Super sub Curran rescues Castlerea Celtic

It was a good weekend overall for Roscommon and District League teams in the Connacht Cup and Shield competitions.

Castlerea Celtic advanced to the next round following a 3-1 win against Ballinrobe Town, after extra time, in Castlerea.

Kailin Barlow opened the scoring after 20 minutes with a rocket from edge of the box. Celtic created loads of further chances but couldn’t take them. The visitors equalised against the run of play after half an hour. Shortly afterwards, they hit the crossbar.

Ronan Curran, Barlow, Bligh and Conor Larkin came close to scoring but to no avail.

In the first period of extra time, super sub John Curran scored a great individual goal and he scored again in the second period to secure the win.

Skyvalley Rovers travelled to McSharry Park, Sligo, to face St. John’s and came away with a hard-earned win, thanks to two goals by David Grehan.

Premier Division champions St. John’s Athletic were surprisingly beaten 1-0 away to the Mayo Super League side Manulla. Gavin Jennings scored the only goal of the game after 61 minutes.

Shiven Rovers were defeated 6-1 away to Sligo side Gurteen Celtic. Leo Blake scored for Shiven Rovers.

In an all-Roscommon and District League clash, Boyle Celtic beat Ballymoe FC 5-3 at Celtic Park, Boyle. Shane Battles opened the scoring for the winners after ten minutes. However, Damien Goggins soon brought the teams level. Dean Casey restored the home team’s lead. Shane Carroll grabbed two more and Michael Corrigan added one for the winners. Damien Goggins scored two more for Ballymoe in the last three minutes of the game.

Division One side Ballinasloe Town beat Dunmore Town 2-1 at Ballinasloe. Christy Smith gave the home side an early lead. Dunmore levelled the game through Padraig Martyn in the second half, but a Cameron O’Leary penalty kick near the end won the game for Ballinasloe.

In the Connacht Shield, Cloonfad United came from 2-0 down to record a 4-2 win over Loughrea Rams at Cloonfad. Daire Crowe and Adam O’Riordan gave the Loughrea side an early advantage but Davey Hennessy and Robert Henaghan scored two goals apiece each for Cloonfad.

Ballaghaderreen were involved in a thriller at home to Fahy Rovers before winning 4-3 after extra time. Liam Frain, Shane Towey, Peter Horan and Cormack Rushe won the game for a much-improved Ballaghaderreen side.

Cam Celtic/Dysart were beaten 1-0 at home to Castlebar Celtic’s second side.

St. Cuan’s/Ahascragh United played a strong Moyne Villa side at Ahascragh. The home side started well and Simon Leonard put them a goal up after six minutes. However, the Headford-based side levelled the game just on the stroke of half time and added four more in the closing stages of the game.

The games featuring Bangor v Moore B and the CP Ajax v Kilkerrin United were postponed due to waterlogged pitches.

The Women's League games due to be played Friday evening were postponed. On Sunday, Ballaghaderreen drew 1-1 with Dunmore at Ballaghaderreen. The home side were on top in the first half. After the break Dunmore, aided by a strong wind, were the better side and scored a deserved equaliser through Ashling Hynes in the 85th minute.

Boyle Celtic beat Carrick Town 5-0 in Carrick-on-Shannon. Aoife Lyons scored three, while Emer Callaghan and Emma Duggan added two goals for the winners.