Spartak Dynamo FC

23.4.18
Mt Merrion Youths 2, Spartak 3

A chilly Monday night game in Rosemount saw Spartak emerge with full points, albeit after a late surge by the home side.

All went well for the Sky Blues early on, with fluent football and confident passing. The first goal took just two minutes to arrive, with Aodhan McCahill and Darren Ritchie combining before Cian Stenson sent Owen McCormack through for an assured finish. Darren Ritchie poked home following a corner to make it two nil. It was generally one way traffic at this point, although the home side caused a couple of flurries with wind assisted corner kicks. Chris Hogan probably deserves some kind of award for going down injured after a block, then some time later jumping up and kicking the ball away petulantly, receiving a quite unnecessary caution for his trouble.

A slick move by Aodhan McCahill and Owen McCormack saw Seamus McCahill in for a good chance, but, cutting inside, he shot over the bar when colleagues were well placed.

On the hour Spartak did go three up, when Darren Ritchie forced the ball through for Cian Stenson to take a touch before finishing confidently.

Merrion got back into the game when they scored via a deflection. Spartak had a few chances to close out the match by adding a fourth, but Owen McCormack chose wrong options on a couple of occasions, and Leo Behan shot straight at the keeper on another.

A second goal for the home side saw a tight finish, as Spartak went down to ten when, with all subs used, Greg Murphy fell awkwardly and dislocated his shoulder.

A resolute Sky Blue defence saw out the late challenge to secure the victory.

Form Report
Kevin Loftus 6 Chris Hogan 6 Aodhan McCahill 8 Sean Doyle 8 Kevin Murphy 6 Seamus McCahill 7 Leo Behan 6 Cian Stenson 8 Owen McCormack 7 Darren Ritchie 7 Mick Leslie 7
Subs: Shane McInerney 6 Conor Callis 6 Ciaran Keane 6 Greg Murphy 6

23.4.18
Spartak 2, Mid Sutton/Sportslink 1

A somewhat fortunate win, in that both goals came from big Mid Sutton errors.

Nonetheless, Spartak came from behind at the interval to win. The visitors scored after a smart move and cross found the Sky Blues defence wanting. Up front Mick Leslie missed a couple of presentable chances in a tight first half.

Spartak found their rythm in the second period; Mikey Ryan and Mick Leslie combined to send Ciaran Keane in with a chance, he turned inside and clipped the top of the bar with his effort. Then the equaliser came after a scramble, during which any of Mikey Ryan , Mick Leslie or Leo Behan might have scored. All missed the opportunity until a visiting defender, attempting to clear, smashed the ball against Mick Leslie, and the ball looped high to the net over a helpless custodian. Mick was immediately in twitter contact with Harry Kane, who advised him to claim the goal.

Worse was to follow for the visitors. Sean Doyle’s cunningly flighted free kick was headed to his own net by a defender, who was under pressure from Kevin Murphy’s run. 2-1.

Spartak now opened up, buoyed by the goals, and played some nice football. Cian Stenson added a “third” but was ruled offside, and Ciaran Keane had a clear one on one chance, but shot at the keeper.

Spartak’ defence, ably marshalled by Sean Doyle, and with Owen McCormack an assured deputy for the injured Greg Byrne between the posts, held firm to clinch the win.

Form Report
Owen McCormack 8 Chris Hogan 6 Cian Stenson 7 Sean Doyle 8 Kevin Murphy 7 Jason Kelly 7 Shane McInerney 6 Ciaran Keane 6 Leo Behan 6 Tom O’Driscoll 6 Mick Leslie 6
Subs: Mikey Ryan 6 Conor Canavan 6 Gary Murphy 6

14.4.18
Enniskerry 3, Spartak 5

On a windy Astro in Enniskerry, Spartak claimed a victory, largely due to a wonderful early second half penalty save by Greg Byrne to prevent the hosts taking the lead.

Driven by a central midfield partnership of Seamus McCahill and Stuart Love, Spartak created plenty of opportunities in the first period. Darren Ritchie was around the keeper, but was robbed of possession by the cover. Darren and Ger Byrne combined to give Cian Stenson a chance, but the keeper pushed his indecisive effort on to a post. Mick Leslie beat the keeper with a high flick, but could not bring the ball down to finish. A neat one two saw Stephen Barr score after combining with Darren Ritchie.

Suddenly the hosts came alive, as Spartak dozed at a throw in, and the forward had plenty of space to fire home. A long range effort then gave Enniskerry the lead.

Stuart Love equalised early in teh second half as Spartak came out stronger, but then an undisputed handball from Chris Hogan gave the hosts the chance from the spot. Greg dived low to his right to thwart the taker, and also blocked the follow up.

Gradually the Sky Blues took command and Seamus McCahill scored form distance, before Stuart Love added an acrobatic second and Ciaran Keane the scored a trademark long range lob. The home side got a late consolation to make it 5-3.

Form Report
Greg Byrne 9 Chris Hogan 6 Leo Behan 8 Stephen Barr 7 Kevin Murphy 6 Stuart Love 8 Seamus McCahill 8 Cian Stenson 6 Mick Leslie 6 Darren Ritchie 6 Ger Byrne
Sbs: Ciaran Keane 6 Gary Murphy 6

24.3.18
Castleknock Celtic 6, Spartak 0

Despite a few absentees, Spartak, on paper at least, had a decent line up, against opponents who had succumbed in the reverse fixture in Marlay.

Unfortunately, the game was not played on paper, but on the dry and bumpy pitch at Porterstown Park.

Suffice to say the hosts were lively, energetic and accurate in their passing; qualities which were not exhibited by the Sky Blues on the day.

Form Report – a collective 4. Stinker.

Greg Byrne Cian Stenson Niall Hanratty Stephen Barr Ian Harmon Jason Kelly Conor Callis Mick Leslie Mikey Ryan Kev Nolan Ciaran Keane .
Subs: Conor Canavan Ross Kelly Alex Ionescu

19.3.18

The Annual General Meeting will take place in the Eden House on Tuesday 27th March at 9.15pm. Those who have paid annual membership may attend.

24.2.18
Walkinstown 1, Spartak 2

Despite the absence of a number of key players, the Sky Blues produced a fine performance to garner three points and move to the edge of the promotion race.

Spartak began well and vreated several clear chances before going ahead just before half time. Jason Kelly took adavantage of a keeper miskick but fired wide of the empty goal, Then fine move between Danny Loughran and Gerry McGuinness set up the unmarked Ciaran Keane seven yards out, but he fired over. An Owen McCormack free caused havoc in the home penalty box, but Kevin Murphy, from no more than a couple of yards saw his effort blocked for a corner.

Finally Danny Loughran ran on to a deflected long ball to round the keeper and make it 1-0.

That’s not to say the home side were without a few efforts, and Spartak were grateful to Greg Byrne for a couple of sharp saves.

The home side came out in very determined fashion for the second half and equalised after a couple of minutes from close range. Spartak were put under the cosh and had to defend manfully to repel the home side’s attacks. Breakouts were rare and on one occasion Conor Callis had a good run, beat his man , but his cross let him down.

With 15 minutes to go, Conor Callis had a good run, beat his man again; this time he was tripped – penalty. Owen McCormack despatched the kick efficiently.

Then came the real siege. Walkinstown had a big miss, wide from a good position. Then they struck the post, and finally, in stoppage time, there were incredible goal line clearances from Chris Hogan and Sean Doyle.

A gritty win.

Form Report
Greg Byrne 8 Chris Hogan 8 Leo Behan 8 Owen McCormack 8 Kevin Murphy 8 Jason Kelly 7 Conor Callis 7 Mick Leslie 7 Gerry McGuinness 8 Ciaran Keane 7 Danny Loughran 7
Sub: Sean Doyle 7

Rush 4, Spartak 0

It seems this game was not destined to go well for the Sky Blues.

Numerous cry offs and no shows made for a struggle to field a side, notwithstanding that only 5 points separated the sides before the game. Additionally, Spartak had a game in hand on second placed Rush, who had succumbed to a 3-1 defeat in Marlay earlier in the season.

Luckily, club stalwarts Stuart Love, Dave Browne and Tom O’Driscoll travelled to fill some of the gaps.

Worse was to follow. The referee awarded the first two ludicrously offside goals, while missing a really bad tackle on Stephen Barr. The offside goals were not of the usual few disputed marginal yards, in each case the home forward, assuming the whistle would blow, had to be urged to carry on by his quicker thinking team mates.

For the second goal, the Rush player was not within 30 yards of a Spartak defender, but allowed to carry on and score. Everyone present assumed the ref was waiting for the player to touch the ball before whistling.

Naturally, goals change games, and finding themselves unjustly two down early in the second period, anxiety and bad decision making by Spartak compounded the situation. Sean Doyle missed a couple of opportunities to claw Spartak back into the game, Mick Leslie forced the keeper into a good save, but, despite the efforts of all the home side took advantage of errors to add two legitimate goals, albeit the result of sloppy defending.

The Sky Blues, to their credit, stuck gamely to the impossible task, driven on by Leo Behan in midfield and the energy of Sean Doyle and the indefatigable Mick Leslie, but could not do much against such impossible odds.

The refereeing standards in the LSL have really plummeted.

Form Report
Greg Byrne 7 Chris Hogan 5 Dave Browne 6 Sean Doyle 7 Stephen Barr 6 Stuart Love 6 Andre Gabriel 5 Mick Leslie 6 Leo Behan 7 Tom O’Driscoll 5 Kevin Murphy 5
Sub: Kevin Loftus 5

9.12.17
Spartak 10, Ashbourne 0

The Sky Blues fired a ten goal salvo against a hapless Ashbourne side that was hampered by an early red card, and suffered another dismissal in the second half.

Spartak were not in sympathetic mood, and Mick Leslie helped himself to a five goal haul to top the club scoring charts. Andre Gabriel (2), Cian Stenson, Jason Kelly and Stuart Love got the other scores.

Early on, Greg Byrne saved well to keep the visitors at bay, but after the dismissal had little to do. Steve Grier and Stuart Love combined to open the floodgates, and the goals flowed in quick succession.

Form Report
Greg Byrne 7 Chris Hogan 7 Cian Stenson 7 Steve Grier 8 Dave Browne 7 Stuart Love 8 Jason Kelly 8 Niall Hade 8 Dave Berry 8 Mick Leslie 9 Andre Gabriel 7
Subs: Seamus McCahill 6 Ciaran Keane 5 Danny Loughran 6

18.11.17

Spartak 1, Castleknock Celtic 0

Spartak owed the clean sheet to some stout defending, assured goalkeeping by Greg Byrne, but also to a big miss by a Castleknock player in the first half. The winger evaded Kevin Loftus and Chris Hogan to deliver an inviting cross to the unmarked striker, who headed against the crossbar and over when it seemed a routine act to score

This chance came after the visitors had established a level of control, late in the first half. For the first quarter or so, Spartak had dominated proceedings, only to be let down by the final ball, or lack of composure in front of goal. The best chance fell to Dave Berry, still rusty after a long lay off, who raced on to a deflected pass to go one on one. Opting for power rather than finesse, he blasted the ball at the keeper who pushed it onto the post and away for a corner. Cian Stenson also had a score ruled out for offside.

Passes then started to go astray and the visitors were allowed into the contest.

Many times during the game, Conor Callis showed a clean pair of heels to the visitors’ defence, but too often the final ball was lacking. It was however from one of his runs which forced a corner that brought the decisive goal, Niall Hade nodding in Dave Berry’s flag kick in the 73rd minute.

As the visitors pushed forward in search of the equaliser, Spartak broke as Mick Leslie beat the keeper in a race for Greg Byrne’s kick out. Mick squared it to Matt Forbes, whose effort was cleared off the line. Appeals for handball were ignored.

Form Report
Greg Byrne 9 Kevin Loftus 6 Cian Stenson 7 Chris Hogan 7 Keith Kelly 8 Darren Ritchie 7 Leo Behan 7 Conor Callis 6 Mick Leslie 6 Niall Hade 6 Dave Berry 6
Sub: Matt Forbes 5

11/11/17
Aylesbury 2, Spartak 4

The Sky Blues scored a timely away win in rain soaked Aylesbury.

With key central defenders absent through injury, Spartak had to improvise, and the players responded well. As usual both sides had to cope with the idiosyncratic refereeing performance, and both sides expressed their frustration at times.

Spartak had most of the play in the first half, but the final pass too often went astray. Cian Stenson set up Mick Leslie for the best chance, but he pulled his effort wide; Mick also struck the frame of the goal from a narrow angle following a corner by Andrei Gabriel. The home side then took the lead against the run of the play when the ball dropped kindly for the attacker following a corner.

Worse was to follow when loose marking allowed the home striker to fire in early in the second period.

However the tenacity of Mick Leslie paid off when he reduced arrears , and almost immediately he laid on a cross for Cian Stenson to equalise after a flowing move also involving Niall Hade and Conor Callis.

Spartak were now rampant and Mick Leslie converted Dave Berry’s cross to put the Sky Blues ahead. A number of injuries then disrupted the Sky Blues, and Aylesbury laid siege to the Spartak goal.

A number of blocks, clearances and saves from Greg Byrne kept the home side at bay. It looked as if the home number 5 had equalised with a bullet header from corner kick, but somehow Greg Byrne made a near miraculous reaction to push the effort over.

As the home side pushed forward, they left space at the back and this was punished when Mark Naughton tapped in after Dave Berry’s run and cross.

Form Report
Greg Byrne 9 Andrei Gabriel 7 Cian Stenson 8 Chris Hogan 8 Darren Ritchie 7 Jason Kelly 8 Conor Callis 5 Mick Leslie 8 Conor Canavan 7 Niall Hade 7 Leo Behan 7
Subs: Dave Berry 7 Kevin Loftus 6 Matt Forbes 6 Mark Naughton 6