Last Saturday we hosted Kingdom Boys in another league fixture. It ended 4 all and both teams can be happy with the offensive aspects of their games. The teams were even throughout but we feel we missed a good share of one on one chances that might have yielded a victory. The first half was an extremely scrappy affair with neither team able to get effective control of the ball. In this half our opponents were slightly the better team in general play and they took the lead after 8 minutes after we failed to close down and track opposing midfielders which allowed them to shoot from 25 yards into the top corner. They doubled their lead when from a free our wall was slow to get into position and an oppurtunistic free ended up in our net. This spurred our team and we got a superb equaliser when Paul Nolan and Cian MacGarry who had been unusually wasteful with the ball up to this point, set Louis Ryle up to score a cracker again into the top corner which he richly deserved. This was a lifeline we needed before the half time whistle and we nearly forced an equaliser through Sean Higgins after he went past 2 defenders on the left only to shoot narrowly wide. At half time we introduced Jimmy Shanahan up front and Thomas Dwyer wide on the left to give us more momentum and immediately in the second half Jimmy equalised and David Egan put us 3-2 up 10 minutes after Cian had been fouled but somehow managed to lay the ball off to David who scored with one of the hardest shots ever seen in the pitch. Following this our opponents put us under pressure but Eoghan O’Brien, Padraig O’Connor, David Murphy Jack Kelliher and Jamie Hogan were doing very well to keep them out and all loose balls were contested. Jack McCarthy in front of them was having another stormer and helped hugely to stem the tide but eventually the equaliser came. Now it was our turn to push on and Cian put us 4-3 up witha great goal from Louis’s cross. Indeed a feature of our game was the beginning of a partnership between these 2 which we hope will reap dividends as the season progresses. At this point in the game we were getting in behind them frequently but failed to convert the killer goal. From a counter attack we conceded a 4th when Eoghan was beaten at the near post in the top corner. The game by now was end to end with both teams now committing 3 up front and many goalmouth incidents ensued.We introduced Bobby O’Regan on the left and Dylan Frosty Ronan on the right and both made a positive impact on the game.In the last 10 minutes we created a number of one on ones that we really should have scored but it was not to be. Well done to everyone on the day and again thanks to our supporters.
Squad: Eoghan O’Brien, David Murphy, Jamie Hogan, Antóin Stanton, Bobby O’Regan, Jack McCarthy, Padraig O’Connor, Thomas Lenihan,David Egan, Cian MacGarry, Sean Higgins,Thomas Dwyer, Jimmy Shanahan,Darren Bastible,Louis Ryle,Luke Dalton, Dylan Ronan, Paul Nolan.