Champions Peake Villa will be the happier with Premier League away draw in Tipperary

Clonmel Credit Union Premier League

St Michael's 1 Peake Villa 1

It seems only yesterday since Peake Villa picked up last season’s Premier League title after a draw in Cooke Park, but the two big beasts of the TSDL faced each other again on Saturday evening last, and if the game and result are anything to go by, the destination of this season’s title might go all the way to the wire again.
This was a game of two halves with Saints having the better of the opening period, before the champions roared back in the second, to salvage a point. Hurt by giving up their title, the home side started well and David Slattery saw his ninth minute effort after some good approach play on the left flank had set him up.
Cian Fadden went close minutes later, and Russell Quirke was also unlucky as the Saints battled to turn possession and chances into scores. They finally took the lead just before the half hour mark, when Ashley Kelliher found Russell Quirke on his inside and his left foot shot evaded Willie Tierney in the Villa goal, to the delight of the home fans.
The Thurles side’s best chance came minutes before the break, when Adrian Walsh had to make a fine save from Dale Loughnane, to make sure his side went to half time in the lead.
But the visitors came back into the game from the restart and had half chances from Darragh Byrne and Pippy Carroll turned aside before they levelled the game in the 57th minute, when the constantly dangerous Loughnane set up Pippy Carroll to flash a shot to the net from ten yards out.
St Michael’s rallied a bit and David Slattery was unlucky not to restore his sides lead five minutes later, seeing his hooked effort slide agonisingly wide, with the keeper beaten.
But Peake Villa eventually took control again, and were unlucky not to get a second, with Cian Fadden excellent in the centre of the Michael’s defence, keeping the game level.
In the end, that was probably the fairest result, and will keep both teams on their toes even from this early in the season, to the fact that any lost points this year could be the difference between who will or won’t finish the season as top dogs again.