Soccer RoundupIrish Rovers hammer Oceanside

On a final score of N.Y. Irish Rovers 6, Oceanside 0, it is obvious the Rovers won this game easily. Several early chances were missed before Eddie Miraa Beji opened the scoring with a well taken left foot shot on 17 minutes. Three minutes later it was 3-0 as recalled Dave Quigley showed the Rovers’ supporters what they’d been missing with two clinical finishes after beating the Oceanside offside trap.

Amazingly, Quigley was then substituted, but the Rovers continued to create goalscoring opportunities and, on 73 minutes, Adrian Clarke, making his first team debut, set up Miraa Beji for a easy tap in.

Declan Conlon came close with a long range effort before Dean Gibson hammered home a rocket from 25 yards.

In the last minute Miraa Beji rounded the keeper to complete his hat-trick.

Rovers Reserves 2, Oceanside 0

The Reserves stayed tied for first place after a comfortable victory. That the first half ended goalless was a minor miracle with the Rovers laying siege to the Oceanside goal.

Paul McGlynn, Mark Trainer and Brian Monahan all had good opportunities well saved, and Liam Flanagan ran through the entire defense only to push his shot wide of the post. However, two minutes into the second half Paul Keogh scored with a left foot shot, and three minutes later Collum Sanders volleyed home from 12 yards out.

Rovers Over 30s 4, East Meadow 1

The over 30s won the Div. 2 championship with another convincing victory.

Nigel Cunniffe, Gerard Carroll, Derek Twee and Kieron Branagan scored for the Rovers, Branagan’s goal a spectacular 35-yard volley, while David Quigley missed a penalty.

Bronx Soccer League

Lansdowne B maintained their unbeaten record with a narrow victory over an Beal Bocht. A single first half goal was sufficient to earn the Lansdowne full points and keep them atop the table. An inswinging corner kick was poorly defended by An Beal Bocht, leaving Mimi Boyle to knock home.

The second half saw the leaders under severe pressure as An Beal Bocht chased the equalizer. Siobhan Brennan and Jeanine Rynne created problems for the Lansdowne defense and Rynne headed home an apparent equalizer only to be blown for offside.

Stern defensive play from Bernie Boyle and Andrea Leitiz in goal enabled Lansdowne to hang on for the win.

Lansdowne A squeaked by Gilligan’s with a similar margin of victory. As always with Gilligan’s, a tight competitive match was on the cards.

Scoreless at half time Gilligan’s rued a few good chances from shots by Maudy Lynn and Catherine Idlewell. At the other end Olivia Murphy in goal and Tata O’Donnell did well to repel the advances of Maggie McGrail.

Lansdowne were fortunate when a shot from Anne Marie McMunn from 15 yards out went all the way to the net, leaving them chasing their stablemates at the top of the table.

The Southbend looked to be on course for their first win of the season when they took a 2-0 lead within five minutes of the kickoff against The Starting Gate Harps. Petrona Kemp struck twice on her return from injury to leave The Southbend in control but 2-0 is a dangerous lead as Ann Carr proved.

Within ten minutes she shredded the Southbend defense on three times to leave the score at 3-2 and that proved to be the final scoreline. A second half rally from the Southbend saw a few close calls including a Mary Toolan shot that hit the crossbar but the Harps were left to continue their resurgence after a slow start to the season.

The Parlor Mom’s were unlucky to walk away empty handed from their clash with Fiona’s. An eventful first half saw Erin Tracy hit the post for Fiona’s while Regina Neijman looked only to have Carmel Ahearn to beat in Fiona’s goal when Geraldine Flaherty came from nowhere to make a saving tackle. While Fiona’s had the bulk of the play, they only managed to put the ball past Margaret Lew on one occasion when Teresa O’Malley boomed in her trademark shot to give her relieved teammates a 1-0 win.

Memorial weekend gives a chance for batteries to be recharged, play will resume May 30 with Southbend vs Gilligan’s and Parlor Mom’s vs Harps at 10 a.m. while Lansdowne A and Fiona’s will tangle at 11:30 a.m.

St. Barnabas

St. Barnabas’ reserve team took on NYAC in the Saunders Cup semifinal at Travers Island on Sunday. St. Barnabas were losing finalists in this competition last year and have high hopes of claiming the trophy this year. Although a close contest is always expected when these two sides meet, the emphatic 4-0 victory for St. Barnabas was unexpected, but the result of a faultless team performance.

Ace marksman Paddy Murphy scored all four goals for Barnabas and NYAC had no answer to his dominance. Murphy also scored two goals in the quarter finals bringing his two game total to six goals.

Right from the kick-off, Barnabas signalled their intentions and went very close to scoring on numerous occasions. Sean Kenny saw his 30-yard drive go inches wide, Chris Boyle also went close after 10 minutes, but a fine save denied him of a certain goal.

In the 22nd minute, Paddy Murphy opened the scoring heading home from 10 yards out. Five minutes later he made it 2-0 following a through ball from Sean Doyle.

St. Barnabas took this lead into the second half and defended well as NYAC came at them.

Paddy Murphy again came up trumps for Barnabas in the 53rd minute, and left the NYAC goalkeeper with little chance from five yards out. Barry O’Kane supplied Murphy with a fine cross 10 minutes from time and he duly headed powerfully to the net to cap off a tremendous performance.

Among the best for Barnabas were Paddy Murphy, Tommy Walsh, Aidan Dennis and Sean Kenny.

Shamrocks

Only a disaster of Titanic proportions can now halt the Shamrocks in their quest for premiership football next season. A 5-3 victory over Sportsfriends, coupled with the Ukraine defeat, meant that the Rocks need only to avoid an avalanche defeat by Dinamo to clinch the title. Indeed this game may not even be necessary as a point in their second last game versus Hungaria would suffice.

Sunday’s game itself was nothing to write home about, as some sloppy defensive play and refereeing decisions almost cost the Shamrocks dear; after nine minutes the referee awarded the away team a throw in after one of their team kicked the ball into touch with barely a Shamrock in sight. The querying of this decision saw the coaching staff and the Shamrocks banished from the touchline.

They had barely taken their seats when the Rocks went 1-0 up when a Mick Haley cross found Ray Elsesser, who ended a mini goal drought by his standards by slotting home. The Rocks had barely settled when a lapse in defense allowed Buddi to equalize. The home team went back in front when Billy Henderson was found in the clear, and the Scotsman kept his head before crashing home. Another defensive mistake however, allowed Sportsfriends parity once more when an unmarked Crummy headed home from a free kick.

The Rocks had the opportunity to take a lead to the break, but perhaps justice was done when a Paul Wilson had his hotly disputed penalty saved and so it remained 2-2 at the break.

A stern wake-up call seemed to have worked when Tim Cummins scored two fine opportunist goals in the 49th and 55th minutes, but another bizarre refereeing decision brought Sportsfriends back into it when Ami looked several yards off side some referees came in for unjust criticism, but both sides were united in opinion on this poor official. Indeed he was poor by his own admission, for when a referee makes a mistake he usually hops the ball and this game had more hops than St. James Gate Brewery.

The Rocks had to sweat it out until Niall Swan volleyed home from close in to seal the victory. With two games to go, N.Y. Dinamo is the only team that can catch the Shamrocks. However, they can only amass the same total of points as the Rocks, who have an 18 goal superior goal difference.

The Reserves too are almost there thanks to two superb strikes from John Walsh either side of the break. Still a possibility that Barnstonworth Rovers may catch them, albeit a remote one. Sportsfriends were kept scoreless thanks to some superb defense from Paul Woodley and Pete Hamill.

The Third team moved into a commendable third place thanks to goals from Bart O’Rourke, Terry Horan, Anto Holmes and a superb hat-trick from Sean Keogh. This six-two win capped a fine season for Terry Horan’s men and it served notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with.

The Shamrock dinner dance looks like it’s going to be a trophy filled occasion, It is to be held at Durows of Glendale on Friday, June 12. Paul Powell is guest of honor and Busy Fingers will supply the music.