Vincent Brooks looks back on the weekend’s action from the Roscommon and District Football League and the Connacht Junior Cup Quarter-Final.
Premier Division side Ballinasloe Town advanced to the Semi-finals of the Connacht Cup following a 4–0 win over fellow Premier side Ballaghaderreen at Ballinasloe.
The day started poorly for the losers as they had to switch the game from their own ground to Ballinasloe due to the bad weather. While Ballinasloe Town were slightly the better side in the first half and were 1 – 0 ahead at half time Ballaghaderreen had a great chance to grab an equalised before the break.
When Ballinasloe Town scored their second early in the second half the game as a contest was over and Ballinasloe Town added two more near the end to secure a home game in the Simi Final against Mervue United on 17th April. With twenty four played Mark Duffy headed a Darragh Concannon corner kick to the Ballaghaderreen net. Danny Browne came closest to levelling the game just before half time when he beat the off side trap but his chip was wide of the post. Shane Tracey added a second six minutes into the second half and a stunning free kick from Darragh Concannon with ten left to play made it 3 – 0. Jordan O Leary won penalty kick with two left to play and Darragh Concannon converted the resultant spot Kick.
St Johns Athletic all but ended their relegation worries when they beat Cloonfad United 4 – 2 at Lecarrow. Morgan Lyons gave Cloonfad United a 1- 0 lead after seventeen minutes of play but eight minutes later St Johns leading goal scorer Tommie Hurley levelled the game. Morgan Lyons struck again for Cloonfad United but Tommie Hurley levelled the game just before half time. Just when the game looked like finishing all square Tommie Hurley completed his hat trick with ten left to play. Ryan O Beirne who is a nephew of Manager Aidan added a fourth to secure three valuable points for a St Johns Athletic side who only won promotion to the Premier Division twelve months ago.
In the second round of the Roscommon and District Football League Challenge Cup the Brazilian side Brazukas beat fellow Division 1 side Glen Celtic 3 – 2 at Glenamaddy. In an entertaining game Brazukas raced into a 2 – 0 lead with goals from Marcus and Kasper. However the Glenamaddy side battled all the way and David Keegan converted a penalty kick with seventy three played.
Kaiser Pong levelled the game six minutes later but their hopes of winning were dashed when Vando scored an absolute stunning goal with just a minute of normal time remaining.
The remaining games were victims of the bad weather.