Spartak Dynamo FC

Spartak Over 35s 0, Spartak X1 2

A good work out for the over 35s, who were for the most part untroubled by the younger club members. Most of the youngsters took advantage of the extra space due to the slower pace of the match by holding onto the ball unneccesarily prior to launching it onto the willing heads of McGrath and Callan at the heart of the vets defence. Niall Hanratty was a particular culprit here, eschewing his recent good form, and in addition his set pieces were aimed carefully for Jimmy Browne’s gloves.

Both full backs, Rob Deering and Ryan Burke, regularly wasted possession and overlapped rarely.

Up front Ross Kelly made willing runs, but was largely ignored by his colleagues. In midfield, McInerney, Mannion and Hogan failed in general to get beyond the front men or supply sufficient attacking support or guile.

The older guys defence was well marshalled by Callan and McGrath, with Kavanagh and the spiky Crowe offering stout cover in midfield.
Ken Byrne faded after a bright start. Shay McClafferty covered and distributed neatly.

The downside for the over 35s was the lack of substitutes, so necessary at this level, and also that they were toothless in attack. The lack of hold up play meant that inevitably they would concede ground and be forced deep.

Mick Greene, swapping positions with Ross, opened the scoring from Dermot Dooley’s cross. Hesitancy from the referee caused the over 35 defence to stop, expecting a whistle for a throw in. The whistle never arrived.

A good cross by Rob Deering, on a rare overlap, was cleared back to him and he finished neatly for number 2.

Form Report
Over 35s: Jimmy Browne 6 Shay McClafferty 7 Lee Atkins 6 Paul McGrath 7 Greg Callan 7 Tony Kavanagh 6 Ken Byrne 6 Barry Crowe 6 Leon David 5 Jason Doyle 5 Mark Byrne 5 Rory Campbell5

SelectX1: Mick Greene 6 Rob Deering 5 Dillon Burke 5 Rob Flanagan 6 Niall Hanratty 4 Shane McInerney 5 Chris Hogan 5 Kevin Mannion 5 Ryan Burke 5 Ross Kelly 6 Derek McGoldrick 5 Dermot Dooley 6

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