Our second round match in the National Cup saw us at home to Aisling Anachotty.
1st Half. In very difficult conditions we started the first half playing into a very strong wind. We settled well with some half chances coming our way. Mervyn struck from just outside the right hand side of Anacottys box, just for his effort to fly over their bar.
It was Anacotty who hit the back of the net first with a goal in the tenth minute (0-1). Anacotty at this period of the game had our defence under a lot of pressure. Cian Purcell and Gavin Doody played really well during this period to keep the score line down.
We kept trying to press forward through good work from Nathan on the right and Rhys on the left and eventually Mervyn got us back in the game with a goal from a ball played in behind the Anacotty defence from Colin (1-1).
We were now starting to create some really good chances for ourselves but it was Anacotty that scored again just before half time (1-2).
The feeling at half time was that we were still in the game and with a really good chance to win it !
2nd Half. Half time saw the introduction of some fresh legs for the tireless working Tide and Liam. Tide was replaced by Greg and Liam by Eoin. Now playing with the wind behind us we were hoping for the same start that Anacotty got in the first half. Mervyn broke through the middle of their defence shortly after the restart only to see his effort saved by Anacottys goalkeeper. A finer save won’t be seen in the Premier League this weekend! It was Anacotty again that scored first in the second half (1-3). At this point Conor was introduced for Richard O’ Gara who had shown great commitment in the center of defence. It was now three at the back and three up front !. With this change we started to create more chances but we didn’t take any of them which was a pity as we now had Anacotty under real pressure. Junior was now replaced by Andrew through injury. Andrew went to midfield and Greg who was having an outstanding game in midfield went to center back. Without a recognized central defender now on the pitch Anacotty struck again (1-4). We were now throwing everything at Anacotty trying to keep our cup run alive but again it was Anacoty that struck with a late goal to kill off our challenge.
Both Padraig and John felt that the final score did not reflect the effort that was put in by the whole squad on the day. This was also the view expressed by the Anacotty management team after the game.
Squad on the Day: Gavin Doody, Junior Ankomah, Cian Purcell, Greg Scanlon, Richard O’ Gara, Colin Walsh, Mervyn Shalemba, Tide Uisinubi, Darragh Moriarty, Liam Tobin, Rhys Keane, Conor O’ Sullivan, Nathan Gleeson, Eoin Higgins, Andrew Sucaci.
Best on the Day: Darragh Moriarty, Junior Ankomah, Nathan Gleeson, Colin Walsh, Rhys Keane.
Man of the Match: Greg Scanlon. Tackled , worked hard and used the ball well when introduced.
Training : Every Wednesday 6.30 – 7.30pm & Friday 5.30 – 6.30pm
