Carrigaline 1 

Midleton 4

MIDLETON secured all three points in the Joma Sportsgear Direct Under 16 Premier division when they defeated Carrigaline 4-1 at a bitterly cold and wet Ballea Park last Sunday morning.

The visitors totally dominated the game and should have won by a much greater margin having a majority of play and chances, but were met by an inform Carrigaline keeper Mikey Malisa who certainly kept his team in the game for as long as he could and was particularly busy in the opening half.

Carrigaline had a great chance to take the lead as early as the fourth minute when Shane Fielding ran straight at the Midleton keeper Sam Murphy who did well to gather at his feet just inside the area.

Barely a minute later the visitors took the lead when Ben Cashman’s free kick at the side of the penalty area found Kai O’Neill inside the area who neatly found the back of the net from 12 yards.

Midleton continued to press forward with Carrigaline keeper Malisa doing well saving from O’Neill8 and saw Ronan Power and Tymek Swerski’s efforts go wide of the post and also did well covering efforts from Power and Cashman as the visitors were creating plenty of chances for themselves.

Carrigaline were confined to their own area, but had another chance in the 20th minute only for the Midleton keeper gathering the ball ahead of an advancing Fielding.

Carrigaline keeper Malisa was forced into a save from Cashman tipping the ball over the bar for a corner and saved twice from Killian McDonald in as many minutes as it was only a matter of time before Midleton added a second.

It came two minutes before the break when Ruari Jeffers found O’Neill whose cross found an unmarked Mikey Pedley at the far post who found the net from 12 yards.

Carrigaline came back into the game in the second half with a period of dominance in an effort to reduce the deficit, having at one time peppered the goal up to five times which each effort being cleared by the Midleton defence all inside the area. The home side were pressing forward and becoming more confident, but were met by a solid Midleton defence who were holding firm clearing any Carrigaline forward movements.

However, Midleton managed to extend their lead in the 59th minute when Killian McDonald managed to get behind the defence and sent the ball past the keeper for Midleton’s third of the morning.

Carrigaline managed to find the back of the net in the 65th minute when Barry O’Connell’s 30 yard free kick found the top corner of the Midleton net to give the home side some hope, but just five minutes later Midleton restored their three goal advantage when Senan O’Toole managed to bundle the ball over the line from close range from a corner kick as Midleton claimed all three points on the day and climbed to the top of the table with Corinthian Boys with 24 points.

Carrigaline: Mikey Malisa, John Shanahan, Callum Gregson, Josh Carolyn, Sean Manning, Harry Jeffers, Owen O’Donovan, Barry O’Connell. Shane Fielding, Charlie Crowley, Adam Twohig, David McGrath, Hamza Oumarou, Roy McMahon 

Midleton: Sam Murphy, Ciaran Murphy, Filip Gulab, Sam Dow, Senan O’Toole, Ben Cashman, Ruarir Jeffers, Kai O’Neill, Ronan Power, Tymek Swerski, Mikey Pedley 

Referee: Ger Dobbs.