The NY Shamrocks Women’s team went top of the Metro Women’s League Division B after a superb come-from-behind 2-1 victory over previous leaders NYC Sirens at Pier 40 late on Sunday night.

Sinead Hennessy found the net once again – her sixth goal of the season – to bring the Rocks level at 1-1 early in the second half. And they deservedly took the lead when Jackie Pounder scored a rocket to the top corner, clinching the three points in fitting fashion.

“The effort in training really showed,” said delighted coach Paddy Geraghty. “We dominated the second half. Our new signings played a massive part, and we deserve to be top of the league from all of the hard work which started on the first day of preseason.”

Meanwhile, in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League Division 1, a talented FC Everton Westchester side handed the Shamrocks their first defeat of the season, winning 3-0 at St Michaels on Sunday.

It was the first time in four games that Kevin Grogan’s men had conceded and in spite of a good first half performance, they found themselves 1-0 down at the break.

Westchester showed their class in the second hafl adding two well worked goals before an unfortunate collision caused the game to be held up for 15 minutes. Rocks defender Laurie Child was hospitalized after a collision but was released Sunday night after a scan came back all clear. Our thoughts are with him and we look forward to his return to action when ready.

“Regardless of the result, I was actually happy with our players,” said Grogan. “They showed a lot of maturity against a team that will be competing to win the league.

“Our work ethic was very good and as always that’s a minimum requirement. We have lots to learn but we are showing a lot of good traits.”

It was a tough start to the day for the reserves too – missing a few key men, they were soundly beaten 5-1 by Westchester in the curtain raiser.

Colum Mc Comish’s late penalty was the sole consolation for Stevie Doyle’s side.

The Over 30s continued their good run with a 3-0 win in an Irish derby against Manhattan Celtic Bhoys meaning the Rocks will go into their State Cup game away to Polet as league leaders.

The Rocks were ahead after ten minutes when Sean Riley brilliantly set up Shawn Baron at the far post, Baron rifling low and hard to the far left hand corner.

Played in tough conditions, the Rocks eventually doubled their lead just after the hour mark when captain Alex Berne finished brilliantly from a Riley pass.

Top scorer Tayfun Gokmen had the chance to extend his overall tally but missed a 70th minute penalty. Danny Parkin then opened his account for the season soon after, scoring yet another wonder goal free kick to seal the three points.

“It was a great result today,” said coach Paddy Mc Carry. “It was a real battle in the first half. Our back line were brilliant as was our keeper Sean Mc Mullan. It was a great squad effort and all round we’re very happy.”

The Legends were unlucky early on Sunday morning, dominating the game but going down 1-0 to CPR Legends at Randalls Island.

“We really put in a great performance,” said coach Emmett Harvey. “I’m very proud of the team. We had so much possession but just couldn’t finish.”

The unbeaten Shamrocks will face their strongest opponents yet when Division 1 hopefuls Everton FC Westchester Eagles visit St Michaels on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 1pm).

Both teams dropped points for the first time last weekend ensuring a tie in second place along with champions Lansdowne Bhoys who are also on two wins and a draw.

Westchester have only conceded once – last week’s 1-1 draw away to NYC Rovers – while September brought wins over NY Athletic Club and Central Park Rangers Whites.

Chris Burns will return this weekend for the first team. Picture: Dennis Schneider

“It’s the toughest game of the season against a team that are in the top three in the league and are title contenders,” said coach Kevin Grogan. “One of their players Bljedi Bardic has been training with NYCFC’s first team so that’s the level we will have to deal with.

“They wont like playing us though, nobody will. We are an honest team finding our feet in this extremely hard league.”

Key players Laurie Child (illness) and Chris Burns (away) both make welcome returns to action while Uruguayan playmaker Santiago Rigby is also back after injury.

Grogan also reacted to the big news that long time rivals from the Long Island League, the Irish Rovers, would be the visitors for next week’s State Cup Round One.

“It’s a pay-per-view cup tie!” said Grogan. “There is a lot of history between the clubs. Ultimately our focus is on the league but it will be a nice chance for us to rotate our squad and try to compete against a good Irish Rovers team.”

Reserves coach Stevie Doyle will be leaving nothing to chance against winless Westchester, meanwhile, and will be boosted by the return of captain Shane Moore (kick-off 11am).

The reserves have won three from three, joint top of the division with NY Athletic Club and Lansdowne Bhoys.

With Shamrocks 1960 on a bye weekend due to the withdrawal of Grenadier Zenith, there are only five games this weekend.

Rob Gaynor has been solid at the back for the reserves who have kept two clean sheets in a row. Picture: Dennis Schneider

“It’s a really tough fixture even though we have gotten off to a good start,” said Doyle. “We have very a tight defense marshaled by Rob Gaynor and the goalscoring from Darren Coleman has been key but we have to remain focused on the game in hand. We also have couple of injuries leading up to the game but we will be pleased to have Shane back in the fold.”

League leading Shamrocks Over 30s are away to Manhattan Celtic Bhoys (Randall’s Island 45 – 4pm) who haven’t won since their opening day victory against basement dwellers Barnstonworth Rovers Old Boys.

But Paddy Mc Carry will be taking nothing for granted Sunday, aiming for nothing short of three points before teams head into State Cup action. (The Over 30s will travel to LISFL champions NY Polet – location and time to be decided)

“I’m expecting another tough game against Celtic,” said Mc Carry. “It’s an Irish derby and they will have some very good players and will want to win it. I have a strong panel for Sunday so we are in good shape. It’s all about the three points. I want to be top of the league going into our State Cup game.”

Having won their first game of the season last weekend in fine style, the Legends will hope to make it two from two in October when they take on Central Park Rangers at Randall’s Island 10 on Sunday morning (kick-off 10am).

“We’re looking forward to this won,” said assistant coach Donal ‘Ducky’ Kelly. “We beat CPR in our first pre-season friendly but they are vastly improved. They are top of the table with four wins so we have to be aiming to compete and we won’t be looking past them.”

Meanwhile in the Women’s Metro League, the Shamrocks face a daunting task against league leaders NYC Sirens who are point ahead of the Rocks in Division B.

It’s a late kick off for the team with three wins in a row, the game starting at 9pm in Pier 40. But co-player/manager Erin Cullen is looking forward to bringing their best squad yet into action after two more additions this week.

“We are excited to see how all of our strongest players work together on the pitch for the first time,” said Cullen.

“We are without our starting goalie Jessica Kambic this week, so we’ll be working to dominate possession for the entirety of the game.”

Two Irish derbies beckon in the State Cup after the draws were made over the weekend.

The Irish Rovers will form the opposition for both our firsts and reserves in the Manning and D’Arpino Cups respectively.

Both games will take place on Sunday Oct 18 at St Michael’s (1pm and 11am respectively).

Meanwhile, the Over 30s face a daunting Marth Cup trip to the Long Island champions NY Polet (time and location to be confirmed).

Shamrocks 1960 have been drawn away to Metro 2 West side Homenetmen of NY in the Strumpf Cup while the Legends will play at Nieuw Amsterdam in the Marth Cup. Times and locations of both these games is also yet to be confirmed.

• Legends clinch first win
• Firsts held scoreless at Polonia
• Reserves, Over 30s move top
• Women win again

It was a historic day for the Shamrocks Legends who recorded their first win of the season at St Michaels on Sunday morning.

Two goals from Ger Shivnan and a great strike by Eddie Gilmartin earned a 3-2 result over in-form Eintracht.

Eddie Gilmartin (left) and Ger Shivnan were on target for the Shamrocks Legends on Sunday. Picture: John Riordan

Those goals had the home side 3-1 ahead by the half and they battled to hold on throughout the second half.

It fell to newly signed goalkeeper Ruairi O’Neill to produce the late heroics when he saved a penalty with ten minutes to go to preserve the three points.

“Tremendous result by our lads,” said assistant manager Eoin Sweeney.

“We knew this win was coming because we’ve deserved more from our previous games. It’s great for the confidence and we’ll try to kick on from here now.”

Meanwhile, the Shamrocks first team was unluckily denied a third win in a row, held scoreless at Polonia on Sunday afternoon at Randall’s Island in what was a key Division 1 clash for Kevin Grogan’s men.

It was a hard fought point and even though Polonia were reduced to nine men in the dying minutes, the weakened Rocks couldn’t find a way snatch victory.

“Extremely frustrating game,” said coach Kevin Grogan. “We didn’t play football in the way we should be playing.

“We missed a few players through illness so we were forced to change our system.

“Ultimately though we got a point and at times we could have lost the game. A point is a point. Back to work this Tuesday in training.”

The reserves won by the slimmest of margins in the curtain raiser thanks to a first half Paul McDaid goal which arrived 20 mins into the game after he was set up by a Brendan Lane Darren Coleman one-two.

Paul McDaid, last season’s top scorer for the reserves, grabbed his first of this season in the 1-0 win over Polonia. Picture: Dennis Schneidler

Stevie Doyle’s under strength line-up held on throughout a hard fought second half and deservedly clinched all three points.

“We did not play at all,” said Doyle. “The players know we have to improve and we’ll try and bring a better performance to next weekend’s game against Westechester.”

The Over 30s enjoyed a 6-2 win over Nieuw Amsterdam on Sunday evening to move top of the league.

Paddy Geraghty scored his first goal since returning to the Rocks, opening the scoring after 20 minutes.

Top scorer Tayfun Gokmen scored a hat trick in the space of ten minutes before the break, bringing his season’s tally to six.

Second half goals from Tomas Maher and Andy Horan rounded off Paddy Mc Carry’s return to the sideline in emphatic fashion.

“Great to be back and a fantastic win,” said Mc Carry. “We played some good football and we’ll just have to keep pressing on now.”

Shamrocks 1960 were held to a 2-2 draw at home by AO Brooklyn. Ciaran Moloney scored twice in the first half but Brooklyn battled back in after the break to take a point away from the game.

“We did well in the first half but we fell asleep after half-time and that’s a pity,” said Andy Connolly. “We’re still top of the league so we’ll just pick it up again at training this week and go from there.”

Earlier on Sunday at Randalls Island, there was a 2-1 win for the women’s team over Astoria, their third win in a row.

First half goals from Sinead Hennessy and Anastasia Hagan decided the game early but Astoria rallied late to narrow the margin after a terrible injury was suffered by club legend Teresa Brink.

The Shamrocks women’s team that overcame Astoria on Sunday. Picture: John Riordan

“A great result considering we had some injuries and played on a very small field which didn’t suit us,” said coach Paddy Geraghty.

“We wish Teresa a speedy recovery and hope to have her back at practice soon because it’s her favorite thing in the world.”

Everyone at the Shamrocks echo those sentiments. Get well soon Teresa!

In spite of a positive start to life in Division 1 of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League, Sunday will present the Shamrocks with arguably their most important test when they face fellow promoted side Polonia (Randalls Island 75 – 4pm).

The Greenpoint-based side edged the Rocks in last season’s race for the Division 2 title and for coach Kevin Grogan, Sunday’s first away game of the new season was always going to be a vital, season-defining six-pointer.

Grogan will be boosted by the fact that Joe Connolly is available for selection after the forward recovered from Sunday’s nasty clash of heads. Aside from Lee Toland, all of the Shamrocks are available for what their gaffer sees as a must-win game.

“It’s the biggest game of the season by a mile,” Grogan told NYShamrockSC.com.

“It’s a six-pointer because they were promoted along with us. Sunday is all about work ethic, discipline, concentration levels and making sure we don’t get complacent after a few decent results.

“I sound like a broken record but it’s always about the next game. Win lose or tie, how are we going to preform in the next game? Complacency is a disease so we can’t let that happen and spread. It will be the hardest game of the season so far make no mistake about that.”

Polonia have been unlucky not to win a game yet, losing their first two by the slimmest of margins away to United FC and at home to NY Athletic Club before earning their first point of the season last Sunday at Manhattan Celtic In a scoreless draw.

The Polonia Reserves have a similar record to their counterparts on the first team, coming into Sunday’s clash against Stevie Doyle’s men with a draw and two losses.

Two high-scoring wins for the Rocks in which they have racked up 11 goals in two games have placed them firmly in the category of “team to watch”, something Doyle is very conscious of.

“We had a couple of good battles with them last season and we expect nothing less than that on Sunday,” he admitted.

“We have to make sure we’re focusing on our performance because we know fully well this league will always have a surprise waiting around the corner. We will prepare the same way and try to get ourselves off to a better start than we did against United.”

St Michael’s will host games for Shamrocks 1960 and Shamrocks Legends on Sunday, both teams keenly pursuing vital victories.

Shamrocks 1960 have three wins from three but AO Brooklyn are nipping at their heels and the 1pm game is already shaping up to be a six-pointer for the newly formed Metro 2 side.

“We had a good September but we need to push on,” said 1960 coach Andy Connolly. “Teams are going to be improving as they get used to each other. We’re getting used to each other as well so hopefully we can put in a good performance at home and keep the streak going.”

The Legends face a very tough test against league leaders SC Eintracht Over-30 at 11am. Eintracht have already scored 20 goals in their three wins so far and will be going into this one full of confidence.

“We’re not far away from our first win,” said Legends coach Emmett Harvey. “We showed last weekend that things are starting to click. We played Eintracht in a pre-season friendly and they were very strong. So we’ll be ready for a tough game Sunday morning.”

Paddy Mc Carry returns from paternity leave to guide his undefeated Over 30s league champions into their clash with unknown quantity Nieuw Amsterdam (Randalls Island 83 – 5pm).

It’s tight at the top of the league after three games with Shamrocks, Central Park Rangers Old Boys and Manhattan Celtic Legends all on a 2-1 record so Mc Carry will be keen not to slip up against Nieuw Amsterdam who have played two games, losing to Celtic and drawing with NY Greek Americans.

“We don’t know much about Amsterdam,” said coach Mc Carry. “They drew with Greeks so they must be a decent side. I am missing couple of starters but as always I am going into the game looking for three points and so will my players.”

The first game of the day on Sunday will see the Shamrocks Women take on Astoria at Randall’s Island 80 at 9am as the Rocks seek out a third win on the bounce with their team strengthening as the season enters October.

“We are getting stronger every week,” said Tricia Reed, co-player-manager of the team. “We signed two new quality players in Christina and Teresa as well as getting Danika back from injury so we’ll be looking to make it t

• Shamrocks dominant as both United FC teams humbled
• Over 30s cruise past Westchester Dinamo
• Geraghty’s half-time speech inspires Rocks Women to second win in a row
• 1960 go clear at the top after perfect September
• Minute silence marks passing of Seamus McPartland

Chris Uy scored an impressive brace before half-time to lift Kevin Grogan’s Shamrocks to a 4-0 win over United FC at St Michaels on Sunday.

His first was a half volley from just beyond the penalty spot and his second was the result of a nice Joey Zorbo assist which allowed Uy to dink the ball past the United keeper.

The Rocks controlled the second half and Zorbo beat the offside trap to slot home and make it 3-0 before Santiago Rigby scored brilliantly after an excellent one-two move with Joe Connolly.

“I’m happier with our performance today,” said Grogan. “We worked on a few things at training and I feel that showed out there today.

“We have two wins from two now but I really believe next week’s game at Polonia is a true six-pointer that we have to focus on.”

Both teams observed a minute silence prior to the game in memory of Seamus McPartland, father of past president and club stalwart Kevin.

Unfortunately, Joe Connolly was taken to hospital with a bad head wound but he was treated and released Sunday evening.

Earlier the reserves were outstanding in their 6-0 victory with goals from Darren Coleman (2), Leo Nizzi (2), Colum McComish and a screamer from Isaac Hidalgo which opened the scoring.

“I was delighted with the clean sheet,” said reserves coach Stevie Doyle. “We didn’t start the game well but we came into it and took our chances when they arrived in the second half. It was also good to see that a few lads came in to stake their claim for a starting spot.”

Rocks 1960 made it three wins from three in Metro 2, coming from 1-0 down and 2-1 down to get all three points against Afghanistan and make it a perfect September for their inaugural campaign.

A Dave Harvey penalty brought the Rocks back to 1-1 while Neil Mannion made it 2-2 with a tap-in after a Harvey free. The winner was an own goal thanks to pressure from Ciarán Moloney.

“We battled well today,” said 1960 coach Connolly. “It wasn’t easy and they made us really work for it but results like this will really stand to us in the spring. When we got the ball down and played our style, we were well on top but it still needed a bit of grit to edge them out.

“AO Brooklyn are just behind us in the table so that will be an early six-pointer to focus on next Sunday.”

The Over 30s were 4-0 up against Westchester Dinamo at Randall’s Island on Sunday morning when their opponents threw in the towel at half-time. Sean Riley scored twice while Tayfun Gokmen and Matteo Stiglich were the other goal scorers.

“That’s seven points out of a possible nine against title rivals so we are delighted with how we’ve begun the season,” said Paddy Mc Carry. “We’ll go into October with confidence now but we’ll take each game as it comes beginning Sunday with Nieuw Amsterdam.”

The Legends were also at Randall’s Island on Sunday morning, drawing 4-4 against Banatul to notch their first league point of the season.

Randall Friedman opened the scoring with a header, Ger Shivnan added a pair of goals – his first for the club – and Eddie Gilmartin scored from the penalty spot.

“We deserved a win but we’ll take the draw,” said coach Emmett Harvey. “It’s a confidence booster and I think we proved to ourselves that we’re starting to get a bit of shape. We’ll push on to next week and build on this one.”

Elsewhere, a half-time speech for the ages from coach Paddy Geraghty roused the Rocks Women to come from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against Phoenix at East 6th St.

In doing so, they were winning their second game in a row for the first time as they moved to 2-1 in the Metro Women’s League. Top scorer Sinead Hennessy was on fire again adding two goals to her season’s tally of along with a Jackie Pounder effort overturning a 2-0 deficit to earn the Rocks Women a 3-2 win, their second of the season.

“We were down at halftime 2-0 so we needed to be more focused,” said co-player-manager Tricia Reed. “Paddy delivered a memorable speech and that got us were fired up. Everyone worked hard in the second half and we scored three goals in the last 25 minutes so we have to be very pleased with how it ended up.”

After an early break from their Division 1 schedule, the newly promoted Shamrocks are back in action on Sunday afternoon with a tough home game against United FC (St Michael’s – 1pm).

Kevin Grogan will have new signing Laurie Child available for selection after he missed the opening day 1-0 victory over the Greeks but captain Sean Steed (injury) and vice-captain Lee Toland (away) must both wait a little longer before they make their season starts.

United FC were turned over badly last Sunday by 2014-15 runners-up Pancyprians, their ten men falling 9-1 in a result which was watched by Grogan. They did however take a 1-0 victory away from their opening day game at home to Division 2 champions Polonia.

“It’s the biggest game of the season for us because its the next game,” said the Rocks boss.

“United FC are a very good football team and are hurting from their defeat last week so they will be doing everything in there power to rectify that.”

The curtain-raiser will see Stevie Doyle’s reserves look to build on their impressive 5-3 week one victory (St Michael’s – 11am).

United reserves are coming into this one on the back of a pair of 2-2 draws against Polonia and Pancyprians.

“We’re looking forward to the game this week after having a small break,” said Doyle..”It’s going to be a very difficult game against United FC but we’ll look to play our way and try to replicate the good football we produced two weeks ago.”

With a perfect record going into week three of Metro 2, Shamrocks 1960 will face unknown quantity NYC Afghanistan later on Sunday (Randalls Island 74 – 2pm).

Afghanistan have lost both their opening games, losing 4-1 at Eintracht and 2-1 at Gotham City.

Andy Connolly’s men emerged from another tough tussle with the narrowest of victories last Sunday, downing Eintracht 1-0, and Connolly said he is keen to keep the winning streak going.

“We had a good session on Tuesday night and we have a few players coming back after missing the game against Eintracht,” said Connolly.

“The lads are getting used to each other but we’re not looking past Afghanistan and we really have to focus on getting a result against them.”

In the earliest kick-off of the day, Paddy Mc Carry’s Over 30s champions will host Everton FC Westchester Dinamo at Randalls Island 75 with an 8am kick-off.

Dinamo have merged with Westchester having succumbed to the Rocks in last season’s league final and drew their one and only game of the new season against Manhattan Kickers Over 30s.

“I expect a very very tough game against these boys,” said Mc Carry. “We beat them on penalties in the final in June so I expect rhere will be nothing in it again. We will have to be at our best to get a result – they are an excellent team.”

The Shamrocks Legends will follow up the Over 30s game on adjacent Field 74 where they will take on Banatul at 10am.

Coach Emmett Harvey is hoping to bounce back after two bruising defeats.

“We are building a really good squad at the moment,” said Harvey. “We are getting stronger every week and have signed some good players within the last few weeks. We played very well last week and we look forward to this Sunday’s game hopefully getting some points on the board.”

Meanwhile in the Metro Women’s League, the Shamrocks have an 11am kick-off against Phoenix (East 6th St).

“We are looking to build on last week’s win,” said coach Paddy Geraghty. “We are missing a few players but hopefully we can keep another clean sheet and take our chances when they come.”

The Shamrocks Women got their first victory of the season on the board in style, downing Appletown with a dominant 3-0 win in New Utrecht on Sunday.

Goals from new signings Brittany Meade, Sinead Hennessy and Jackie Gawne set up the big victory giving the management team of Erin Cullen, Tricia Reed and Paddy Geraghty a much needed boost to kickstart their season.

“We expected this performance was coming,” said player/co-manager Tricia Reed. “But it was great to see the new players gel so well with our squad and get a win early in the season. Everyone did really well and we can now look forward to our game next Sunday against Phoenix. We will keep working hard and we aim to make a big push.”

The winning Rocks – 3-0 victors over Appletown

“This team was started 14 months ago but today we arrived,” added coach Paddy Geraghty. “There is a buzz about the squad and good players want to come play for the club. The effort in training is starting to show and we’ll take some stopping now.”

Meanwhile on what was a bye week for our firsts and reserves, Shamrocks 1960 made it two wins from two in Metro 2, beating Eintracht 1-0 in a tough tussle that was decide by Dan Meola’s first half goal and some heroic goalkeeping from returning stalwart Robbie O’Neill.

“It was a tough game against a good young team,” said coach Andy Connolly.

“Robbie O’Neill’s performance between the posts certainly helped us over the line and these are the sort of wins that will stand to us. The goal was excellent and the defenders did well after that to keep us ahead.”

The Rocks 1960 team that beat Eintracht 1-0 on Sunday

With almost half an hour gone, Hughie McGowan showed great composure on the left, finding Meola who then chipped the ball beyond the Eintracht goalkeeper wit ha sublime half volley.

The 1960 team will take on NYC Afghanistan FC next Sunday with time and location to be determined.

A battling 2-2 draw for the Rocks Over 30s ensured a point gained after a depleted first 11 made the tough trip to Manhattan Celtic and came from behind twice to take a result back to Queens.

Tayfun Gokmen scored a stunning free for the second week in a row while Marcos Soto’s second half equalizer was an excellent finish from the right wing, a lob that pinged in off the back post.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the boys,” said caretaker manager John Riordan. “We were missing some key players but the lads stepped up and salvaged an excellent point.”

It will be another tough assingment at home next Sunday morning for Paddy Mc Carry’s men as they face Dinamo (who have merged with Westchester) at 8am, a repeat of last season’s league championship decider.

Earlier in the day, the Shamrocks Legends went down 5-1 at home to Cozmoz with Stevie Doyle scoring a first half consolation tap-in. Banatul SC form next Sunday’s opposition time and location to be determined.