball off in the box to the on rushing number 11 who struck well but it was well saved by Reece Winders in goal for Hotspurs. 

On the 11th minute, Hotspurs took the lead of the game. The ball was well worked from the left hand side  with Robbie Higgins who played the ball into the middle to Eamon Doyle.  Doyle then slipped a lovely pass through down the wing to Scott O Donoghue who played an excellent pass across the box to the on rushing Gary Lowe who finished first time to give Hotspurs a 1-0 lead.  Again on the 20th minute, Hotspurs were again saved by a goal line block from the face of Shane Higgins.  On the 35th minute the game was paused as after a tackle from the Rathangan midfielder on around Phillips resulted in Phillips being injured and taken off to Hospital.  It also resulted in Rathangan being reduced to 10 men after words were exchanged between Rathangan player and the ref which left the Rathangan player receiving a red card.  The game petered out to half time after this which meant Hotspurs went in leading 1-0. 

The second half started, and nearly immediately Hotspurs made it 2-0. Sean Higgins played a ball into the middle to Mikey Murphy who gave it to Gary Lowe on the left. Lowe played a ball over the top to McGrath who latched onto it and laid it off to Mikey Murphy who shot just wide.  On the 55th minute Rathangan were now reduced to 9 men after another player was shown a second yellow for a bad tackle on Eamon Doyle which resulted in Doyle coming off injured.  The second half was a lot of Hotspurs trying to break down a stubborn defence in Rathangan and credit to Rathangan they never gave up even with 9 men and the heat against them also.  Last opportunity of the game fell to Scott O Connor who headed just over the bar from an excellent Chris Higgins cross.  The game ended 1-0 to Hotspurs and we now move on too next week’s league game against Moone. 

Best for Hotspurs were Shane Higgins, Robbie Higgins,  at the back, Tomas Hennessy in the middle and Hotspurs Man of the Match - Mikey Murphy. 

Clonmullion FC 3 Old Fort Celtic FC 0