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Finglas FC had a disappointing start to 2002 with a loss of 3-1 to a
far
fitter squad Coolock Town. The new manager Pat Dunphy made his pressence
felt straight away with his decision on finglas FC's formation. starting
his
team 4,5,1 was a well educated decision as finglas fc are lacking an out
and
out striker. dunphys decision seemed to be paying off as finglas put a
surprised coolock side under immense pressure in the first 20 mins.
unfortunately finglas fc's lone striker aidan jameson, despite his great
efforts couldnt capitalize against a well organised coolock defence.
finglas fc's midfield wingers were free to make runs as they pleased as a
confident thomas kelly playing behind the 2 centre midfielders covered and
supported them throughout the first half. kelly supplied countless balls
up
both wings but mainly up the right to derek aherne who battled well. as 20
mins passed coolock got a grip on the game. their passing was more
accurate
and they suceeded in putting an excellently placed ball through to their
best striker. he managed to slip by derek reilly and push the ball past
sean
smart leaving it 1-0.
thats how it stayed till half time. a clash of heads between dave mccabe
and
a coolock midfielder left mccabe with a nasty gash on his nose. before the
half-time whistle the game got progressively scrappier as a coolock player
showed his frustration to brian keenan because young keenan beat him to
every ball in the air. there were some unfair tackles on keenans partner
darren murray, but murray an experienced tackler made an impact on a few
coolock players aswell.
pat dunphy gave good words of inspiration at half time as a determined
finglas team returned to a muddy pitch. within 10 mins finglas brought the
game back to 1-1. a foolish foul on mick mcguinness gave darren murray the
chance he needed to cross a good ball to aidan jameson who inturn
unselfishly laid the ball up for brian keenan. keenan didnt need a second
invitation to blast home the equalizer. finglas lifted their game and
thier
confidence grew as they put more pressure on coolock. unfortunately
finglas
lost mick mcguinness temporarily due to a foot injury. finglas were down
to
10 men the tide turned and coolock moved forward for the first time
in the
second half. a bad decision by the ref tom o connor left coolock with a
free
outside the box. a low hard cross was deflected into the net by both a
coolock striker and a finglas defender. this goal against the run of play
dashed the spirits of finglas fc.
coolocks superior fitness shone through and the finglas defence of dave
mccabe, derek reilly, colm mullins and lenny maher did very well to hold
off
the opposition till the dying minutes. coolock scored a well built goal 7
minutes before time. finglas fc's derek reilly got booked as the ref who
overall had a great game over reacted to a fair challenge.
coolock deserved the win in the end. the fact that finglas hadnt played a
match since dec 15th 01 was obvious to all the onlookers. they lacked
fitness and sharpness which can only be gained by competitive match play.
my
man of the match was coolock striker number 9. the best player in my
opinion
for finglas was tom kelly. not only did he battle all through the game
consistantly covering both wings but he shouted direction to players
around
him, a quality scarcely seen in a potentially great finglas side.
substitutes made were paul colgan for aidan jameson and robbie owens for
mick mcginness.
all the best for the next game against st james.
from your number 1 reporter.
fingolingo.
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