St Maelruans FC beat Glenmalure Rovers in the UCFL Division 3B shield Photos by John Mooney
Maelruan’s see off Rovers
A SAD day in Bancroft Park when “The Legend” Francis Bilardi played his last game at this level before heading to the Over 35 game, reports John Mooney.
Francis was emotional when he was called ashore after 30 minutes, but left the field to a standing ovation from both players and supporters.
He will be sadly missed as he is the most genuine player I have ever met in the junior game and the only blot on his copy on Saturday was that his excellent strike crashed off the bar, pity it didn’t go in as it would have been a fitting send off for him.
However, all was not lost as the St Maelruans gave themselves a lifeline in the UCFL Division 3B Shield by beating local rivals Glenmalure Rovers 4-2.
The Saints were deserved winners, as Rovers failed to deliver when presented with decent opportunities in front of goal.
On the other hand the Saints netted four times and hit the bar on three occasions, so the points deservedly went their way as the sun shined brightly in Bancroft Park,Tallaght.
They opened their account when Craig Winder was on hand to slot home a half cleared corner from the left hand side, taken by Jack Butler, after 15 minutes.
Five minutes later it could have been 3-0 only Bilardi’s effort rebounded off the crossbar and then Butler also crashed a shot off the bar.
A quick water break followed before Rovers were back in the game, when Aaron Matthews lobbed the ball over the advancing Lee Jones after a free kick from Aaron Redmond evaded the home defence.
All square heading into the break, but the wind picked up in the second half and two long kick outs by Jones, in the space of four minutes, and the home side were two goals in front through Ruari Fizsimons and Sean Sherlock.
Rovers responded but both Matthews and Lee Murphy missed from close range but at the other end the saints weren’t having those problems, as Sherlock scrambled home another Butler corner to make it 4-1.
The game was over as a contest but there was still time for Rovers to pull one back through Murphy, to put a better look on the scoreline on the day, but not the one Rovers wanted.
ST MAELRUANS FC: Lee Jones, Ptzmyslaw Tracz, Darragh O’Neill, Craig Burke, Leon Donahue, Jack Butler, Shane Fitz., Brain Murphy, Francis Bilardi, Luke McAuley, Craig Winder, Sean Sherlock, Cian Farrell, Mick Deegan, Ruari Fitzsimmons, Eric Peacock.
GLENMALURE ROVERS: Alex Hayes, Conor Foley, Callum Gurr, Dan Kelch, Ben Walsh, David Dillion, Paul Cullen, Eamon Sweeney, Aaron Redmond, Paul Lynch, Ross Somerville, Darragh O’Reilly, Shane McNevin, Henry Lopez, Caylum Sheeran, Ciaran Murray, Aaron Matthews, Keelan Drew, Lee Murphy, Daniel Kelly, Larson Kinghorne, Eoghan Walsh.
