Sunday 12th January
TSDL Premier League - Peake Villa Junior A 5-0 Clonmel Celtic A
Scorers: Tommy Teer (1) Pippy Carroll (2) Ronan McGuire (2)
A grand sunny morning for a game up at the Tower Grounds. Villa started brightest playing some good passing football in the first 15 minutes. They took the lead in the 17th minute when a fine cross from Mikey Wade was met by the head of Tommy Teer straight to the top corner. It was nip and tuck for the next 20 minutes, the home side had most of the possession but Celtics defence was holding them out. Villa's second came from a free kick which was taken by the captain Pippy Carroll, who scored with the keeper beaten down to his bottom left corner. In injury time of the first half Villa were awarded a penalty when Carroll was taken down in the box and he got back up to make it 3-0 at the break.
In the second half it was again the home side that started brightest and in the 52nd minute they secured the 3 points when Carroll broke through the defence and he crossed to Ronan McGuire who only had to tap it into the net to make it 4-0. Ronan scored his second of the day in the 66th minute with a nice individual bit of skill coming in from the left side and finishing to the bottom corner. The game was over as a contest and manager James O Sullivan was able to give his bench a good run out.
Best on the day for Villa were Stevie Nolan and Mick Ryan in midfield who controlled the game well.
TSDL Shield Division 1 Semi-Final - Peake Villa Junior B 0-1 Tipperary Town
Peake Villa Junior B entertained Tipperary Town in the Division 1 Shield Semi Final today in an afternoon kick off in the Tower Grounds. Villa started bright in the first half with nice intricate play from the three man midfield of Jack Ryan Casey, Robbie Jordan and Stevie Fewer. Chances were few and far between for both sides, who know each other inside as this was the fourth meeting this season. Tipperary Town defended resolutely and stopped Villa creating anything clean cut. Best opportunities came from Frank McKevitt and David Bourke who both had speculative efforts.
The second half saw the game open up with Villa goalie Shane McGuire being the busier of the two. Tipperary Town began to gain a foothold on the game and found gaps in the Villa defence. Villa made a few changes off the bench with Adam Garrett and Colm Breen coming on to try and turn the game in their favour but it was Tipperary Town who found the lead on the 80th minute. The Tipperary Town centre forward raced through on goal but Shane McGuire pulled off a good save only for the rebound to fall to the Tipperary Town man again. Villa pushed for an equalizer but found the Tipperary Town defence to strong on the day. Villa can have no complaints with the end result.
Villa now turn their attention to the Tipperary Cup and Division 1 survival. A tough season so far for the Villa second team but it is not beyond their grasp to turn it around in the latter end of the season.
Saturday 11th January
TSDL Youths League - Peake Villa Youths 1-2 Shanbally United
Scorer: Siya Ndzganini (1)
The Villa Youths played host to Shanbally United at the Tower Grounds on a wet Saturday afternoon. Both sides had to contend with a very slippery pitch which made it very difficult to play soccer. The first half saw Villa create a number of chances but Robbie Stepleton, Siya Ndzganini and Danny Treacy narrowly failed to convert any of them. The Villa back four of Scott Brennan, Aidan Butler, Sean Condron and Conor Murphy were very solid at the back and restricted Shanbally to a few shots from distance which were handled by Lorcan Cummins the Villa keeper. The mid-field of Tony Galvin, Tom O'Reilly and Tristan Loughman-Twomey were linking up well with the backs and forwards and kept the pressure on the Shanbally back four. Half-time 0-0.
Villa came fast out of the blocks at the start of the second half and forced a number of saves from Shanbally that resulted in corners. From one of these corners the ball was played out to the right side, where Tristan sent in a lovely cross from the corner flag which was met by a great header by Siya to lob the keeper. 1-0 to Villa. Shanbally responded well and were rewarded with a penalty a few minutes later which they converted to make the score line 1-1. Both sides continued to press for the next goal, but Villa were dealt a blow when Shanbally scored from an offside position to go ahead 2-1. Villa responded extremely well and for the last twenty minutes they bombarded the Shanbally goal, but some great saves from the Shanbally keeper denied Siya and Robbie the equaliser. Tony Galvin was fed a great ball by Siya and was taken down in the box after jinxing his way past two defenders. Unfortunately for Villa the penalty struck the cross-bar and over the bar. Two minutes from time after some great passing moves Robbie was put through on goal but somehow the Shanbally keeper managed to smother the ball. Full-Time 2-1 to Shanbally.