CBL Weekend Preview 17th – 19th December 2021
In the final round of fixtures before the Christmas two week break, all eyes will be firmly focused on events taking place at Mayfield Community School on Sunday morning next when champions Doolan’s Cow lock horns with leaders Satellite Taxis for the first time in the Premier Division this season. The visitors go into the tie five points clear after an impressive away 2-1 win last Sunday over unbeaten UCC Utd. at the Farm. Ray Hallissey’s charges will be keen to turn over their opponents after losing in the shield final in early November. Doolan’s haven’t been tested so far in the campaign, racking up seven successive wins and only conceding an incredible one goal. Taxis are the division’s top scorers with central strike Breff McCarthy prominent among the goals. Doolan’s have their own match winners in Jamie Murphy and former golden boot winners Tony O’Reilly and James Cotter, therefore the hosts possess an abundance of firepower in their artillery.
On Friday night under light at Mayfield Pk, in the top flight, Jason O’Neill Electrical entertain Tim Irwin’s Crookstown Utd. who have struggled to make an impact this season due in the main to the unavailability of key personnel. The visitor’s boss will be buoyed by his side’ s encouraging improvement last Sunday in scoring four times despite losing to title contenders Marlboro Trust. JONE can climb two places with a win over United which would propel the hosts to ten points above the drop. Martin Harvey Solicitors should have too much for relegation threatened Harp Celtic at Ringmahon Pk. on Sunday afternoon while District 11’s duel with OBS is likely to end in a draw as both teams regroup before the business end of the season gets underway in January.
With leaders Lion’s Den not playing, second placed Brew Boys have an opportunity to close the gap in the First Division to three points with a match in hand. Brew take on mid table Cork Hospitals at Castlelyons on Sunday morning. Longboats, themselves very much in the title race in fourth, will look to push up on Daz Barbers in third with a win over Suro Cars at Crosshaven on Sunday afternoon. Suro, the only team to have inflicted a defeat on the Den, have been guilty of inconsistency throughout the first half of the campaign and a steadying of the ship could result in a promising rise up the table and a possible tilt at promotion.
Co. Council put five past the Weigh Inn when the sides first met on Sunday, October 31st and will be hoping for a similar result when the teams meet for a second time, at the Regional Pk. on Sunday morning. The visitors have been in free fall after a bright start but with Frank Field in fine goal scoring form of late, a much awaited win could be on the cards. Jay Bazz have been impressive in recent weeks in moving up to sixth and know there’s no place for complacency if there are to extract full points from their clash with second from bottom Derrow Rovs. at Crosshaven on Sunday afternoon. Derrow can take huge heart from the fact that they have scored more goals than Trend Micro and The Weigh Inn this season and if they can provide top scorer Rory Galvin with opportunities to score, the visitors could well be in for a tricky afternoon by the sea.
