Dundalk and District League round-up

Fastfix Brian McConville Cup, semi-final

Haynestown Celtic 5-5 Muirhevnamor FC (Muirhevnamor FC win 5-4 on penalties)

New club Haynestown must have felt certain they were headed for the 46th Dundalk and District League McConville Cup final when they led 5-3 with only three minutes left to play, but the most successful team in the history of the cup scored two goals in those three minutes, to level the tie and emerge victorious on penalties.

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The roller-coaster semi-final began with Stephen Ferguson giving the Blues a three-minute lead. Dwayne Marley replied for Haynestown within minutes. Deayn Market extended the lead on 19 minutes. Just before the break, man of the match Sahnoon Buye, sent Celtic in 3-1 ahead.

Within a minute of the resumption, Ace Poacher Micky O Kane brought his side back into the match, with his 21st goal this season. Undaunted Haynestown continued to boss affairs with Sahnoon putting them 4-2 in the lead on the hour mark.

Kyle Carroll made it 4-3 with 10 minutes remaining, only for Sahnoon Buye to complete his second hat-trick of the season, leaving two goals between the teams with three minutes remaining.

Goals by Domice and Dominik Pawelkiewicz in those last minutes ensured a penalty shoot-out, which Muirhevnamor won by five goals to four.

If the wonderful player himself was watching from above, he would have said, "Thank you, lads, for a wonderful tribute to my name and junior football in Dundalk”.

Rampart Celtic 1-2 Carlingford Celtic

Unlike the first semi-final, which ended five goals apiece, scores were at a minimum in this highly charged encounter. A big crowd had to wait until the 33rd minute for the deadlock to be broken.

Quinn Ryan, who had hit a barren spell in front of the goal, made lucky number seven for the season so far, to send Carlingford into the break 1-0 ahead.

Aidan McGuiness, a long-time servant of Rampart, brought the sides level after 55 minutes with his seventh strike of the campaign.

Ten minutes from time, Eddie Duffy struck the winning goal, his 15th this term, to keep Carlingford's clean sweep of all trophies alive, which only a handful of clubs have managed in the 120-year history of the league.

By a clean sweep, we mean three or more trophies in a season. Rangers were first with wins in the League Cup and the Clancy Cup in 2005. Muirhevnamor went one better winning four trophies in 2007.

Shamrocks joined the select group in 2022. Muirhevnamor have five clean sweeps to their credit. The Blues only lost one of their 14 cup final appearances, that was last year against Bellurgan on penalties.

A marvelous finale awaits on the 25th of October when Carlingford clash with Muirhevnamor in Gills Park with the 7:30pm kick-off, eagerly awaited to see if we have a new member to the select club.

FIXTURES

Fastfix Brian McConville Cup final

Saturday, 25th October: Muirhevnamor FC v Carlingford Celtic. Muirhevnamor Gill's Park. Kick-off 7.30pm.

The upcoming Fastfix Brian McConville Cup final match between Muirhevnamor FC and Carlingford Celtic is set to take place at Muirhevnamor Gill's Park.

In their head-to-head encounters, Carlingford Celtic has dominated with three total wins, including one home win and two away wins. Muirhevnamor FC has yet to secure a victory against Carlingford Celtic.

Looking at their recent matches, Carlingford Celtic displayed strong form by defeating Muirhevnamor FC 5-0 in their most recent encounter.

Muirhevnamor FC will be seeking redemption after their recent losses to Carlingford Celtic, including a 3-5 defeat in the Auto Assure Clancy Cup.

In terms of recent form, Muirhevnamor FC has shown a mix of results, including a draw and wins against various opponents. On the other hand, Carlingford Celtic has been in good form, securing wins in their recent matches.

Joe Dunne from Carlingford Celtic has scored two goals in one appearance, while Peter Shields, Gareth McShane, and Jordan Loughran have also made notable contributions to the team.

Top goalscorers: Peter Shields (Carlingford Celtic) 23 goals; Micky O'Kane (Muirhevnamor FC) 20 goals; and Eddie Duffy (Carlingford Celtic) 14 goals.

Club top goalscorers: Carlingford Celtic - Peter Shields 23 goals; Rampart Celtic - Stephen Sharkey 9 goals; Square United - Ross Gaynor 14 goals; Haynestown Celtic - Sanhoon Buye 9 goals; Muirhevnamor FC - Micky O'Kane 21 goals; Bay FC - Colm Bracken 12 goals; Carrick Rovers - Steven O'Rourke 8 goals; Redeemer Celtic - Ryan Coleman 5 goals; Faughart Rovers - Conrad Quinn 5 goals.

Hat-tricks: Micky O'Kane (Muirhevnamor FC) 3; William Opoku (Bay FC) 2; Arthur Sands (Square United) 2; Peter Shields (Carlingford Celtic) 2; and Sanhoon Buye (Haynestown Celtic) 2.