St Itas 0, Spartak 6
A scintillating first half performance overwhelmed the locals with top notch passing and impressive finishing.
The big pitch suited Spartak and the Sky Blues took full advantage of the space by completely outplaying the locals from the off.
Spartak did not have long to wait for the opener when Keith Kelly played Dermot Dooley in and when his initial effort was blocked he charged down the rebound and forced it over the line.
Spartak were moving the ball swiftly from player to player and any possession lost was quickly recovered, particularly by Dermot Dooley and Keith Kelly in midfield. Chris Hogan on the right, who had a poor game the previous week and was only selected in Ryan Burke’s absence, turned in his best ever display in a sky blue shirt, composed on the ball and neat in his passing.
Mick Greene robbed an Itas defender on the byline, and when he moved the ball to Mick Costello and he crossed to Dermot Dooley, the latter’s shot rebounded off the post for Neil Bolger to gleefully drive in from close range.
The best move of the match involved many passes and was rounded off when Neill Bolger’s cross was headed in by Derek McGoldrick. McGoldrick then played Mick Costello through to finish in style.
The fifth, just after the break was set up by Mcik Costello for Dooley to fire home from the edge of the box.
Late on the substitutes got in on the action when a good run and accurate cross by Jose Vargas allowed Niall Lennon to shoot home for his first of the season.
Itas never gave up and apart from one bad tackle never resorted to tactics used by some teams when taking a beating. They had a few opportunities, but good defensive work by Martin Costello, Peter O’Toole and Dave O’Kelly snuffed out the danger as Itas strove to gain some consolation. Peter O’Toole was swiftly out to act as sweeper when Martin made a rare error.
A performance to savour – and to build on.
Form Report
Peter O’Toole 7 Dave O’Kelly 8 Mick Greene 7 Martin Costello 7 Cathal Clancy 7 Keith Kelly 8 Dermot Dooley 9 Chris Hogan 8 Derek McGoldrick 8 Neill Bolger 7 Mick Costello 8
Subs: Niall Lennon 6 Jose Vargas 6 Mark Bolger 5 Mick Cooney
