Schalke Rovers 1 SDFC 1
Spartak 35’s drew for the second time in consecutive matches on Saturday with a very good performance against Schalke Rovers in St Anne’s park.
Starting with an experimental formation Spartak put the home side under immediate pressure and created 3 good chances in the first 5 minutes. Ray Grady had two very good efforts just wide before delivering a great cross from which Rory Campbell was unlucky not to score. Rory then turned provider with a perfect cross for a Ken Byrne header that the keeper saved.
The game continued in the same vain until just before half-time when against the run of play Schalke managed to take the lead with a hopeful shot that looped over Jimmy Browne.
The second half was more of the same with all the clear cut chances falling to Spartak. Ken Byrne burst through the defence and shot over. Their keeper made an excellent save from a Rory Campbell header and then Shay beat the offside trap to go clear on goal only for a last ditch tackle to keep the score intact.
With 20 minutes to go Spartak finally managed to draw level through Frank McNamee having being put through by Rory Campbell. After that Spartak continued to apply pressure on the Schalke goal but could not get the winner. A good effort from Paul Burke came close. The final chance for Spartak came when an excellent shot from Brian Stafford forced their keeper into another fine save, the ball broke to Jason Doyle whose return shot went narrowly wide.
It almost went horribly wrong for Spartak in injury time when two Schalke players beat the offside trap and found themselves two on one with Jimmy Browne. An excellent finger tip save from Jimmy directed the resulting shot onto the post which then to the relief of the away side rebounded into his arms to ensure that the game finished in stalemate.
On a day when so many chances were created there was some disappointment with a draw but the performance and effort was well up on the previous match. Overall it was a well deserved and well earned away point.
The spartak panel was Jimmy Browne, Tony Kavanagh, Dave Mohan, John Hallihan, Greg Callan, Ken Byrne, Brian Stafford, Barry Crowe, Frank McNamee, Rory Campbell, Paul Burke, Shay, Gavin McLaughlan, Ray Grady, Jason Doyle.
