The park Lads were away to our neighbours Tralee Dynamos yesterday in a battle for top spot in the league, the Park needed a victory to keep their chances of being in the mix for the League honours.On the other hand Dynamos were also out to avenge a National Cup defeat to the Park earlier in the season, add in the local derby effect and it was bound to serve up a cracking game and by God that it did with the Park Lads just getting over the line in the end to take the bragging rights back to Christy Leahy Park.
1st half
The Park started with great purpose and confidence with a sublime passing game cutting open the Dynamos defence at every break and should have been on the score sheet early on with chances from Mervin,Liam and Sean failing to hit the target. All the pressure was coming from the Park midfied and front men and it finally paid off, a through ball from colin to Sean who took it on to the left end line dragged the ball back out to the oncoming Junior who slotted it past the keeper for his first goal of the season, 1 nil up. The Park continued to pressurise from all flanks and thru the middle but failed to convert some gilt edged chances from play. It took a toe poke from Mervin in a goal mouth scramle from a Kevin G corner on the 25min mark for the Park to double their advantage 2 nil up, this seemed to break the spirit of the Dynamos players and 2 mins later a superb cross field ball was taken under control by Sean and drilled to the left of the keeper, 3-0 to the Park. The Park hitmen were now starting to find the target and a great save from the home keeper from a blistering strike from Mervin kept the scoreline to 3 at the break.
2nd Half
They talk about a game of 2 halves and this was certainly one of them, the half time break seemed to disrupt the lads and the fine flowing play seem to vanish certainly after the a couple of mins into the half, the park created little and seemed to be playing with a nervousness, dynamos on the other hand came out with nothing to lose and started to pour on the pressure at midfield and upfront, to be fair the Park defence stoofd up well to the challenge but you felt a goal was on the cards, a mistake on the left side handed possession to the the home side and they duly punished the visitors 1-3 and Dynamos could sense a rival, on the 15 mins mark it was 2-3 and game on, the park lads continued to battle under the onslaught as the home side pressed forward for the equaliser, the Park hit on the counter with 8 mins left on the clock, colin chipping the keeper and the defence and keeper getting in a tangle to keep the ball from going over the line gave the park a 2 goal advantage again and this seemed to drain the spirit from the Dynamos lads. The final score 4-2 to the Park.
An impressive 1st half display of total football by the lads that would have impressed “The Great Cruyff”, unfortunately the 2nd half proved to be a dog fight with the lads have to dig deep to take the result.
The next match will be the Kerry Cup Quarter’s at home to Dingle Bay Rovers.
Players of Note: Sean, Mervin, Kevin, Darra, Junior ,Tide, Rhys,
Man of the Match: Colin Walsh, controlled midfield in the first half, great work rate particularly in 2nd half, superb defensive work.
Squad on the Day:Gavin Doody, Kevin Goulding, Armin Heinrich, Junior Ankomah, Colin Walsh, Mervyn Shalemba, Nathan Gleeson, Liam Tobin, Sean McGrath, Greg Scanlon, Conor O’ Sullivan, Tide Osinubi, Rhys Keane, Darragh Moriarty, Cian Purcell (Injured).
Reminder: Training times next will be Mon and Fri @ 7-8pm. For the continued success of the Squad, all players must attend all training sessions.
