Although they are still going strong in the Munster Cup, the Villa are now involved in a relegation dog fight following a 2-1 home defeat to Ferrybank.
Ferrybank took the lead through Kevin Roche but Villa equalised from the penalty spot after Brian Mallon handled the ball inside the 18-yard box.
Mallon was sent off before Danny Walsh scored from the spot, which meant that the visitors to Connors Park had to play with 10 players for 75 minutes.
Kevin Roche scored what proved to be the winning goal for Ferrybank.
Southend United, who did not play last weekend, remain bottom of the table, six points behind Ferrybank but they have game two games in hand, including a match against Ferrybank, who they defeated 3-0 the previous week.
Villa, as stated, are dropping like a stone and they are now deeply involved in the scrap at the wrong end of the table.
Hibernians more or less secured their top-flight status with an excellent 2-0 victory away to Johnville. JJ Hutchinson scored both goals in the second half. Johnville did have plenty of chances during the course of the first half but failed to take any of them.
St Saviours and Tramore played out a rather tame scoreless draw in Ballybeg on Saturday afternoon. Both sides fielded under-strength teams for one reason or another. The seasiders dominated the first half but Graham Cleary produced three fine saves during the opening 45 minutes.
St Saviours came into the game in the second half and they did get the ball into the Tramore net midway through the period when Stephen Dalton was on the mark but his ‘goal’ was ruled out as the referee claimed he was in an offside position.
