Ballymurn Celtic 4 Fethard Rangers 1
The lads made it through to the final of the Billy Browne cup with a great 4-1 win against a very good Fethard team in what was torrential rain.Although we won 4-1 the scoreline flattered us a little and the game was really won by us converting our chances whereas Fethard didn’t.
The first ten minutes of the game we never got going and Fethard were well on top and if it wasn’t for a couple of great saves from Glen Murphy we would have been behind.After that we started to get back into the game and inserted our own pressure.Our first goal came from Adam who raced down the left, got a low cross in, Josh Whitehead did very well closing down and keeping it alive in the box. The ball then fell to Snowy who shot low across goal through bodies into far corner.
The second goal came from a Fethard free kick. Glen got the ball and kicked a lovely pass upfield that went through their defense and allowed Sean Walsh to run on and put it passed their keeper.The lads soon found themselves 3 up before half time. There was some lovely interplay in midfield before a cross from Josh Whitehead found Sean Walsh who showed great technique to volley it passed the keeper.
It was 3-0 at half time but Fathard had caused us a lot of problems so we knew the game was far from over.The second half started much the same as the first. Fethard had made four changes at half time and this seemed to spur them on. They created a number of chances and only for a wonderful point blank save from Glen prevented them from getting one back.
The lads weathered the storm and soon got a fourth when a through ball from Sean found Snowy who weaved in and out of their defenders before being brought down in the area. Sean stepped up to take the penalty and put it to the keepers left to score his hat trick.
Just when you thought that may be that Fethard scored shortly after with a nice shot from outside the area that Glen could do nothing about.The story of the rest of the game was Fethard dominating the ball and creating a number of chances that they couldn’t convert. Everyone of our players put their body on the line and gave absolutely everything to ensure we ended with the win.
We almost got a fifth towards the end of the game when Cathal Roche hit the post with a nice shot from a difficult angle.The game finished 4-1 and the lads now have a final against a good Bree United team to look forward to on 14th May in Ferrycarrig Park.
Best of luck to Fethard who caused us more problems than any team we’ve played this season.
Matchday squad
Glen Murphy
Declan Kealy
Josh Waldron
Paul ‘Karate Kid’ Walsh
Josh Whitehead
Joe Kelly
Paul Dempsey
Shane O’Rourke
Adam O’Brien
Snowy
Sean Walsh
PJ Bourke
Chonaill Devlin
Luke Leacy
Paddy Redmond
Shane Whelan
Robbie Wilson
Claughbawn 2 Ballymurn Celtic 2
In what a very hard fought game these 2 teams shared a point probably the fairest result.
Goal scorers for Ballymurn were Snowy and Glen Murphy.
Unfortunately for Ballymurn we suffered a few injuries and hope for a speedy recovery before the Billy Browne Cup semi final this Sunday.
James White
Stephen Redmond
Josh Waldron
Declan Kealy
Adam O Brien
Paul Walsh
Paul Dempsey
Josh Whitehead
Joe Kelly
Sean Walsh
Eoghan Kehoe
Shane O Rourke
Paddy Redmond
Chonail Devlin
Glen Murphy
Shane Whelan
Luke Lacey
Robbie Wilson
Bree United 0 Ballymurn Celtic 1
Bree United 0 Ballymurn Celtic 1The lads won on the road with an unconvincing 1-0 win through a late Paul Dempsey goal.The first half was a scrappy affair with Ballymurn coming the closest to scoring when a Josh Whitehead header from a corner was cleared off the line.
Bree had a few shots from outside of the box that James White dealt with comfortably.To be fair Bree were the better team in the second half and had quite a few chances to score, the nearest being a shot that hit the post and was smothered by James White, before their forward could get to it.
Bree had most of the possession, but a breakaway goal with a few minutes left gave the lads the three points. There was great work from Sean Walsh who shot and just when it looked like their defender may clear it Paul Dempsey tapped in from close range to continue his scoring run.I think a draw would have probably been a fair reflection of the game and it was one the lads can count themselves lucky to get all three points in.
This game was in total contrast to Tuesday’s win but three points is three points and we march on.
Matchday squad
James White
Josh Waldron
Glen Murphy
Stephen Redmond
Chonaill Devlin
Paddy Redmond
Shane O’Rourke
PJ Bourke
Josh Whitehead
Luke Leacy
Snowy
Paul Dempsey
Adam O’Brien
Sean Walsh
Paul Walsh
Joe Kelly
Robbie Wilson
Ballymurn Celtic 8 Crossabeg B 0
Ballymurn played well this evening in a local derby game.
The score line maybe flattered us abit as Crossabeg to their credit never gave up and created a couple of good chances in the first 15 minutes bringing a couple of good saves from James White.
Shane O Rourke opened the scoring great cut back by Cathal Roche. Cathal won a penalty soon after and Paul Dempsey slotted home. Paul Dempsey slotted home the 3rd after a few great passes. Paul Dempsey found Cathal Roche with a ball over the top and he finished well in the corner.
Snowy scored the next 2 goals with cut backs from Sean Walsh after good build up play. Joe Kelly scored the last 2 goals from passes from Snowy.
In between this Crossabeg worked our goalkeeper another couple of times.Best of luck to our neighbours in Crossabeg for the rest of the season and also to their first team who looking for promotion to the Premier league this year.
James White
Glen Murphy
Paul Walsh
Declan Kealy
Aaron O Brien
Paddy Redmond
Josh Whitehead
Shane O Rourke
Paul Dempsey
Cathal Roche
Luke Lacey
Eoghan Kehoe
Joe Kelly
Adam O Brien
Sean Walsh
Robbie Wilson
Josh Waldron
Ballymurn 4 Fasnet 0
Fastnet got off to a good start bringing a good save out of James White in the first few minutes.
Ballymurn were a shade better in the first half passing well and creating a couple of good chances Snowy and Sean going close great defending by the Fasnet player to clear the ball off the line.
Ballymurn played very well in the 2nd half and opened the score from a free kick from Snowy. The 2nd came from a great cross from Adam O Brien and Snowy finished well at the back post.
The 3rd from another cross from Adam into the box and Dec Kealy rose above the keeper to score a good header. The 4th goal was a great free kick from Paul Walsh from 30 yards into the bottom corner.
Shane hit the bar with a chance and Shane Whelan was unlucky with a great header. All in all it was a great performance all round from the team. Best of luck to Fasnet for the rest of the season.
Squad.
James White,
Stephen Redmond,
Paul Walsh,
Declan Kealy,
Chonail Devlin,
Paul Dempsey,
Joe Kelly,
PJ Bourke,
Adam O Brien,
Sean Walsh,
Eoghan Kehoe,
Shane O Rourke,
Glen Murphy,
Josh Whitehead,
Shane Whelan,
Luke Lacey,
Robbie Wilson.
Fethard Rangers 2 Ballymurn Celtic 0
Any hopes the lads had of catching the league leaders ended today in a dissapointing 2-0 defeat away to Fethard.
They went in at half time having dominated the half and probably could have had a couple of goals to their name. A very poor start to the second half put the game to bed.
A defensive mix up allowed their forward a one on one and he duly obliged and put them one up. A few minutes later they went two up when a through ball found their forward in space and again he went through and scored.The lads huffed and puffed, without creating too much in quite windy conditions.
Their keeper made a good save from Sean Walsh right near the end.The lads now need to come back from this for the derby game against Crossabeg on Wednesday.
They also have the quarter finals of the Billy Browne to look forward to, as well as trying to seal promotion so there’s still plenty to play for.
Matchday squad
James White
Adam O’Brien
Cameron Clarke
Paul Walsh
Stephen Redmond
Aaron O’Brien
PJ Bourke
Josh Whitehead
Joe Kelly
Snowy
Sean Walsh
Glen Murphy
Paul Dempsey
Shane O’Rourke
Paddy Redmond
Declan Kealy
Josh Waldron
Robbie Wilson
Rosslare Rangers B 2 Ballymurn Celtic 3
The lads progressed to the Quarter finals of the Billy Browne cup with a 3-2 win against a good Rosslare Rangers team.
Ballymurn got off to a perfect start when Sean Walsh got the ball on the wing, went past two players before crossing beautifully for Snowy, who made a good run, to score from inside the box.
Although the lads started off well the goal seemed to breath more life into Rosslare who equalised shortly after when a cross came in from their left wing and their forward found himself unmarked and scored a very nice half volley, giving James White no chance.
Although chances were few and far between Rosslare looked the most likely to score in the first half. After the goal Ballymurn stopped playing and the game became very scrappy. The first half finished 1-1.The lads started the second half with an intensity that was missing for much of the first half. Within a couple minutes of the restart a lovely Adam O’Brien cross field pass found Snowy who ran on and cheekily lobbed their keeper to make it 2-1. A few minutes after that some more lovely play from Sean Walsh, who skipped and danced through their defense to again find Snowy who scored his hat trick with another nice finish to make it 3-1.
The lads continued to dominate the second half and could have probably got one or two more. Anyone who was there also witnessed one of the worst shots of the season.
Paul Walsh got the ball on the right hand side and just outside of the box. He decided to take a pop and hit the ball first time.It went high into the air and by all accounts ended up in Rosslare Harbour and disrupted the 12:35 docking from France. Paul blamed a bobble on the pitch, but the pitch was like a snooker table.
Rosslare caused one or two problems with their lively front two, but the lads kept them out until the final minute, when they got a corner and it hit one of our players and then they finished it from the deflection. It was just a consolation goal though as the ref blew up straight after the restart.
This was our first game in three weeks and you could probably tell, especially in the first half. Hopefully that’s the rust off us now and we can go into some important end of season games in good form.
Rosslare are a good young footballing team and we’d like to wish them all the best for the rest of the season.
Matchday Squad
James White
Josh Waldron
Paul Walsh
Stephen Redmond
Sean Walsh
Adam O’Brien
Paul Dempsey
Josh Whitehead
Shane O’Rourke
Luke Lacey
Snowy 3
Joe Kelly
Glen Murphy
PJ Bourke
Chonaill Devlin
Declan Kealy
Aaron O’Brien
Shane Whelan
Robbie Wilson
Ballymurn Celtic 2 Claughbawn 1
The lads won their second game in a row with a hard fought win against a good physical Claughbawn team.Ballymurn started the game with an intensity that has taken a while to come in previous games. The passing, moving and pressing was on point and was causing lots of problems.
After a few decent chances some would say that the first goal was fortuitous, but the management team know better. After some good play in midfield Shane O’Rourke got the ball on the right-hand side of the box and seeing the goalie ever so slightly off the line put some side spin on the ball to put it in the top left hand corner of the goal. There were mumbles from the sideline that it was a cross but as we said the management team know better!
Ballymurn continued to create chances and were awarded a penalty from a handball that was saved well from their keeper.They weren’t to be denied though and after some good work between Adam and Sean Snowy turned on a sixpence and finished nicely in the roof of the net.After the second goal Claughbawn started to get more of a foot in the game and started to play the ball around themselves.
The nearest they came though was from a free kick outside of the area that went over the bar.The game was 2-0 at half time and it was no more than the lads deserved after playing some of the best football they’d played all season.The second half was slightly different with the game becoming a bit scrappy at times. The lads did create some chances but didn’t score and this could have proved costly.
With about 15 mins left Claughbawn got a free kick from outside of the area. This was driven low on the floor and as it bobbled towards goal (A Ballymurn player who shall remain nameless, but those that know, know) expertly put the ball into his own net. We have been informed that this was the same player who missed two penalties in one game against the same team 12 years ago!
It’s just as well he had an excellent game at the back.With a few minutes left, a game that should have been won got nervy, and Claughbawn could have equalised when one of their players was through on a 1V1 but a mixture of good goalkeeping by James White and an excellent defensive tackle and tracking back by Paul Dempsey stopped them from scoring.The game finished shortly after.
Overall it was a very impressive display from the lads against a decent team. Some of our shooting left a lot to be desired but the overall intensity and passing was great to watch at times.We’d just like to wish the couple of lads who went off injured well and also wish Joe Kelly , who had to go off with a runny nose, all the best.
Matchday Squad
James White
Paul Walsh
Stephen Redmond
Josh Waldron
Shane O’Rourke 1
Adam O’Brien
Josh Whitehead
Joe Kelly
Sean Walsh
Snowy 1
Cathal Roche
Glen Murphy
Cameron Clarke
Paul Dempsey
Declan Kealy
Luke Leacy
Shane Whelan
Robbie Wilson
Ballymurn Celtic 3 Rosslare Rangers B 0
The lads got back to winning ways with a good 3-0 win at home against Rosslare Rangers.
Ballymurn took time to settle and despite having some chances a great save on the line from James White prevented Rosslare from taking the lead.They did start to take control after though and Sean Walsh finished nicely at the back post to put the lads one up at half time.
Rosslare started the second half playing some nice football. With conditions worsening the next goal was all important and it was Ballymurn who scored it. A nice cross from Snowy was finished superbly by Josh Whitehead who rose to head the ball into the top right hand corner.
Ballymurn then put the game to bed when Sean Walsh scored his second of the game from a through ball that he finished nicely. With the second half being played in heavy rain it was a credit to both teams who tried playing football and there were some nice spells of play.
Lastly we would like to commend the bravery shown by Snowy today who, despite having a plaster on his thumb, decided to play on. A proper trooper.
Matchday squad
James White
Stephen Redmond
Paul Walsh
Josh Waldron
Shane O’Rourke
Paddy Redmond
Paul Dempsey
Joe Kelly
Josh Whitehead
SnowySean Walsh
Cathal Roche
Adam O’Brien
Luke Leacy
Shane Whelan
PJ Bourke