Spartak Dynamo FC

St Josephs (Kilmuckridge) 3, Spartak 2

Spartak had a rude awakening by the seaside when touch and sharpness were in short supply against a tidy footballing home side.

On a windy day and a bumpy pitch the home side moved the ball well, while the boys in claret and blue were so poor with their first touch that the second touch was often a tackle!

After a few scares when Julian made a good save following errors by Dave Mohan and Mick Greene, Spartak had a chance when newcomer Jose Vargas shot wide as Neill Bolger’s pass sent him in from the right.
On 32 minutes Spartak took the lead against the run of play; Dave O’Kelly lost possession, chased back to recover and launched a long clearance. Tom O’Driscoll took advantage of hesitancy in the home defence to score neatly.

On 41 minutes Dave Mohan and Alex Kenny were caught by a sharp attack and Alex’s clumsy challenge conceded a penalty – 1-1 at the break.

St Josephs took command of the game, against the wind in the second half, scoring in the 49th and 51st minutes, firstly when they exposed a lack of cover in Spartak’s rearguard, and then from Dave Mohan’s poor free the home side broke past a bemused McInerny and Costello to free the centre forward who rounded O’Toole to score, with Mohan unable to recover his position.

Vargas set up Derek McGoldrick for a chance which the keeper saved well. Earlier the same combination saw McGoldrick, stretching, shoot wide.

When Martin Costello’s free was spilled by the keeper, Neill Bolger’s brave diving header was just wide. Vargas then sent Costello away on the overlap, and his cross drifted in at the far post to reduce arrears, but the home side in their next attack struck the underside of the bar with O’Toole helpless.

Spartak had shown some element of brawn but little evidence of footballng brains and the scoreline flattered them somewhat.

Form Report
Julian (Dave Mohan’s nephew, guesting) 7 – confident handling and a couple of good saves
Peter O’Toole 6 – helpless for both goals he conceded and could only watch as the home side hit the bar.
Dave O’Kelly 4 -concentrated mainly on solo runs, was regularly dispossessed and caught out of position.
Mick Greene 4 Flat footed and slow to react; also set pieces poor.
Dave Mohan – 4 – implicated in concession of two goals. Few aerial duels as home side moved ball around him.
Alex Kenny 6 Conceded penalty for rash challenge , generally a reasonable outing.
Martin Costello 5 – energetic, but midfield role was out of his comfort zone. Passing and creativity proved beyond him.
Shane McInerney 4 – a sluggish outing for a player who relies on tackling and short passing;never got to the pitch of the ball and was by passed in midfield , particularly (along with Martin) for goal number 3 . Showed no forward initiative.
Chris Hogan 4 – out of touch and failed to link defence and attack
Neill Bolger 5 – won plenty of ball but often careless in distributing it.
Jose Vargas 5 showed a couple of good touches but out of condition
Tom O’Driscoll 4 Took his goal neatly but set pieces poor and lacking sharpness
Jason Northey 4 Tried in several outfield positions but fitness and workrate too low
Derek McGoldrick 5 a couple of early runs but then petered out. Had a couple of second half chances but poor in link up play
Mick Plunkett 4 Tackling with studs up and conceded some frees. Ring rusty and out of practice after a long absence from the game.

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