Partry’s perfect ten as Masters League returns

The Portwest Masters Leagues returned for yet another season on a mild and calm Wednesday night in Milebush. But in contrast, the on-field proceedings were far from calm as each of the games got off to explosive starts, marking the return of the leagues in style.

The first two games of the evening in Division One saw Ballyglass lay down a stern marker after overseeing Fahy Rovers by a scoreline of 7-1. Bally’s James Kileen opened proceedings with an ice-cold finish into the bottom corner of Michael Mulchrone’s net. Darren Creaby bagged a goal back for Rovers in reply. But then soon came the Ballyglass rampage as Kileen and Alan Plunkett put themselves on the scoresheet and gave Ballyglass a comfortable lead. In the second-half it was keeper John Walsh above all people who would cement their lead after scoring a long-range effort from his own box.

The second Division 1 game of the evening saw a similar scoreline between Kiltimagh Knock United and Conn Rangers. KK hit a total of six past the Rangers keeper ending in a 6-1 finish. Ronan Mallee was the star of the show bagging a hattrick on the night, with Padraic Ivers, Gavin Grourke and Conor Heneghan also chipping in with goals of their own. A goal from Trevor Warde early on ended up being nothing but a consolation goal as the men from KK steamrolled their way through their first encounter of the 2025 season.

In one of the games of the evening Ballyheane and Manulla played host to 3-2 nailbiter in which a last-minute penalty save by the Ballyheane keeper Sean Fahy gave Ballyheane their first three points of the season. Manulla found themselves 2-0 down at the break after goals from both Arek Tobiasz and a top corner finish from Alan Tuffy. It was Damien Walsh who managed to put the ball in the back of the net for Manulla to close the gap between the two teams.

Ballyheane’s Gary Dillion soon put his side firmly back in control of the game by bagging his side’s third of the game. A late Manulla splurge saw Michael Cuffe put the side back within a goal of each other, before in the dying moments of the game referee Alex Poplonski awarded a penalty for Manulla, but Ballyheane’s Fahy held off an effort from Cuffe to give his side the win.

In Division Two, Partry Athletic put a whopping ten past Ballyvary Blue Bombers in a 10-0 victory. A four-goal brace from John Russell stole the headlines along with a hattrick for Kevin Dolan who both terrorised the Ballyvary defence, giving Partry the almost perfect start to the new season.

The other game in that division saw Bangor Hibs beat Ballyglass B 5-2 in a game that was dominated by Hibs. Anthony Coyle got the first Bangor goal after only three minutes. Vincent Flannery responded for Bally’ with a goal of his own to level proceedings. But before the break Shane Lindsay put Bangor Hibs in the lead again.

Hibs went from strength to strength in the second-half with Coyle, Thomas Murphy, and Michael Doocey all contributing to the scoresheet. The other two Ballyglass goals came from Alan Canny and Simon Kileen but did not spook the Bangor Hibs efforts.

Castlebar Town were 5-2 victors against Conn Rangers B in the opening Division Three clash of the season. Inside the first four minutes Castlebar were awarded a penalty to which Brian Hanrahan comfortably dispatched to put his side a goal up. The second Castlebar Town goal came soon after with Nicholas Canning’s effort.

Before the half-time break Rangers B brought the game back within a goal after a rocket from Martin Gardiner to make it 2-1. Five minutes into the second-half Damien Blackburn hit the net for the Town, but Trevor Warde soon replied for Conn making the game a close encounter.

As the game progressed Castlebar Town regained their dominance and added a further two goals to their tally with Mark Corrigan and Gary Mulroy. In the end it was a comfortable win for the Castlebar men who garnered their first three points of the campaign.

In the game of the night Swinford came back from three goals to one down, to snatch a 4-3 win in a thriller against Snugboro. An early Swinford goal from Paul Halligan had the Snugboro men on the back foot from the very start. But as the opening half progressed certain link-up plays started to click for Snugboro and Brian Mannion began to cause some series problems for the Swinford defence, scoring two goals in the first-half alongside Johnathan Duffy who added a third for his side to go in at the break 3-1 up. A second-half performance inspired by Joe Slevin saw Swinford reduce the gap to one with his effort hitting the net. As the half was nearing a close Halligan for Swinford slotted home his second of the night to level the game and leave what was to be a thrilling finish.

Both teams were very much throwing the kitchen sink at these final few minutes but it was Joe Slevin again who got the breakthrough for Swinford and ensured it was the winner for his side as they took home a hard fought three points.

The final game of the evening saw Claremorris hand Ballyhaunis Town masters a 6-1 beating in a game that was controlled by the Claremorris men. But it was Ballyhaunis who got the opening goal thanks to Keith Robinson’s effort which hit the back of the Claremorris net inside the first two minutes. James Cullinane hit the net for Claremorris in the eleventh minute and they didn’t stop from there. A brace from Alan Fenwick and other goals from Brian Gallagher, Danny Broderick and Conor O’Keeffe saw Claremorris comfortable victors in the end.