Leinster Heat Pumps Senior Division Focus

Old Fort Celtic FC 4 Newbridge Hotspurs FC 3

Old Fort Celtic welcomed Newbridge Hotspurs to Portlaoise this morning and with both sides scoring and conceding goals, this promised to be a cracker. Within the first minute, Old Fort had a penalty after Patryk Staniec was bundled over in the box. Up stepped Liam Brown but his penalty was well saved by Hotspurs keeper Stephen Mulpeter. That didn’t deter Old Fort who remained on the front foot and dominated the early exchanges. They eventually got their lead after 23 minutes when Staniec was picked out by Jakob Warachin with a fine pass, he jinked by two defenders to coolly slot the ball into the net.

Hotspurs drew level on the half hour mark, a dangerous corner found Higgins at the back post and he made no mistake with his finish. Old Fort had another chance before half time and again it fell to Staniec, his goal bound shot looked to have crossed the line before the hotspurs player made a clearance but no goal was given. Half time 1-1. The second half started the same as the first, Old Fort pushed to take the lead and it came in the 51st minute. Great work down the left by Ashby Bermeo and his looping cross found the back of the Hotspurs net. Within a minute, hotspurs were level, a cross down the left by Scott Donoghue found Mikey Murphy who slotted home to make it 2-2.

Again Old Fort heads didn’t drop and Daryl Ntumba picked the ball up on the right hand side and drove at the hotspurs defence, a clumsy challenge inside the box on Ntumba and a Penalty was awarded. Liam Brown stepped up again and with ice in his veins, put the ball into the top corner leaving Mulpeter no chance on this occasion. 3-2 after 55 minutes. Again hotspurs responded, more good work down their left hand side and a cross into the box was not dealt with, Neil Flynn picked it up and from a tight angle, he smashed the ball into the roof of the net. 3-3 after 60 minutes. Both teams kept pushing for the winner and it eventually came in the 89th minute for the home side. Byron McGuirk made a lung busting run from right back past 2 hotspurs players, he got to the end line and stood up a cross to the back post which was bravely net by Brian Smith to head home and secure the 3 points for the home side. Lots of stand out performances today by Ashby Bermeo, Daryl Ntumba, Scott Coyle but it’s Liam Brown who takes man of the match for the home side with a relentless display in midfield.

Best for Hotspurs was goalkeeper Stephen Mulpeter who made some crucial saves throughout the game and Mikey Murphy in midfield was a constant threat to the old fort defence.

Clane United FC 2 Arlington FC 3

Clane started the game off really strong creating numerous chances that they did not convert.   1st goal came from a nice move started at the back and with a great through ball from Stephen leavy onto the path of Rasdi and he finished it well.  The second came again from good build up from the back, Liam Marshall played a great ball through to Gavin Denton who finished the move off with some great individual footwork and place the ball into the corner of the goal. 2nd half clane never got going and Arlington upped their intensity and that played off with a great individual goal from their striker. Arlington 2nd and 3rd goal came from individual errors by clane and the pressure that Arlington where putting on paid off. Clane made 4 substitutions and with some late pressure tried to get the equaliser, but Arlington defended well. Best for Clane was captain Jack Kelly and young striker Gavin Denton who worked his socks off.

Kildare Town AFC 3 Coill Dubh AFC 0

Kildare Town got off to a flying start and were awarded a penalty after two players clashed heads in the box after just four minutes. Dylan Connolly stepped up and confidently buried the penalty into the bottom corner to make it 1–0. Not long after, Kildare doubled their lead from a corner. Poor marking allowed Ryan Farrell the easiest of headers as he powered home to make it 2–0. Coill Dubh created some good chances, with Ian McDonnell heavily involved throughout, but the Kildare defence remained resolute. The game was played at a very high tempo on a hot evening on Rathbride Road.

As Coill Dubh pushed to get themselves back into the game, poor finishing meant they never really looked like scoring despite some strong attacking play and an impressive performance from Ian McDonnell. Kildare put the game beyond reach late on when Brandon O’Keeffe fired home from the edge of the box to make it 3–0.

A young Coill Dubh side are finding things difficult at the moment, but there were still positives to take from the performance. Best for Coill Dubh, Lennon O’Shaughnessy

Conor Comiskey.