Following Ballina Town’s defeat to Ballyvary Blue Bombers earlier in the evening, United knew a victory would end their rivals hopes and they did so in some style through a faultless display against the Robesiders. Ballina Town will no doubt will be happy to see the back of Ballyvary as they fell to them for the second time in three weeks having been eliminated from the Masters Cup in extra time. Kevin Mannion put Ballyvary ahead early on but Ballina hit three without reply through Raff Cretaro and Noelie Beattie. Strikes either side of half-time by Declan Neary and Mervyn Marley drew Ballyvary level and scored a brilliant winner from a free-kick by Colm Kelly.
That defeat meant a win for Westport United would see their lead at the top become unassailable and they produced a ruthless performance in hitting ten past Ballinrobe, the goals coming from Dave Hoban (four), James Gill (two), Mark McNally (two), Jesper Frisch and Shane Nallen.
The other game in Division 1 saw Claremorris deny Kiltimagh/Knock United their first points of the season at the death following a late winner by Conor O’Keeffe. John O’Hara’s opener for KK was cancelled out by Trevor Ward. Claremorris took the lead through Gerard Slattery only for KK to equalise through Colm Garvey. Claremorris had multiple chances to win the game in the second half but were denied by a great display in goal by Dariusz Medrela. Just when it appeared both sides were going to have to settle for a draw, Claremorris hit KK on the counter and the move was finished by O’Keeffe for a 3-2 win.
Division 2 saw plenty of drama as Ballyglass took a giant step towards the title after coming from behind to beat Conn Rangers 8-7 in what was the game of the night.
Two each from Shane Bourke and James Noone put Rangers 4-1 ahead after Alan Plunkett gave Ballyglass an early lead. Ballyglass then scored four of their own without reply through PJ Gibbons, Alan Plunkett and John Walsh (two) to go ahead only for Bourke to level it once more.
Ballyglass retook the lead twice through Plunkett and Jimmy Killeen only to see them pegged back on both occasions by Aidan Gallagher and John Clarke but Plunkett had the final say once more as he scored a fourth goals for a crucial three points.
That victory piled the pressure on Ballyheane and they came unstuck against Iorras Aontaithe on a 6-3 scoreline.
Ivan Barrett (two), Henry Gaughan (two), Kieran Geraghty and Liam Donoghue all netted for the men from the Barony, with Theron Coghill and Arek Tobiaz (two) on the scoresheet for Ballyheane.
The final game in Division 2 saw Castlebar Celtic pick up their first win of the season after beating Achill Rovers 5-3. Stephen Jennings (two), Nicky Canning, Declan Lavelle and Declan Flynn were the scorers for the Hoops while Kris Jablonski got a hat-trick for the islanders.
On Thursday night Straide & Foxford United moved a step closer to clinching the Division 3 title with a 2-1 win over Ballyhaunis Town. Goals from captain Andy Neary and Cormac Healy were enough to seal the win for Enda Grimes side in a low scoring encounter who now only need a point against second place Ballinrobe Town B in their penultimate game to gain promotion to Division 2. Keith Robinson got the goal for Ballyhaunis Town.
Ballinrobe Town B’s title hopes were kept alive earlier in the evening with a 5-4 win over Swinford with Peter Staunton scoring twice and Pat McTigue, Darragh O’Malley and Jonathon O’Boyle also on target for the South Mayo side while Gerry Henry, Patrick McDonnell, Gary Murphy and Jakub Gawalkiewicz got the goals for Swinford.
In the other 8pm kick-off Killala and Ballyglass B earned a share of the spoils in a very entertaining 4-4 draw. David Cadden and Mark Moyles both scored twice for Killala while Vincent Flannery and Declan Tonra did the same for Ballyglass B.
Goal of the week: There were great strikes by Colm Garvey of Claremorris and Westport United duo Dave Hoban and Jesper Frisch. But Colm Kelly’s free-kick for Ballyvary Blue Bombers to win them the game was a brilliant effort.
Goalkeeper of the week: Joint winners this week through Kiltimagh/Knock United’s Dariusz Medrela and Sean Golden of Ballyvary Blue Bombers. Some terrific stops by both.
Player of the week: Westport United Dave Hoban ran the show against Ballinrobe Town, scoring four goals in the first half. Other impressive performances came from Alan Plunkett of Ballyglass, Shane Bourke of Conn Rangers and Iorras Aontaithe’s Henry Gaughan
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