Taverners lift Challenge Shield

Gary Millar currently leads the chase for the N&N Trophies sponsorsed Golden Boot.

The striker now closing in on a whopping 50 goals to the season. He is being closely followed by Hazelbank's Colin McClarty who has 40 plus himself for the season.

Hazelbank FC are on the verge of becoming Hutchinson Tiles League Champions for the first time in their history after the latest round of matches.

Garth Hutchinson's men only have to beat Finn McCools this Tuesday night to secure the title after a splendid run of form since the turn of the calendar year.

The race for second place is still on and looks to be between Berthas FC, Balnamore and Riverside. Balnamore currently hold that position but have played more games than the teams behind them.

Somerset returned to form with a demolition of West Bann Athletic while Brook Street completed the double for the season over FC Macosquin. Ballyrashane picked up a good point at home to Hillview while Macosquin Village took a routine victory over Coleraine Olympic.

The Hutchinson Tiles League committee would like to wish Mountview player Mark Crawford a speedy recovery after the young man suffered a bad ankle injury in Saturday's game against Riverside Athletic.

Berthas FC 3 The Taverners 3 (3-5 pens)

This final started off at a frantic pace and it was Berthas who started off on the right note playing some neat football whereas the Taverners never got their passing going at all.

The opening goal came for Berthas when MacAulays long pump up field caught the Taverners defence out and the on rushing Dallas somehow failed to deal with it and Cochrane had the simple task of tapping in to put Berthas 1-0 up.

McNabb's patience was starting to wear thin as his side were getting absolutely over-run at this time but they pulled level against the run of play when a great cross from Robinson found Graur at the back post and his header somehow caught McCrory out to send the sides in level at half-time.

The second half started the same as the first and again Berthas went in front when a simple flick-on from Ridgell caught two Taverners players sleeping and again it was Cochrane who advanced to hammer the ball past Dallas to put his side 2-1 in front.

This seemed to spark Taverners into life and when Walker was took out by David Patterson; the ref had no option but to show the centre half a second yellow and to dismiss him from the field.

The resulting free kick by McCurdy was only parried by McCrory to the feet of Graur and he made no mistake to make it all square at 2-2 apiece.

More heartache for Berthas came soon after when Ridgell got dismissed for Berthas for swearing, the Taverners had a two man advantage that somehow they couldn't make count.

After plenty of possession by The Taverners it was hard to believe that Berthas went in front again when Rainey out jumped three Taverners defenders to head home Chris Patterson's long throw to put his side 3-2 up with five minutes left to McNabb's amazement. The Taverners then just pushed men after men forward and just when it seemed up for them Graur picked up a loose ball inside the box and turned to unleash a left foot drive into the top-corner to bring the teams level and send the match into extra time.

This brought no more goals so in we headed to penalties both teams scoring their first three apiece and when Walker scored to put the Taverners 4-3 up and Berthas missing it was down to Graur to hammer his penalty in to win shield for his team.

Manager McNabb was full of praise for a determined Berthas side who he thought were excellent after playing nearly 50 minutes with nine men but also his own side who stuck at it and eventually got the result he was looking for considering they got hit for seven two weeks ago by Berthas. Man of the Match: Barry Greene (Berthas FC)

Dunaghy Old Boys 1 Hazelbank 5

Dunaghy started the opening few minutes very well, Cairns sending in a long range effort from the whistle but the shot was pushed away for a corner from Steven Crawford.

Hazelbank dealt with the resulting corner well, Dunaghy continued to press with an aerial bombardment from throws, again all well dealt with by Crawford and Kelly, Hazelbank opened the scoring on five minutes Steven Crawford cutting out another long throw, and set James Diver off on the attack from his clearance.

Dunaghy miss-read the bounce and diver collected the ball and sent in a low shot which Doherty in nets couldn't deal with, a classic counter-attack.

This settled Hazelbank and the King brothers began to control the midfield. Colin McClarty should have made it two, running onto King's pass and with the advancing closing down the ball he somehow managed to take another touch and the keeper got the save in pushing away for a corner.

Sheppard corner was headed on by Kelly and Colin made no mistake with an overhead kick on the edge of the six yard box to make it two on 15 minutes.

Dunaghy responded well to this and forced the play back onto Hazelbank. Gareth Spires got them back into it from a free kick from 25 yards he curled in a great left foot curler into bottom of the net giving Crawford no chance. Half time 1-2.

Hazelbank turned three into four within five minutes of the restart, McLean the provider this time stretching the Dunaghy defence, his cross was met by McClarty who had time to take the touch and drill home.

Sheppard put the game well out of reach lobbing the stranded keeper from 40 yards to cap of a very busy two weeks for Hazelbank, taking maximum points from their last six games. Man of the Match: Mark Boorman (Hazelbank)

Riverside Athletic 1 Mountview FC 0

Riverside started this game on the front foot and on ten minutes they went in front.

A long ball out of defence by McLean found Cooper who held off his marker to play in McGoldrick who calmly lifted the ball over the advancing keeper.

The hosts continued to play some pretty decent football although Mountview kept pressing and probing for openings at every opportunity with big Davy Caldwell always a threat. The second half started as the first had ended with both teams playing good football, but with both defences on top of their game chances were hard to come by.

As the half wore on an accidental collision between Mark Crawford and a Riverside player left the former on the ground and clearly in great discomfort. With a suspicion of a break a lengthy delay ensued while the players awaited the arrival of an ambulance. During this time both managers agreed to call it a day with Mountview forfeiting the points.

At the time of writing the condition of Mark was unknown but everyone connected to Riverside Athletic wish him a speedy and full recovery.

Finn McCools 1 The Villagers 1

The first half started with Finns the better side, keeping the ball and playing some decent football to boot. Both teams had some chances before Rushe took his by chipping over the keeper to give the home side the lead at the break. In the second half The Villagers gradually came into the game.

They got the equaliser from a corner when their captain found space at the back post to fire home past the Finns keeper. The game really opened up after this and it was end to end football with both teams having more chances but it ended 1-1 and probably a fair result. Man of the Match: Karl Rushe (Finn McCools)

Coleraine Olympic 1 Macosquin Village 6

Macosquin dominated the opening stages of this match, playing some great football but failing to take their first few chances.

They deservedly took the lead after seven minutes when Chris Wade's through ball spilt the Olympic defence for Daryl Marshall to run in on goal and finish neatly past the oncoming Morton in the hosts net.

Macosquin continued to create some great chances in the opening stages, playing nice one touch football with Todd and Laverty combining well on the right wing.

It was this pair that created Macosquin's secong goal, playing a neat one to, before realising Stewart who placed an inch perfect cross for Chris Wade to head home from six yards out.

Macosquin's third came from a corner, Marshall's first ball into the box was cleared at the front post by the Olympic defence, only for Marshall to pick out McDonald's near post run, which saw the midfielder glance a header into the bottom corner.

Macosquin made it 4-0 on the half hour when McDonald's surging run caused confusion in the Olympic defence for Stewart to mark another good performance with a composed finish, curling the ball into the top corner from 12 yards.

Olympic grabbed a goal back two minutes before the break, when a mistake in the Macosquin defence allowed Sweeney to run through to finish past the relatively under worked McAfee in the Macosquin goal.

The second half began with Macosquin pressing hard to increase their lead, with McDonald and Johnston dominating the midfield and creating plenty of chances. Macosquin continued to create loads of chances, but failing to hit the target.

Morton in the Olympic goal made some great saves, only for Marshall to make in five for Macosquin with an excellent solo goal, gliding past three Olympic defenders before placing the ball in the top left corner. Macosquin continued to play great football, creating more and more chances, but again failing to increase their lead with Morton saving well from Johnston and McNeill.

With time running out McDonald scored Macosquin's sixth and his second of the game, going on a run from just inside the Olympic half, before playing a one to with Wade on the left wing before lifting the ball over the advancing Morton. This capped off a great performance from an improving Macosquin team who hope to end the season on a strong note. Man of the Match: Craig McDonald (Macosquin Village)

Somerset 5 West Bann Athletic 1

Somerset dominated the opening exchanges after a turbulent month of injuries and should have been three up in the first 10 minutes but due to poor finishing and good goalkeeping the scores remained level.

It took Somerset to the 20th minute to open the scoring when a 50 yard Graeme Hannah cross field pass was instantly killed by Miller who beat two men and scored past the helpless away keeper.

Somerset continued to dominate but couldn't find the net and the two sides went in at half time with Somerset 1-0 up.

The second half began with West Bann dominating the possession but they were reduced to long shots with Michael Olphert being a constant threat. Olphert was unlucky when he saw a shot come off the post but Somerset hit West Bann with a sucker punch when Simon O'Kane played through Miller who once again beat the defender and flicked it over the keeper and nodded the ball in to make it two.

This opened the floodgates briefly when Miller added two more to make the score line 4-0. All credit to West Bann who kept pressing by scoring a consolation goal when the ball was whipped in deep to the back post when the West Bann winger out muscled Stephen Loughery to head the ball in.

West Bann nearly made it a second when McGonigle lost the ball from the kick off with Olphert making Harkin scramble across his net to see the ball just go wide. Miller finished the scoring with goal of the match when Graham Hannah provided another excellent cross field pass to Scott Fraser who knocked the ball into Millers path who once again lobbed it over the defender and volleyed it past the keeper.

It was an all round good performance from Somerset with Stephen Loughery having an outstanding performance at the back. Manager Nick Boyd will be happy with three points. Man of the Match: Gary Miller (Somerset FC)

Ballyrashane Coronation 3 Hillview FC 3

Ballyrashane had to play this fixture without striker John Doherty due to injury and was replaced by Johnston who has proved his position in the squad.

The game kicked off and Hillview took command with good passing and control. With twenty minutes gone Hillview scored the first goal of the game when Hutchinson headed home at the back post. BCFC picked themselves back up and fought hard to get one back through Johnston who scored from a splendid strike to make it 1-1.

On the half hour mark BCFC scored again from a Glen Young strike in which the goalkeeper could not hold on to making the score 2-1 BCFC. Hillview stepped it up towards the end of the first half but failed to score due to the hard work of Doey, Barnes, Tennant and Deeny in Defence.

BCFC also stepped it up another gear with good team work from Collins and Watt teaming up with Freeman to create another chance at goal which Johnston took advantage of slotting home his second of the game making it 3-1 BCFC.

Shortly after the whistle blew for half time. Come the second half both teams fought hard and played good football until the referee gave a penalty to Hillview, which was to everyone's disbelief, in which he called for a handball but hesitated in doing so. But sloppy decisions changed things once again. Hillview took the chance and scored the penalty making the score line 3-2.

BCFC carried on fighting hard and should have had more out of it but once again the referee made more bad decisions, which was ruining a good game of football.

Hillview equalised through a deflective shot late on in the second half. BCFC gave it one final push through the efforts of Young and Kane on the wings and with Watton replacing Freeman, Hillview pushed hard once again but failing to beat Doherty in goals who was in form.

Both teams were glad to hear the final whistle due to tired legs and some players nursing injuries. A well-earned point for Ballyrashane with the score finishing 3-3. Man of the Match: Aaron Tennant (Ballyrashane Coronation)

Brook Street 2 FC Macosquin 0

No match report received

Fixtures for week beginning Monday 3 May

Tue 4 May 10 7:00 PM

F.C Macosquin v Ballyrashane Coronation F.C Ballysally 2

Hazelbank v Finn McCool's Rugby Avenue 3

Villagers F.C v Bertha's F.C Castlerock

Wed 5 May 10 7:00 PM

Dunaghy Old Boy's v West Bann Athletic Dunaghy

Somerset v Riverside Athletic Crescent 3

Taverners F.C v Hillview F.C Riada 2

Thu 6 May 10 7:00 PM

Macosquin Village v Bertha's F.C Ballysally 2

Villagers F.C v Mountview F.C Castlerock

Sat 8 May 10 11:00 AM

Bertha's F.C v Taverners F.C Castlerock

Brook Street v Hazelbank Crescent 3

F.C Macosquin v Macosquin Village Ballysally 2

Finn McCool's v Ballyrashane Coronation F.C Bushmills

Mountview F.C v Hillview F.C Rugby Avenue 3

Riverside Athletic v Villagers F.C Fulton Park

Somerset v Dunaghy Old Boy's Rugby Avenue 2

West Bann Athletic v Balnamore F.C Rugby Avenue 1