Republic of Ireland

Mayo League

Premier Division

Sunday 21st June 2026

Kick Off 11.00 On Time!

Snugboro 5 Westport United ‘B’ 1, attendance 19

9’ 0-1 (pen)

11’ 1-1 (pen)

43’ 2-1

46’ 3-1

54’ 4-1

72’ 5-1

@ Edward Conway Memorial Park

Boradruma

Snugborough

F23 ED90

No Admission or Programme.

This match was the only morning game today that involved a first team as hosts, so was my only option of visiting somewhere new. The village of Snugborough (no idea why the football club are shortened to Snugboro) is two or three miles northwest of Castlebar. It’s a decent set up, out in the middle of nowhere. There’s plenty of parking and a two storey clubhouse/changing room building, with the pitch set on a plateau above, running widthways in front of the building. It’s enclosed on three sides by a double barred concrete fence, painted in the club colours of yellow and blue, with just the left hand goal end missing and there’s a pair of dugouts on the far side and a small sized 3G pitch beyond.

The match was 8th versus 6th, in a ten team division. The visitors got off to a quick start, scoring with a penalty after just nine minutes, awarded for a handball. Snugboro equalised two minutes later though, with a penalty of their own, following a foul just inside the angle of the 18 yard box. Five minutes before halftime Westport saw a bicycle kick come back off the crossbar and four minutes later fell behind, when a shot driven in from the left was saved by the ‘keeper, but followed in from close range. A minute into the second half another close range finish saw Snugboro go 3-1 up and they added a fourth goal eight minutes later, pulling the ball back across the box for an unmarked tap in from six yards out. Goal number five arrived with eighteen minutes left, when a defence splitting pass was finished with a first time shot into the bottom corner. As with all games seen on this trip, we had a drinks break in each half. It seemed more logical today than for the other games, as it was noticeably warmer.

Above : Westport open the scoring with a penalty.

Republic of Ireland

Mayo League

League 1

Saturday 20th June 2026

Kick Off 18.30 On Time!

Bangor Hibs 1 Killala 0, attendance 13

26’ 1-0

@ Ballybeg Park

Barcoon

Bangor Erris

F26 YA26

No Admission or Programme.

A 1 hour 20 minute drive north to Westport, which is very touristy, then onto our hotel at Meennacloughfinny, culminated with a further thirty six minute drive north to Bangor Erris for tonight’s top of the table clash in the third level of the Mayo League, where 4th hosted 1st in the league table. The ground is next to the water treatment works, with a two storey changing room building to the left of the small car park as you enter from the long approach road into the complex. The pitch runs widthways in front of you and is enclosed by wooden fencing, with spectator access along half of this side, behind the left hand goal and along the far side, where there’s also a pair of dugouts. Scenic backdrops can be had from every angle too.

Just one point separated the top four teams coming into this, so a win for either team would see them finish the night top of the pile. It was very even throughout and despite lacking in goals, it held the attention right to the end. The visitors went close early on, bringing out a fingertip save from the home ‘keeper to keep out a 20 yarder. Midway through the first half Bangor got what turned out to be the winning goal, when a long range shot was pushed to the side, but returned with a low shot that found it’s way into the far corner. Both sides wasted some good second half chances and despite edging the latter stages, Killala were unable to force what would have been a deserved equaliser.

League of Ireland

Premier Division

Friday 19th June 2026

Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.47

Galway United 2 Derry City 1, attendance 3,101

24’ 1-0

48’ 2-0

89’ 2-1 (pen)

@ Pearse Stadium

Rockbarton Road

Salthill

Galway

H91 PX30

€10 Admission, plus €1 Booking Fee

€7 Programme available, didn’t bother buying.

I’d visited Galway United’s Eamon Deacy Park (then known as Terryland Park) back in October 1998, for a Division 1 match versus Limerick which had ended 0-0. Pitch renovations are currently taking place there, so Galway are playing a handful of games at Pearse Stadium, home of the Gaelic Athletic Association, with this being the first ever association football match hosted here and the main game of the trip as far as I was concerned. It’s an impressive venue, opened in 1957 and renovated in 2002, with a current capacity of 26,197. It has three sides of steep open terracing and a main seated stand of nearly 8,000 seats, which was the only part of the ground in use tonight. Due to the larger pitch used in G.A.A. matches, the view is distant and the goals are set well in from the terraces at each end.

The match was 7th versus 6th in the league table and a game that the hosts should have won far more comfortably than they did. Derry were very poor and never deserved to get anything out of the game. Galway hit the crossbar after three minutes and opened the scoring after twenty four minutes, when a deep cross from the right was met with a downward header from Stephen Walsh that found the bottom corner. He then made it 2-0 three minutes into the second half, when he met a ball over the top with a left footed finish low into the bottom corner. Derry were given hope of grabbing something from the game late on, when Michael Duffy dispatched a last minute penalty, awarded for a handball by Walsh.

The result sees the clubs remain as they were at start of play, but Galway close the gap between them and Derry to just a single point and they have two games in hand to try and climb above them. Having arrived at the stadium about an hour before kick off, it was easy to grab street parking a couple of hundred yards from the stadium, but the disadvantage was it meant leaving afterwards was a bit slow, not helped by endless traffic lights that seemed to be every few hundred yards apart and the four miles back to our Galway hotel took twenty minutes, rather than the nine minutes it should have, but at least it was still daylight, despite it being 22.20 on arrival.

Republic of Ireland

Mayo League

Super League

Thursday 18th June 2026

Kick Off 19.00 Actual 19.04

Ballyheane 8 Ballinrobe Town 1, attendance 54

13’ 1-0

32’ 2-0

41’ 3-0

55’ 4-0

72’ 5-0

73’ 6-0

75’ 6-1

88’ 7-1

90’ 8-1

@ Pat Quigley Park

Ballyheane Community Centre

off N84

Ballyheane

F23 WP92

No Admission or Programme.

Out on the 0840 Ryanair flight from London Gatwick to Dublin, which left twenty minutes late. Picked up a hire car and headed to the west coast of Ireland for overnight accommodation in Galway, before making the one hour drive north to Ballyheane, where the home town club are based at Pat Quigley Park. The ground is on the right hand side when entering the village from the south, situated adjacent to the Community Centre. There’s a decent sized car park, with a small brick built changing room/clubhouse building, then two parallel pitches running widthways in front, both with seated stands. The near one was hosting kids training, with tonight’s game being played on the further of the two, which has a pair of dugouts on the stand side and is also floodlit. It’s fully enclosed by fencing and has hard standing on all four sides. Despite heavy rain leading up to kick off and light rain and drizzle falling for the entire ninety minutes, the pitch was immaculate.

I’d chosen this out of the two scheduled games in this league tonight, as it looked like it would be the more competitive of the two (the other finished 5-0), but it didn’t turn out that way. It was 5th versus 9th (out of 10), with the visitors just thirteen miles south on the N54. Ballyheane took a thirteenth minute lead with an angled shot that went in off the far post and doubled their lead just after the half hour mark, when a pull back from the right was finished first time into the bottom corner. Four minutes before halftime they added a third and made the points safe, following in an initial shot that was saved by the ‘keeper.

An angled shot off the post made it 4-0 ten minutes into the second half, before a 20 yard free kick increased the lead to 5-0 with eighteen minutes left. A minute later a lob over the ‘keeper from the edge of the box saw them bring up the half dozen, but Ballinrobe hit back with a consolation goal a couple of minutes later, with a powerful shot high into the roof of the net. Two more goals in the last couple of minutes saw Ballyheane round off the scoring, the first from a diagonal cross from wide on the right that eluded everyone on it’s way into the far corner, before a free kick, that hit the stanchion at the back of the goal and rebounded back out, rounded things off as the final whistle blew immediately afterwards.

West Wales Premier League Tier 5 Play Off

Saturday 30th May 2026

Kick Off 14.00 Actual14.08

Waunarlwydd Galaxy 2 Glynneath Town 0, attendance 488 (official)

72’ 1-0

89’ 2-0

@ Waunarlwydd Park

Roselands Road

Waunarlwydd

SA5 4ST

No Admission

£3 Programme, 8 pages, including raffle ticket.

This was the final game of the three way play off, to determine which two teams from the three feeder leagues into the West Wales Premier League would make the step up to Tier 4 next season. Pontlliw (Carmarthenshire League) had already guaranteed their place, despite having lost the opening game 0-2 at home to Waunarlwydd (Swansea Senior League) on Tuesday, by then travelling to Glynneath (Neath & District League) on Thursday, where despite trailing 1-0 at halftime, unbelievably hit six second half goals to gain a 1-6 win. At least it made things simple. Nothing short of a win by at least a four goal margin would be enough for Glynneath. Any other result would be enough for Waunarlwydd to take the second promotion place.

I’d arrived early, helped by a trouble free M25 and M4 heading west to Waunarlwydd, just south of the M4, roughly midway between Swansea and Llanelli. The ground is off Roselands Road, with the pitch beyond that of the rugby club. There’s just a portacabin for changing rooms, with the pitch beyond that, running lengthways away from here, parallel to the railway line. It’s fully railed, with a pair of dugouts on the left hand touchline and has overgrown grass banking running the full length of the far side, which gave the best vantage point. A barbecue was set up at the entrance and a programme had been produced too, with the £3 price including a raffle ticket, but no idea if it was drawn or not. It was free admission otherwise.

The game never hit any great heights, but was a decent watch for the large crowd. The Cymru App gives an attendance of 488, whilst a headcount at the game came up with 140 fewer than that. The photos of the game suggest even the lower figure was generous! It was a very cagey first half and came as little surprise that it was still goalless at halftime. Once the visitors had a man sent off, it was game over, at least as far as their very slim chance of promotion went. It still took Waunarlwydd until eighteen minutes from time to finally break the deadlock, when a through ball split the defence and the striker finished with a shot that went in via the underside of the crossbar. The second goal arrived in the dying minutes, when a shot from just inside the box went in off the far post. I’d seen Glynneath twice this season before today and they were excellent both times. Hopefully they’ll be challenging again next season.

I’d had a trouble free drive in both directions. An excellent day out was rounded off superbly by arriving home in time to see Arsenal fail yet again to lift Europe’s top prize. A real result for football, as without the PGMOL to influence the outcome, it was deservedly won by the better team, rather than by a group of set piece merchants.

South Devon League

Premier Division

Thursday28th May 2026

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.41

Plymouth True Blues 1 Lakeside Athletic 5, attendance 154

15’ 0-1

44’ 1-1

53’ 1-2

68’ 1-3

72’ 1-4

90’ + 1, 1-5

@ Millbay Park

Prospect Place

Millbay

Plymouth

PL1 3BQ

No Admission or Programme.

I never did a game here at Millbay Park during the days when Devon & Cornwall Police played here in the South Western League, up until leaving the league at the end of the 1994/95 season. As well as hosting Plymouth True Blues games, it’s also home to Division 2 club Drake. It’s a decent venue for this level, with the pitch fully railed off and there’s a pair of dugouts on the entrance side of the ground, with grass banking on this side, running round behind the left hand goal end, where wooden planks are set into the ground, giving stepped viewing areas. The changing room building is in the far left hand corner, where toilets were available, but no other facilities. The only downside here, at least if you arrive by car, is the lack of a car park and street parking has an enforced charge of £2.80 per hour, caused no doubt by it’s close proximity to Plymouth Hoe.

The match was 4th versus 2nd in the league table, with Plymouth True Blues still able to finish third and Lakeside Athletic still in with a chance of winning the league, but they would have to win this game and then win again at home to Kingsteinton Athletic on Saturday, in order to pip current leaders The Windmill to the title by a single point. Having had two no shows in two days in this league, I was fully expecting a third on the trot. Thankfully, unlike Ilsington Villa and Mount Gould, who couldn’t be bothered to raise a team for their home games in the last two days, Plymouth True Blues were well up for it and had no intention of giving the three points to Lakeside by default.

In front of a crowd in excess of 150, the visitors got off to the perfect start, going ahead after fifteen minutes, scoring at the second attempt, following a blocked shot from a cross wide on the right. They could have doubled their lead after half an hour, but saw a header come back off the crossbar. PTB saw a 25 yarder hit the crossbar soon afterwards and three minutes before halftime Lakeside had a goal ruled out for offside. A minute before the interval PTB grabbed a deserved equaliser, when a cross from the right was headed into the top corner from eight yards out. Eight minutes into the second half Lakeside regained the lead, curling a shot into the far corner from just outside the box. Midway through the half they added a third, heading in from a corner, with the ‘keeper getting his fingertips to it, but unable to keep it out. Four minutes later they made it 1-4, rounding the ‘keeper after winning the race to a through ball and rolling it in from a tight angle at the near post. PTB then had a man sin binned with thirteen minutes left and Lakeside had the points safely in the bag and rounded off the scoring a minute into added time, with a 20 yarder that gave the ‘keeper no chance. So, they roll onto Saturday, where a win will see them crowned champions.

Despite having kicked off eleven minutes late and a drinks break taken in each half, the game was still finished for 20.26. Despite the M25 being closed at J11, a SatNav diversion off the M3, via Aldershot and Guildford, rejoining the M25 at J10 meant arrival back home was still achieved for half past midnight.

Below Photos show the original entrance and steps leading up to the ground from behind the goal at the city end.

South Devon League

Division 1

Wednesday 27th May 2026

Kick Off 19.00

Mount Gould P Watts Blake Bearne P

@ Tothill Enclosure

Lucas Terrace

Mount Gould

PL4 9LD.

So, for the second successive night, a no show in the South Devon League, but unfortunately, no chance of reaching anywhere else this time. It was 3rd versus 2nd in the league table, with WBB needing a win to secure promotion. The game had been mentioned by both clubs on social media, albeit not for a few days and was still showing as being on at 17.15 when I last checked the fixture on F.A. Full Time. Arrived at the ground at 18.30, only to find it deserted, apart from a fellow ‘hopper from London. A check on F.A. Full Time now had the match missing from the fixture page, but was showing in the results page instead….as an away walkover. A bit later WBB posted on their Facebook page that they’d been promoted following Mount Gould being unable to raise a team. Couldn’t be bothered to raise a team would be a much better way of describing it.

I am supposed to be watching another game in this league tomorrow, where the away team need to win, as well as win again on Saturday, to pip the current leaders by a point, but am currently leaning very heavily towards not bothering, as I highly suspect that will also be the attitude the home club will take…..

South Devon League

Division 2

Tuesday 26th May 2026

Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.47

Ashburton 1 Babbacombe Corinthians 2, attendance 22

20’ 0-1 (pen)

62’ 0-2

71’ 1-2

@ Chuley Hill

Ashburton

TQ13 7RW

No Admission or Programme.

This hadn’t been my intended game tonight, but having turned up at Ilsington Villa (where 5th were hosting 2nd in the Premier Division) to find it deserted (turns out the hosts couldn’t be bothered to raise a team), it meant a mad dash to Ashburton instead, some six miles further south west, but due to kick off fifteen minutes earlier than my first choice game. Luckily for me it kicked off seventeen minutes later than scheduled, otherwise I’d have missed the kick off. It was also good to squeeze into the last parking space too, otherwise it would have been a hike back up the hill, in sweltering heat, as the ground is in a very tight lane, on the eastern side of the A38 from the town.

It’s a very pleasant setting, with the car park raised behind the entrance side goal and the clubhouse/changing rooms in the near right hand corner. A pair of dugouts are on the right hand side, whilst tall trees run along the opposite touchline, offering welcomed shade, with a gentle side to side slope running down towards here. The match was 3rd versus 2nd in the league table, with neither able to catch already crowned champions Signal Box Oak Villa. The visitors were guaranteed the runners up spot regardless of tonight’s result, but Ashburton needed to win, as they could still be overhauled by fourth placed Drake, who are three points behind them, but with a game in hand and this was Ashburtons final game of the season.

It was played in a very competitive manner, with both teams fully committed for the entirety and an excellent game to watch as a neutral. Babbacombe led 0-1 at the break, courtesy of a twentieth minute penalty, with the best chance for Ashburton coming just before halftime, when they saw a header cleared off the line. Babbacombe doubled their lead just after the hour mark, curling a shot into the far corner from just inside the box. Ashburton pulled it back to 1-2 with nineteen minutes left, when a corner from the left was flicked in at the near post, but were unable to force an equaliser.