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
