GRANGE FC 2 ST. JOSEPH'S 0: A DEPLETED Joseph's were porous in defence during the early exchanges. Grange's Paddy Byrne latched onto Gavin Lawler's through ball before beating the advancing keeper Lee Buggle only to see his effort go wide off the post. Grange kept up the pressure with Paddy Kelly rising highest to head the ball goal wards but Jack Lowry cleared the effort off the line on seven minutes.

The deadlock was inevitable broken when Grange's Anthony Kavanagh's intended cross deceived Lee Buggle and flew into the net on eleven minutes. David Townsend was firing on all cylinders in the Saints midfield and he put Grange's Paddy Kelly and Peter Cleere under pressure almost singlehanded.

He also kept the busy Grange forwards at bay yet he must have been relieved when Paul Clancy put Paddy Byrne through on goal but his chip not alone beat the advancing keeper but flew over the bar on 20 minutes.

St. Joes were defending in numbers and continued to frustrate the Grange attack though Paul Clancy shaved a post with a long distance effort on the stroke of half time.

Grange dominated the early exchanges again but failed to create any clear goal scoring chances until substitute Johnny Kavanagh fired a stinging shot which brought an excellent save from Lee Buggle on 65 minutes. The destiny of the points was never in doubt once Niall Byrne doubled the Grange lead on 77 minutes.

St. Fiacc's 3 Shamrocks FC 3

WITH Michael Corr excelling in midfield perky Shamrocks enjoyed the better of the early exchanges.

However they found Pat Scully in great form in the Saints goal as he prevented Denis Quinlan and John Kenny from scoring during the first quarter. It was looking as if Shamrocks would not be able to make their possession count when Jamie Cooney's pass allowed Denis Quinlan to deftly lob the advancing keeper to give the visitors the lead on the half hour. Saints earned a penalty which was saved by the Shamrocks keeper on 40 minutes. Despite been under the cosh for the remainder of the half the visitors defended well to preserve their lead.

St. Fiacc's equalised through Matthew Power on 55 minutes before going ahead through P J Nolan after a comedy of defensive errors on 64 minutes. The defensive dry rot was now a nightmare for Shamrocks and their midfield were affected before St. Fiacc's increased their lead through the hard working Matt Power on 86 minutes. Shamrocks never capitulated with Patrick Williamson extracting the save of the game from Pat Scully in the St. Fiacc's goal but the keeper's clearance allowed Jamie Cooney to return a shot which flew to the Saints net on 89 minutes. Now anxious to preserve a slender lead the Saints kicked off and promptly lost possession allowing Kevin Coakley to win possession and advance before scorching a shot to the Saints net to secure a share of the points.

Hacketstown Utd 3 Stretford 1

THE EARLY exchanges were evenly balanced with defences on top.

Matt Pearson's swerving corner finished up in the Stretford net on 20 minutes to give a young looking Hacketstown outfit the lead. This score provided the home side with a great confidence boost and with Con Murphy stealing the show in midfield Hacketstown went further ahead on 38 minutes when he beat the United offside trap before sidestepping the advancing keeper and scoring.

A much improved Stretford enjoyed the better of the third quarter but could not engineer a clear cut scoring chance against a well organised home defence. On 65 minutes Hacketstown won a corner which was taken by Matt Pearson and as Stretford sought to clear their lines the ball fell to Garry Halpin whose volley from distance gave the keeper no chance.

A late score by Stretford never looked like making a difference because the efforts of Town's best Mark Joyce, Tom Kennedy, Matt Pearson and Jamie Walsh ensured the points were Hacketstown's.