A very cold crisp afternoon in Killorglin was the setting for our first game after almost a month off from games. The break seemed to tell as the Park were slow out of the blocks against a very determined and hungry Killorglin A side who seemed first to every ball in the early stages of the game. This seemed to throw the Park players off their stride as they are normally the team setting the pace of play but not on this occasion.

We started the half with Liam in goal with a back four consisting of Darragh, Jack, Edward and Fiachra. In midfield we had Danny, Josh and Cianan trying really hard to get a foothold in the game with Colin up front. It was no real surprise when the first goal of the game went the way of the home side. After some sustained pressure from Killorglin the ball broke to one of their midfielders on the edge of the box and he struck a piledriver to the roof of the net. Killorglin 1 – Park 0.

This seemed to shake some of the cobwebs off and we started to play some better football. With Killorglin playing really deep and their goalkeeper in fine form it was proving difficult to get the equaliser with Colin coming close and Cianan just failing to get a touch on a ball across the box. Midway through the half Sean, David, Conor, Ben, Michael and Fionan were introduced. The effect was that we started to win some more of the 50-50 challenges in all areas of the field. While this didn’t result in a goal, we were definitely working our way back into the game. 

HT: Killorglin A 1 – Park A 0.

The second half started with Cian replacing Liam in goal. Adam and Cillian also came on early in the second half. For most of the half it was pretty even with neither side able to gain an upper hand. Park had lots of possession but Killorglin with plenty of bodies behind the ball were able to get a block or a body in the way of any attempts on goal. Even with this possession we looked vulnerable to the counter attack and on one of these Killorglin scored. At 2 – 0 we were now chasing the game and while pushing numbers forward we got caught twice more. The last action of the game saw Edward score his first of the season in what proved to be a consolation goal for the team.

FT: Killorglin A 4 – Park A 1.

While the scoreline flattered the home side somewhat the Park lads will know that they can and have played much better than that in their other games this season. As the primary purpose is learning the game it is important to remember you often learn more from a defeat than from a victory and we know that this will be the case here also. We expect a huge effort over the next couple of weeks of training starting again on Wednesdaywhich will get us back to the level of performance that we know that the lads are capable off.  

It was great to see at the final whistle that all the players were as gracious in defeat as they have been modest in victory. Well done.

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Contact

Club Secretary: Colm Mc Loughlin
Phone: + 353 87 934 8441
Email: info@stbrendansparkfc.com
Address: St.Brendans Park FC, Buntalloon, Tralee, Co. Kerry

Eircode: V92 V250