A bright sunny afternoon in Killorglin and with a new surface on the College all weather, conditions were perfect for a flowing pass and move type soccer and thats what both sides delivered.
This could was a defining game for this Park squad as a win would keep them in 3rd position in the league and keeping the confidence high going in the Kerry Cup.
1st Half
The Park lads started brightly and dominated the early exchange in all sectors of the field, our passing and moving style of play was working well and creating good breaks down the right hand side thro good link up play between Darragh, Colin and Nathan who was in flying form and creating havoc for the Killorlin defence with his penetrating runs.it was from one of these runs that we generated a corner kick on the left side, Junior fired in a low corner kick, which Richard managed to flick on to the back post to nathan who’s shot was scrambled out to Colin who drove the ball into the top right of the net, 4 mins in and we were 1-0 up, a dream start.
They say teams are at their most vunerable after scoring and this proved correct as 2 mins later, the home side’s pacey No 11 latched on to a ball over top, Rhys covered back well to make the interception but our defence failed to deal with the subsequent throw-in, honours even (1-1)and it was all to play for. The Park lads were resilent and retook control in defence with both centre backs Devon & Cian playing solidly and the full backs Rhys & Darragh playing the game of their lives, the park continued to push forward with Colin and Junior dominating play in the middle of the park. Liam and Nathan were a thorn in the side of the Killorglin defence and upto the half time break we created some gilt edged chances from Conor, Nathan and Richard but thru good keeping and some poor striking were unable to convert and take the lead.
2nd Half
The 1st 10mins was fairly even with no team creating much. Richard had ran his socks off up front and it was time for fresh legs, mervyn came on with 20mins left on the clock and he made an immediate impact after combining with Conor in front of the box he was thru on goal but just sailed over the bar. Greg came on for Conor,who was workhorse like up front, and went into the centre and colin went into attack. The Park lads continued to push forward and sensed a winner was within their grasp as Mervyn had a couple more good chances but thru good keeping was denied. With time running out 3 mins left on the clock the Park dealt the homeside a cruel blow, a fine thru ball from nathan released Mervyn and with his pace he went by both centre backs and smashed the ball into the right hand corner, 2-1 and time running out the homeside pushed forward for the equaliser but the park showed great composure in defense and contolled the game to run the clock down. Gavin had a quiet time in goals throughout the match but any threat was well marshalled
A great spirited and sporting performance by both teams, with Killorglin creating a couple of half chances thru the game, they probaly will be disappointed to concede late on but the dominance and work rate of the Park lads in all sectors of the field earned them a well deserved win.
A super overall performance where every player gave 100% for the entire game building on our last outing, which is great to see.
Our next match will be in the 2nd round of the Kerry Cup away to Killarney Celtic.
Players of Note: Mervyn, Junior, Colin, Liam, Darragh, Devon, Nathan
Man of the Match: Rhys Keane in Left FB ran the line the whole game, link up play was superb and gut bursting runs to cover back in defence. A titanic performance only returning after surgery recently.
Squad on the Day: Gavin Doody, Cian Purcell, Devon Burns, Darragh Moriarty, Rhys Keane, Andrew Sucaci, Junior Ankomah, Elliot Lynch, Greg Scanlon, Colin Walsh, Tide Osinubi, Mervyn Shalemba, Conor o Sullivan, Eoin higgins, Nathan Gleeson, Liam Tobin, Richard O Gara.
Note: Training continues Wednesdays 6.30 – 7.30pm and Fridays 5 – 6pm, For the continued improvement & success of the squad, all players need to attend the training sessions.
