HELIO Inter beat nine-man ARC Rovers to clinch Premier Division title

HELIO Inter 2 – 0 ARC Rovers

Man of the Match: Gabriel Da Silva

In a huge clash in the race for the Grandon’s Toyota CBL Premier Division title, it was HELIO Inter who prevailed 2-0 in Mayfield to ensure that they are crowned champions for the 2026 season, writes Donncha Noonan.

Things got off to a flying start for HELIO Inter, as they managed to take the lead just four minutes in. Sergio Castana drilled a free kick towards Joao Martins, who guided it centrally first time. It fell to Ivan Milicevic, who shifted past a defender at the edge of the box before curling a shot towards goal, which deflected to wrongfoot the keeper and give his side an early lead.

The leaders went looking for a second, and could’ve had their wish eight minutes later. A loose pass in midfield allowed Martin Da Silva to pounce and intercept the ball and release Gabriel Da Silva to his right. He took a touch and cut inside on his left foot to release a shot, but his effort went straight into the hands of Aaron Hosford.

Things got worse for ARC Rovers as in addition to being a goal down, they also went a man down in the twenty-fifth minute. A tangle between Brian Kelly and Ivan Milicevic led to both falling into the ground, where Kelly appeared to strike Milicevic in the face, leading to the ARC Rovers captain to be sent off.

ARC Rovers weren’t going down without a fight though, as they went close to levelling things in the thirty-eighth minute. A floated free kick was nodded down in the box by Tyerese Raheem, where it found Padraig Cotter, but his first time strike flew over the bar. 

It didn’t take long for that chase to take a hit for ARC Rovers, as HELIO Inter found their second on the stroke of half-time. A brilliant ball out to the right to Gabriel Da Silva caused issues for ARC Rovers, as the winger advanced towards the box. He cut the ball back for  Erik Pohlmann, who aimed a brilliant low shot into the bottom left corner to put his team one step closer to the title.

That was all for the first half, where ARC Rovers despite being a man and two goals down were still fighting for an all important equaliser.

HELIO Inter started the second half well, trying to keep control of the game, and in doing so almost found a third goal in spectacular fashion. Craig Williams picked up the ball in defence and drove past the halfway line, before striking a powerful effort from ages out, that narrowly flew past the top right corner.

ARC Rovers task got even harder with fourteen minutes to play, as they were reduced to nine men. A late collision in midfield from Tyerese Raheem with Antonio Calderon led Raheem to receive his second yellow card of the day, and bring his team down another player.

HELIO Inter were simply just awaiting the full-time whistle now, but almost put the icing on the cake with two minutes to play. A dinked ball from Gabriel Da Silva over the top of the ARC Rovers defence was inviting, with Joao Martins arriving at the back post but could only poke the ball wide of the near post.

And that was that, as the full-time whistle went in Mayfield and HELIO Inter were crowned Grandon’s Toyota CBL Premier Division Champions. Congratulations to everyone at HELIO Inter.

HELIO Inter: M. Gomez, M. Da Silva, S. Castana, J. Martins, C. Williams, H. Sheedy, I. Milicevic, E. Pohlmann, A. Calderon, M. Vigil, G. Da Silva, D. Marijuan, J. Olivares Moreno, H. Monteiro, G. Cerini.

ARC Rovers: A. Hosford, C. Roche, S. Herlihy, L. Hart, B. Kelly, S. O’Connell, P. Cotter, M. Guinnane, T. Raheem, G. Harrington, T. Twomey, J. D’Arcy, A. Kelly, G. Capelao.