Carnbane League Round-up: ​The two Celtics remain neck and neck at the top

Premier Division

Ballyholland 0 Cleary Celtic 4

Cleary Celtic doubled the score from the last time they played Ballyholland at the start of the season and once again kept a clean sheet on Saturday.

Versatile defender Fergal Laverty opened the scoring with 28 minutes on the clock and Patrick Ruddy doubled Cleary’s advantage six minutes later. It remained 2-0 at half-time and Ballyholland had a tough task ahead of them to get back in the game against the league champions.

Their task was made even harder when the ever-reliable Decky Monaghan made it 3-0 at the start of the second half and the same player put the match to bed with his second and Cleary’s fourth goal on 55 minutes.

Millburn United 1 Newry Celtic 5

The Premier Division title race remains in the balance, as Newry Celtic made short work of Millburn United on Saturday, staying two points behind leaders Cleary Celtic with 14 fixtures completed.

Newry had to wait until the second half to turn the screw in Milltown however, as they only led 1-0 at the break, through a Keith Johnston goal after 15 minutes.

Conor Shields nabbed their second goal seven minutes after the restart and Stephen Wylie stuck the insurance goal in the net on 84 minutes. While that was clearly more than enough for all three points, less than 60 seconds later Caolan Gray got his name on the scoresheet.

Thomas O’Hare pulled one back for Millburn, but the Hoops had the another in the bag provided by Paul O’Rourke in the last minute of normal time.

Villa Rovers 7 Archview United 1

There were goals galore in Jennings Park on Saturday, when Villa Rovers produced seven against struggling bottom side Archview United.

Rovers had the result in the bag by half-time leading 4-0 with a hat-trick from Kyle Brennan and the other goal from Aodhan Conlon.

They showed no mercy to their opponents in the second half with Adam Loughran making it 5-0 straight after the re-start. Nathan McClorey scored for Archview on 75 minutes but it merely a consolation that saved them from a whitewash as there was more to come from Villa and Loughran who hit the net with his second and Villa’s sixth on 80 minutes and he completed his hattrick on 90.

Division 1

Mayobridge 4 Cartwheel United 0

Mayobridge are one result away from being crowned Carnbane League Division 1 champions after they secured all three points at Olympic Park on Saturday.

They lead Greenfield Park by two points with one game to go, meaning that a draw will be enough for the Bridge men to win the title when the two teams meet in a couple of weeks’ time.

The Bridge men showed why they are on the cusp of glory with a dominant win over Cartwheel United. Kevin O’Rourke, Conor Garvey, Darren McPolin and Brandon Roe found the net for the victors.

Ashgrove Rovers 3 Lisdrum 2

Ashgrove Rovers got the better of Lisdrum at Jennings Park with a second half comeback after trailing 2-0 just before the break.

Paul Cunningham scored both of Lisdrum’s goals the first after 21 minutes and the second 13 minutes later.

Ashgrove may well have had a hill to climb in but their first goal couldn’t have come at a better time, as Turlough Hunter stuck the ball in the net right on the cusp of half-time.

That gave Rovers the momentum heading into the second half and it wasn’t long before JP McCabe found the equaliser.

Lisdrum had the wind knocked out of their sails with that and the worst case scenario for them followed when McCabe struck again with 20 minutes left on the clock and that proved to be the last goal of the game.

Orchard United 7 Church Street 3

Derrybeg was the place to be on Saturday for anyone looking to see a few goals. There were 10 in total between Orchard United and Church Street, with the former scoring seven of those.

Church Street got off to a good start, bagging the first goal of the day through Padraig Magee in the tenth minute.

That goal was cancelled out by Jamie O’Connor just three minutes later however and with that the Orchard landslide began.

O’Connor put them into the lead with his second of the day before the half-hour mark and Dillon Smyth and Micheal McAllister made it 4-1 before the break, leaving Church Street with a mountain to climb in the second half.

Ruairi Murdock made sure there would be no comeback when he made it 5-1 and while David Breen pulled a second back, Smyth swiftly cancelled that goal out with his hat-trick.

Dylan Bagnall scored a third for Church Street – but Orchard were in fine scoring form with Smyth scoring his fourth and his team’s seventh before the final whistle blew.

Parkview 0 Newry Rovers 3

Finally, after a long, long time trying Newry Rovers recorded their first league win of the season and indeed the previous season and they did so in style at Artie Green Park, with a hat-trick from Jack Turley.

He scored his first with just six minutes on the clock but Rovers weren’t getting carried away as they’ve been down this road before.

Turley nabbed his second on 18 minutes and with no reply from Parkview, Rovers could afford to be cautiously optimistic heading into the break.

That optimism was increased at the start of the second half when Turley competed his hat-trick. The clock ticked on and Parkview still could find no answer, so when the final whistle blew, Newry Rovers had a 3-0 win and a clean sheet to boot.