Ballina Town and Manulla sit top of division one of the Masters League after an entertaining night in Solar 21 Park on Wednesday last. The night started with a rip roaring contest between local rivals Westport United and Fahy Rovers. United were ahead 1-0 at the break but found themselves 3-2 down midway through the second period. Late goals secured a 4-3 victory. David Cameron and Vinnie O’Malley each hit a double to give Westport their first win of the season. Tom Gill, Colin Napier and Guillame Vaidi hit the goals for Rovers.
Ballyhaunis Town found themselves on the end of a 17 goal hammering in the night’s second game. This is explained by the fact the East Mayo team lined up with just five players while Ballina had a squad of 10 and used their roll on, roll off subs to great effect. Tom Colleran, who had started the game in goal, hit Ballyhaunis only goal as Eugene Gorman (8 ), Mark Beattie, Brendan Giblin, Tom O’Connor (two each ), Aiden O’Hora, Declan O’Connor, Nolie Beattie and Michael Noone hit the goals in an 18-1 victory for last year’s league winners.
The best game of the night was saved for last as Castlebar Celtic and Manulla played out an entertaining contest which saw the Blues come out 5-4 winners. A red card for Brian Mangan as Celtic were chasing the game in the dying moments proved their downfall. Des Campbell with a double, an own goal and a Roger Clarke effort were enough for Manulla, who can thank goalkeeper Sean Fahy for holding out as he pulled off a fantastic one handed save in the dying seconds. Brian O’Reilly, Mark Rowland, Declan Flynn and Ashley Stevenson hit the goals for Celtic.
Swinford’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams make up the top two spots in division two after a draw and a win respectively. In the night’s opening game Manulla ‘B’ were comprehensive winners over pre-season favourites Conn Rangers on a scoreline of 5-3. Stephen Sweeney with two and Mark McHale hit the net for Rangers but Manulla looked comfortable throughout and goals from Keith Bourke, Mark Basquille, Dara Lyons and two from Tom Brett sees them keep pace with the league leaders.
Kiltimagh and Knock United found themselves seconds away from picking up their first win of the season against Swinford ‘A’ in the evening’s second, and most entertaining game. Swinford’s decision to rest a number of players caught them out and the league leaders found themselves 4-1 down at the break. A storming second half was capped off when Jimmy McNicholas completed his hat-trick to steal a point in a 5-5 draw. Eoin Gallagher and Paul Halligan hit the other goals for Swinford with Colm Kelly, Brian Hunt and a Jerome hunt hat-trick hitting the net for United.
Swinford ‘B’ picked up their third win on the bounce in the final game with a comfortable 10-4 victory against Mulranny United. Brian Kelleher top scored with four goals while Patrick McDonnell hit a hat-trick, Richie Conway got two and an own goal rounded out the scoring. Kris Jablonski with two, Thomas Conway and Stuart Latimer hit the goals for Mulranny.
