The Black Swans 0 - 1 Wembledines
In a tight first half, The Black Swans had the slightly better of the chances but there were no real clear cut chances for either side. The teams came in scoreless at the break and it looked like the first goal would be crucial in this well matched contest. In the 44th minute, it was Wembledines who received the rub of the green when a well struck free kick could only be parried by the Swans goalkeeper. Dines were on hand to follow in for the rebound and give themselves a one goal lead (video of goal below). Perhaps the Swans best chance of the match came just one minute later. A free kick from deep was launched into the box and saw Swans win the first ball. With a myriad of bodies in the box, the Swans got a shot away and forced a good save from Frank McEvoy in the Dines goal. The resulting corner was dealt with by Wembledines and they maintained their one goal cushion. Wembledines saw out the final quarter of the game to get up and running in Group B.
Team Lightning 2-1 Bluestreak
In a well managed first half, Lightning kept Bluestreak quiet in a game with few chances. In the 29th minute, off a throw-in Tomas Hayes used his strength to progress into the Lightning penalty area. In a dicey situation, Lightning defenders Ciaran Likely and Manson, as well as their goalkeeper, managed to do enough to avoid the ball penetrating the net or giving a penalty away. In the 45th minute, a Chimka through ball found Renato. Keeping his cool in the one-on-one, Renato slotted past Gerry in the Bluestreak goal. Bluestreak battled on and eventually got their equaliser through Dara Shanahan in the 54th minute. The celebrations were to be short lived though as in the 56th minute, some good combo play saw Phil Maher play a low cross across the face of goal. Letting the ball pass through his legs, Martin went with a deft back heel finish to give Lighning the lead. This was to be all she wrote and Lightning will be thankful to have taken the 3 points from this encounter.
Barely Athletic 4-1 Sheffield Thursday
Barely Athletic faced off against new boys Sheffield Thursday in this group C tie. Barely were creative in the first half and got the breakthrough in the 23rd minute. A cross hit across the body off a flat corner was knocked in as Barely went ahead. Sheffield found an equaliser as the game progressed into the final ten minutes. In the 50th minute, a great save from the Sheffield keeper kept the sides level. Barely kept pushing and in the 53rd minute Adam scored with a nice side footed finish. The unfortunate Sheffield went to concede two more goals in the 56th and 57th minute to put a gloss on the scoreline for Barely. 4-1 Barely Athletic the final score.
Cutters 2-0 Cappaquigley Athletic
Cutters and Cappaquigley battled it out in the second group C match of the evening. Cutters hit the front through Davey Fitz in the first half when his shot found the bottom left corner. Cappa responded well with patient build up play trying to pick the holes in the Cutters defensive line. In the 47th minute, a wicked Cappa shot from distance was right at the Cutters keeper. Tom Power played a loopy cross from wide that dropped straight into the Cappa net to give Cutters a 2-0 lead. Cappa fought on and in the 50th minute, a good cross from the right was brought under control by Tyler but the resulting shot was hit over. Cutters remained resolute in the dying minutes blocking several Cappa shots and not allowing them penetrate the goal. A well earned 2-0 victory for Cutters