The park Lads travelled to East Cork yesterday to take on Midelton Fc for a chance to go a step further in an unbelieveable journey to reach the last 16 of the National Cup and bye God they done it in style with a superb determined display
1st half
With a severe wind blowing diagonally across the pitch coupled with the fact that both teams had never reached this stage of the competion previously, a tense nervous opening few minutes was to be expected. The Park sterted the quicker creating a few half chances thru Sean and Nathan but didnt really trouble the keeper too much, the first 10mins was dominated by the Park lads but the home team sarted to take over at this point putting the back four of Rhys, Kevin,Tide and Darra under pressure but to be fair they coped well with Tide in central defence marshalling the No11 their main threat upfront.But against the run of play the park broke out on the counter down the left with mervin taking the ball into the box, with a whipping pass across the face of goal Nathan took the ball under and drove it to the right of the keeper, 1 nil up on the 18min mark, the lads started to take the inicitative back but were dealt a sucker punch 5 mins later when the homeside drew level from a set piece.
From the tip off the Park showed true character to hit back straight away a through ball from Colin to Sean, one on one with the keeper there was going to be only one winner, 2-1 up and he could have got a second but for the bravery of the Midleton keeper who dived to steel the ball from his feet, Mervin finished the half with a fine looping strike from the edge of the box that was unluckly to nestle on top of the net after beating the keeper. 1-2 to the park at the break.
2nd Half
Mervin switched with Sean upfront, the park started with a steely determination with the centre midfield pairing of Junior and Colin taking control of the middle third, Liam and Nathan were harassing down both flanks and their hard work paid dividends, 6 mins into the half another sublime pass from Colin found mervin coming in from the left side and with a super strike with his weaker foot beating the keeper at the far post, 3 – 1 up and confidence was high for the park. over the next 10 min period it was very even with both teams creating chances, the Park relied on their steely defence, steady keeping from Gavin and an odd bit of luck at times to hold onto a 2 coal defecit.
Armin, Cian, Conor and Greg came on from the bench and with fresh legs started to inject a bit of life back into the Park, 27 mins in and the tie was over as a contest as Mervin scored his second after a lonng run from midfield thru on the right loping the keeper, the ball held up in the wind but managed to scrape over the line, 4- 1 up, the park were in command and with the Midleton players heads dropping mervin became the provider pulling the ball back across the box to Kevin who had moved into midfield and with a belter of a shot he shook the net, 5-1 to the Park with the final whistle blown shortly after to a rapturous applause from the travelling supporters.
This was one of the best squad performances this season, all players battled hard and gave 100% which was all that the management team had required.
Sadly Jordan couldnt get over a niggling injury and was unable to play, lets hope he makes a speedy recovery for our next game.
Many thanks to all the parents and supporters that made the long journey to cheer the lads over the line.
A special thanks to our hosts Midelton FC for a sporting game and their hospitality afterwards, we wish them success in their league and cup campaigns
Players of Note: Colin, Sean, Nathan, Mervin, Kevin, Liam, Rhys
Man of the Match: Tide Osinubi, a fine composed display in centre back, marshalling their main talisman upfront to keep him scoreless, tackled and cleared his lines superbly.
Squad on the Day: Gavin Doody, Cian Purcell, Kevin Goulding, Armin Heinrich, Junior Ankomah, Colin Walsh, Mervyn Shalemba, Nathan Gleeson, Liam Tobin, Sean McGrath, Greg Scanlon, Conor O’ Sullivan, Tide Osinubi, Darragh Moriarty, Jordan Mason, Rhys Keane.
Reminder: Training times Mon & Fri @ 7-8pm. For the continued success of the squad all players must attend training.
Well Done Lads!!! into the last 16 with a home tie against Leixlip Utd, Bring it on!!
