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
