Bacchus beat Spartak 7-6 on penalties (Final score 2-2)
Spartak’s over 35’s hopes of a cup run this season came to an end in the second round after a penalty shoot out defeat away to Bacchus in St Anne’s Park.
The first 30 minutes were very poor for Spartak with poor passing and a lack of urgency througout the team giving the impetus to the home side. Bacchus took the lead in this period after defensive hesidency allowed a harmless cross to be turned in by the opposing striker. Towards the end of the first half Spartak came more into the game and half chances fell to Mark Byrne and Rory Campbell who were both just beaten in a race to the ball by the home keeper on two separate occasions.
The second half also started badly for Spartak when no challenge was made to prevent a long range effort on goal which was well struck giving Jimmy Browne no chance to put the home side two up.
As the half wore on Spartak began to dominate in defence and midfield and as a result create numerous chances. A Frank McNamee shot following a corner was well saved by the away keeper. In the next attack Barry Crowe showed great technique to latch on to a McNamee header and strike home a volley from distance to put Spartak back in the game.
The final 20 minutes saw Spartak go all out to try and win the game. With Dave Mohan and Greg Callan in control at the back Tony Kavanagh and Gerry Doran pushed forward and provided wide options for Shay McClafferty and Paul Burke in midfield. From another corner the equalizer arrived when a Greg Callan header was expertly volleyed to the roof of the net by Rory Campbell. At least 4 other clear cut chances were created and unfortunately not taken. Three of them fell to Frank McNamee who failed to take advantage on each occasion. The best of these chances came following a one two with the excellent Paul Burke where a poor shot was easily parried for a corner. A final chance fell to Rory Campbell who volleyed over. On a rare foray forward a Bacchus shot required Jimmy Browne to make a good save. John Hallihan also made an excellent clearance to prevent a chance on goal.
The game finished 2 all. The penalties went to sudden death with Spartak unfortunately loosing out 7-6 . Their keeper’s save of Shay McClafferty’s penalty being the first miss of the shoot out. For the record the Spartak penalty scorers in order were Paul Burke, Barry Crowe, Frank McNamee, Gerry Doran, Rory Campbell and John Hallihan.
The spartak panel was Jimmy Browne, Tony Kavanagh, Dave Mohan, Paul Burke, Shay McCafferty, Mark Byrne, Rory Campbell, Frank McNamee, Barry Crowe, Gerry Doran, Leon David, Greg Callan, John Hallihan, Jason Doyle.
