The scoreline does not do any justice to our U15A’s who put in a gallant performance full of skill, pace and power away to Mastergeeha on Saturday last.
Conditions were perfect on a lovely pitch and our boys certainly played some quality football throughout and indeed up to ‘Geeha’s first goal from their 3rd corner we were the better team.
To be fair to Mastergeeha, they had a very able front man whose power and size gave them a good out option. However, our back four or Maciek, Sean. Tom and Quin were very comfortable in general play. The home side relied on the direct diagonal ball and it was this that lead to their opener. A high looping corner was perfect for the big number 5 to power home a header at the far post. This left the score at 1-0 at the break and it was hardly a fair reflection of the game.
In that first half, players to shine were Maciek at right back, Quin at left back along with Conor who in a deeper role behind Lee was having his best game of the season.
The second half began in the worst possible fashion. From a good attacking position we lost possession through a poor pass. ‘Geeha countered with another quality ball over the top. Their striker showed good pace and power to hold off our center half and he just nicked the ball away from our keeper Dave to allow himself the simplest of finishes. 2-0 down and we really hadn’t put a foot wrong out the field.
It quickly became 3-0 when we tried some risky football inside our own box. The ball bobbled as a clearance was attempted and fell nicely for the on-rushing ‘Geeha midfield who tapped home.
Our heads never dropped and with Cian now running riot on the wing we were soon on the scoresheet. Lovely intricate first touch football from Maciek, Cian and Conor saw Conor play a quite perfect ball through for Lee who finished with aplomb to give us a lifeline. It was Lee’s first of the season and it was a well deserved goal for him and the whole team.
We quickly put further pressure on and with Owen and Alan now in control in midfield and Tom a rock at the back, we built nicely down the wings through first Kiwi and also Eoin when he came in. Some smart play by Deano also lead to a couple of goalmouth scrambles where we just couldn’t get to finish what our build up play so richly deserved.
Another long ball and a poor decision later we were 4-1 down. Unbelievable in some respects but football in the Premier is cruel and teams don’t let you away with the simple mistakes. To our credit, the boys kept playing quality attacking football and with 6 minutes to go, Jacob won the ball off their winger. A quick ball was played to Dylan who played the pass of the game to allow Conor beat the offside trap and finish expertly to the left corner of the net.
A richly deserved goal for Conor who was outstanding on the day and indeed made the Kerry Schoolboys team of the week on the back of his performance.
As we searched for another before full time, ‘Geeha again countered directly and punished us again. We certainly didn’t give up and with the last kick of the game Conor forced their keeper into a wonderful save.
Congrat’s to Mastergeeha on what was a professional style win. As for our lads, all we can say is that you can hold your heads up very high after an excellent performance. If we can cut out individual mistakes then we will certainly compete in the remaining league games.
Best on the day were Conor, Tom, Sean, Maciek, Quin and Lee.
