Remember the Istanbul miracle? It was half time in the 2005 Champion’s League final and AC Milan were 3-0 ahead and cruising, against a demoralised Liverpool side, only for Liverpool to up their game after the break and win through against all the odds.
Well the attendance may not have been as big and the stakes not as high, but the parents who made the trip to Listowel witnessed a miracle of similar proportions on Saturday.
With five minutes to go to half time Park FC B coaches Paul and Anthony were left scratching their heads. Despite their team having an equal share of the play, the scoreline read Listowel Celtic B 4 Park FC 0, with Listowel seemingly coasting their way to victory.
But as the saying goes, football is a game of two halves and just before the break, the dancing-feet of Emmanuel broke from midfield and as the Listowel defence parted like the Red Sea, he slid the ball underneath the keeper to reduce the deficit to 4-1 at the break.
What followed was an encouraging team talk from Paul and the coaches emptied the bench. Within minutes William, Adam and Emmanuel had all scored tying the game up at 4-4. With minutes left on the clock, Oran, making his debut performance for Park FC B, then scored a cracker which put Park ahead 5-4 and the icing was put on the cake moments from the end when Adam tapped in his second and Park’s sixth.
Team: Mattheus, Zach, Killian, Rory, Jake, Sidiptu, Adi, Emmanuel, William, Oran, Adam
Heroic performances all round.
Report by Anthony Garvey .
