Derby Days have a special edge to them but when there’s a Cup Semi Final at stake it makes them extra special. This was the 2nd time in 3 years that both teams have met at this stage in the competition with the Park Lads winning the first clash on home soil. This time the battle would take place at Dynamos grounds and what a battle it turned out to be with the Park taking the victory 0-4 in a ferocious encounter.
1st Half : The Park lads started with purpose passing and moving the ball confidently trying to create attacking opportunities, Dynamos had a game plan to defend as a unit with one lone striker and look to counter, which worked well until 7 mins in Colin unlocked the defence with a line breaking pass to space that Sean latched onto to slide the ball past the keeper, 0-1.
The park lads created a few chances but dynamos defended admirably and it wasn’t til close to half time before the park got their second with a fine free kick from Colin on the right side of midfield floated into the danger area, the keeper failed to deal with it and 5 yrds out Junior smashed to the net. 0-2 at half time whistle.
2nd Half :.The Park lads owned the ball in the 2nd half but created little clear cut chances, the home side were still trying to counter but only managed to create a couple of half chances with the park defence resolute dealing comfortably with any treat, Gavin in goals having a quiet afternoon.
It wasn’t until the 27th min before The Park closed out the game as the home side tired, an out swinging free kick from the right side of the box delivered by Kevin to the back post and headed home by Terrence 0-3. The Park finished the scoring in the dying minutes with Colin sliding the ball through the defence after he won a crunching 50;50 tackle in front of goal, Terrence banged it past the keeper to complete his brace., 0-4 at the final whistle, a deserved win by the lads who showed great composure and discipline in a ferociously contested battle.
Players of Note: Nathan, Sean,Junior, Terrence C, Dara H
Man of the Match: Cian Purcell– controlled the back line, superb defending & tackling in each 1v1 situation, cool as you like under pressure
Squad on the Day: Gavin Doody, Jack Kirby (Injured), Nick Izehi, Junior Ankomah, Colin Walsh, Liam Tobin, Sean McGrath, Cian Purcell, Leo Gaxha (Injured), Darra Heim, Terrence Carmody, Kevin Goulding. Nathan Gleeson, Darragh Moriarty, Rhys Keane.
Reminder: New Training times Mon 7.15 – 8.30 pm and Fri 7.15 – 8.30 pm.
As we are now at the business end of the season we have important league and cup games coming up over the next few weeks so if the squad is to have further success all players need to attend all training sessions!!
