USL Results & Reports 05.05.13
DN League Cup
Group A
Kildrum Tigers 0 1 Bonagee Utd
Group B
Derry City Res. 0 2 Swilly Rovers
Letterkenny Rovers 0 6 Cockhill Celtic
Reports
Group B
Swilly Seal Semi-Final Berth
Derry City Reserves 0
Swilly Rovers 2
A game of two halves at Oakgrove as second half goals from Ronan Curtis and a Laurence Toland penalty give the away side the win they needed to qualify for the Semi Final along with Cockhill Celtic.
If truth be told, the Candystripes could have been out of sight with chance after chance falling for this young Derry team. Missing five regulars did not deter this side as McElhinney had a shot blocked after two mins. Swilly’s left back Toland had a free kick just narrowly wide on 8mins. Barr, McNamee and Henry should also have scored before Curtis had a shot saved by the feet of Houghton. Henry again in the second half had a chance before a mistake by keeper Houghton who delayed a clearance allowing
Ronan Curtis to close him now down and the ball hit the striker and deflected into the net. Kevin Barr shot wide from 20yds on 60mins when in a good position. A long ball from Wade played Curtis through and he lobbed the keeper but his effort went wide. Midfielder Hegarty scored with a header but it was disallowed for offside. Derry again attacked and Ramsey had a chance but was saved by Wade. Swilly got the 2nd goal from a very dubious penalty decision which was scored by Toland. Right at the end Toland again broke through the Derry rearguard and should have got his second but shot wide. A good team effort from a very young Derry side with M McHugh, C O’Donnell, M Boyce and K Hegarty best for Swilly.
CLASSY COCKHILL TROUNCE ROVERS
Letterkenny Rovers 0
Cockhill Celtic 6
Letterkenny Rovers’ defence of their Donegal News Ulster Senior League Cup title came to an embarrassing end at Leckview Park on Sunday as they were punished by a much superior Cockhill Celtic side.
After opening the group with a 1-0 win over Derry City, Rovers suffered back to back defeats to ensure a quick exit from the competition as Cockhill advance.
New manager Trevor Scanlon will have to re-group his players quickly ahead of the start of the league campaign. As for Cockhill, they gave a clinical performance with Gavin Cullen’s presence in goal a huge addition.
The visitors made the best possible start hitting the front inside four minutes. Johnny Havlin breezed in unmarked at the back post to convert an in-swinging free-kick.
Rovers responded by enjoying their best spell of the game with young Kieran MacPherson denied by a goal line clearance from Gerry Gill and Odhran McMacken produced two brilliant saves from Cullen. However, there chances of getting back into the game were further dented when Aidan O’Donnell made it 2-0 on the half hour mark.
The game was over as a contest six minutes after the restart when Jonathan Minnock was adjudged to have fouled Mark Moran inside the box and McKinney converted the resulting spot kick.
Garvin Friel’s headed goal made it four on the hour mark while at the other end Cullen was again on hand to deny Rovers substitutes Jason Doherty and Keith Malseed in a one on one situation. McKinney went on to score again from the spot before Friel added a sixth in the 90th minute to seal a comprehensive win and send Cockhill into the last four with maximum points.
Letterkenny Rovers – Shane O’Gara, Glen Gallagher, Jonathan Minnock, Kieran Gorman, John Doherty, Dale Gorman, Odhran McMacken, Oisin Grant, Davitt Walsh, Kieran MacPherson, Jamie Doherty. Subs used – Keith Malseed, Ciaran Greene, and Jason Doherty.
Cockhill Celtic – Gavin Cullen, Kieran McLaughlin, James Bradley, Johnny Havlin, William O’Connor, Paul McKinney, Gerry Gill, Liam O’Donnell, Aidan O’Donnell, Garbhan Friel, Mark Moran. Sub used –Christy McLaughlin, Greg Bradley and Conor Keddy.
Fixtures
Tuesday, May 7th at 7:30pm
Donegal News League Cup Group A
Finn Harps Res. v Fanad Utd.
Saturday, May 11th at 7:30pm
4 Lanterns USL
Drumkeen Utd. v Bonagee Utd. Ref. P. Duddy
Sunday, May 12th at 2pm
Knockalla Caravans Cup Semi-Finals
Kildrum Tigers v Swilly Rovers
Glengad Utd. v Fanad Utd. Ref. TBC
4 Lanterns Ulster Senior League
Letterkenny Rovers v Finn Harps Res. Ref. C. McLaughlin
Derry City Res. v Cockhill Celtic Ref. P. Coll