Clash of two table toppers tomorrow evening

Soccer: Mayo League

All eyes will be firmly fixed on the action in Beleek on Saturday evening when the top two sides in the Super League face off against each other at 5pm.

Both the visitors, Westport United, and the hosts, Ballina Town, have gone six from six so far this season - and one thing we know for sure ahead of this game, is that both sides won't have a 100 per cent record come full time on Saturday.

The north Mayo men have been scoring goals for fun this season - hitting the back of the net 31 times so far. Last weekend they put seven past Claremorris Town in Concannon Park. Their main man, Benny Lavelle, kept up his amazing scoring with five goals, to bring his tally to 18 in six games. The Ballina hitman has now scored more goals himself than any of the other teams in the league have managed so far - he even has four more goals to his name than the bottom three sides in the division combined. Ballina's other goals came from Jamie Cawley and Dylan McKee with Calvin Joyce getting the only goal for Claremorris.

Town's opponents on Saturday, while they aren't bagging as many goals, did also make it six from six when they saw off Glenhest Rovers 1-0 in United Park last Saturday evening. Rovers may be battling it out at the foot of the table, but they proved very stubborn opponents for Westport United to break down and it took an 88th minute winner from sub, Mikey O'Brien, to claim the points, after his free-kick from the left hand side evaded everyone before finishing up in the back of the net.

The other game down for decision tomorrow evening is the meeting of Castlebar Celtic and Ballyhaunis Town in Celtic Park. The defending Super League champions fell to their fourth defeat of the season last weekend when they were beaten 3-2 by Ballyheane in Quigley Park, with Ballyhaunis heading into this one off the back of a 0-0 draw with Swinford.

That defeat has seen Celtic slip out of the top five in the table on scoring difference and they really need to get back to winning ways this weekend when Ballyhaunis Town come calling. Celtic fell behind to a Jack Tuffy strike midway through the first half last weekend, they did pull themselves level through a Lerlah Hay finish early in the second half and they took the lead through a Jordan Loftus goal with less than 20 minutes to go. But Ballyhane came right back at them and Jack Rochford made it 2-2 before Imoh Atoi scored the winner from the penalty spot, five minutes from time after Dara Ludden was fouled.

That win has seen Ashley Stevenson's men move into the fourth place in the table and they'll be looking to keep up their current progress when they travel to Ballyglass on Sunday afternoon. The central Mayo outfit were beaten 4-2 by Manulla in Carramore last weekend.

Big results across the division

Ballyglass were 2-0 down early on through goals from David McCracken and Shea Benson but they managed to cut the gap to a single goal through Liam Hughes - the hosts pushed themselves 3-1 ahead soon after through a Conor Byrne goal, before Conor Keane cut the gap back to just one goal. However, Aiden Dunleavy got his side's fourth goal of the day to seal the win and keep Manulla within three points of the top two.

Manulla will be looking to keep pace with the top two this weekend when they take on Glenhest Rovers on the road on Sunday morning, while Swinford, who picked up their second point of the season last weekend with their draw on the road against Ballyhaunis Town, will be taking on a Claremorris side who had seven goals put past them by Ballina Town.

As the Super League heads into its seventh round this weekend, the top three have really detached themselves from the rest - with the top two nine points ahead of fourth placed Ballyheane with Manulla just three points behind the top two - their surprising loss to Ballyhaunis Town the only black mark against them this season so far.

A spread of seven points is all that separates the teams from bottom of the table Swinford and fourth placed Ballyheane - showing how congested it is behind the top three and how important picking up a win this weekend could be for when the division splits in half to complete the season.

All square at the top of the Premier Division too

Like the Super League, it is all very tight at the top, with Kiltimagh-Knock United and Conn Rangers level on points at the top of the table with five wins from six games each. Conn picked up their latest win with a 2-1 win over Fahy Rovers last weekend while Kiltimagh-Knock United put four past Killala.

This weekend Conn will face a tough task when they face third placed Iorras Aontaithe, who are just two points behind the top two in the table and are fresh from a 3-0 win over Manulla B. Kiltimagh-Knock United will be away to the aforementioned Manulla B this weekend.

Mayo League Super League Fixtures

Saturday, September 26 at 5pm: Castlebar Celtic v Ballyhaunis Town; Ballina Town v Westport United

Sunday, September 27 at 11am (unless stated ): Swinford v Claremorris; Glenhest Rovers v Manulla; Ballyglass v Ballyheane (at 2.30pm )

 

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