A disappointing result considering the amount of possession we had . The result could have been a lot different but for some poor finishing a lack of a final pass in the attacking third of the pitch and a the fact that we never seemed to get out of first gear through out the match . Credit to AC whose discipline and togetherness earned them a point .
The first chance of the game came after six minutes when Jamie Clifford’s cross was met by the head of James Duggan but it went straight into the keepers hands . Further chances fell to Paddy Collins, Ryan Dolan and James Duggan in the first half hour without anyone testing the keeper by hitting the target . Just after the half hour mark AC took the lead when a long ball out of defence sent ex Park player Brandon Barrett through on goal and made no mistake from just inside the penalty area . Yet again for the remainder of the half we dominated possession without ever troubled their keeper with Paddy , Ryan and Segun all outing chances wide of the target .
The Second half saw the introduction of Fergal Ryan and Emmanuel Abubakar as we went in search of an equaliser and it came within ten minutes when Sean Dukes crossed for James Duggan to get ahead of his marker to flick the ball home . Yet again we were on top of the game but poor decision making around the penalty area meant we never troubled their Keeper . Tommy Lynch came on for Jamie Clifford after an hour and with his first touch shot over from inside the penalty area . Sean Dukes was next to go close after making good ground his shot was in to the side netting. AC were now happy to sit back and soak up any pressure and hit us on the counter attack and without us upping the tempo of the game made it very comfortable for them to do this . Conor Hurley had to be very brave with five minutes remaining when he had to dive at the feet of Brandon Barrett when he was through on goal . Our last chance fell to Sean Dukes when James Duggan got into the box and pulled the ball back but his shot was off target which had become a familiar story through out the game .
Not the result the team wanted and will need to bounce back quickly and show the true quality that this teams has . But it wont come easy and the players know they will have to perform and work a lot harder than they did tonight in future games to be in the shake up for the league title at the end of the season .
Team ; Conor Hurley, Jamie Clifford, Sean Kelliher, Segun Duyile, Sean Dukes, Dwyer Tobin, Luke Moynihan, Paddy Collins, Jesse Stafford Lacey, Ryan Dolan, James Duggan . Subs , Fergal Ryan , Emmanuel Abubakar and Tommy Lynch .
