Collins vs St George 2-3

We went into this one slightly nervously but not without confidence after the wonderful 7's tournament scores the week before. St George had lost a few key players but they were still a very real threat. The league champions had lost the week before against the Celtic Cross and would be gunning for a good win.
The Collins started brightly with Ian and Adam up front, working the Georgian back line well, and the defense was marshalling their attackers nicely limiting them to 30 yard shots. Jordi had hardly anything to do in goal and we were looking good. About 10 minutes into the game and some good work on the wings allowed Ian to shoot, a rebound fell into Adams path and it was 1-0 Collins, this was just what we wanted and it was time to build on the score. The Georgians pushed on and a silly mistake in the very well organised defense and they managed a goal mouth scramble into the net 1-1 and frustration. The Collins were still in it though, and Lluis was rampaging down the wing at every opportunity. The Georgian keeper was looking pretty dodgy and the orders were to shoot on sight. 5 minutes before the end of the half and Ian teamed up with Lluis along the left, the flying winger skipped past two men and slotted a classic shot onto the postage stamp, the Collins were going in 2-1 up against the league champions.

Half time was about keeping up the good work. Tom was looking a little tired so James got a run out on the right wing to try to draw some of the cover away from Lluis. Kyle and Zugi were covering alot of ground in central mid but with the injuries there were no replacements for them, and they had to dig deep. Only one silly mistake had marred an otherwise faultless defensive display and Mike, Dom, Lucho, and Chris were covering Jordi well.

The second half started well again but soon the Georgian changed became apparent. Their manager came on at centre back and started stroking the ball around creating options for them. They looked alot more self assured, and created more chances. The Collins started to be pegged back in our own half and tired legs were starting to tell. Jordi began a series of wonderful saves and Dom had three goal line clearances to his credit. The Collins were under threat but coping well and the georgians started the long shots again. The equaliser came 7 minutes from the end and tired defensive players started to make mistakes. Richard came on for the last 5 and Hugo replaced and injured Lluis to try to fight out the last 5 minutes but it wasn't to be. A lack of subs pais the price for a sterling display by the Collins. With the last kick of the game, the Georgians scored to leave us with 0 points for all the hard work. Man of the match was Jordi for his outstanding contribution, and its a far cry from the 14-0 drubbing we recieved last year at their hands...

Barca 7s Tournament

The Michael Collins went into this tourneo with no real expectations, just looking forward to a kick around and seeing a few new faces on the pitch. We arrived in bits and bobs and almost missed the first game. The tournament started with 2 groups of 4, and we started with a bang. The first hattrick for a very impressive Leroy on his debut and we were 3-0 up. Game 2 was against Flo's pilote urbain, and our nemesis struck to put them 2-0 up. The Collins rallied though and through impressive work from Kyle and Ian, brought the match back to a draw at 2-2 by the final whistle. Our final game was a 3-1 victory placing the Collins at the top of group 1 and into the next round.

The first game of the second phase was against a strong second placed team from the other group, the other french outfit. But Ian made short work of them after some wonderful football from Tom, Lluis, and Leroy. 3-0 Michael Collins and we were cruising. Next came Flo's french team again, and once more the Collins could only draw with the mercurial frenchman, and this meant that we needed a win to guarantee first place at the end. The signs looked good, the Black Sheep were to be our opponents and were carrying a bit of age on us. We had a few subs available but it was decided to play the strongest line up from the start. For some reason it just wasn't happenning in this game and tired legs gifted them an early goal. The heads went doen for once and at 2-0 Black Sheep the Collins ran out of ideas. It was a real shame after all of the hard work and ended our 12 match unbeaten 7's record. To make matters worse, Flo scored in the other game to win 1-0 and they went second.

A great day was had by all but disappointment that we only came third. Then to cap it all off England lost the RWC.........Bollocks!

The 2007-2008 Season begins 2-1 Collins

The season began with a bang for the Michael Collins FC with a win at Barceloneta 2-1 against the mighty 9 man Red Stars. Either way a wins a win and it took us almost 6 months to get three points on the board last season. It was an odd game as we didn't know half the team, and we were trying out new players due to the lack of pre-season opportunities. Normally we'd have lost this one but i think the new Michael Collins is moving up in the world. Dom and Mike Moberts marshalled the defence well and the new forward pairing of Peter and Adam were getting in some good positions. The finishing was woeful though, and if we'd played like we were at the end of last season we would have scored 6 or 7. Anyway, the old guard of Ian, Kyle, and Javi played well as always and 3 points is a great start. A couple of new signing shone, Chris at right back is very assured, and Luis looked menacing on the wing. It will be nice when Tom and Jerry get back in action, there will be alot of attacking options for us by then

Barca 7's this weekend, and a chance to play against Flo the defector, lets see if we can convince him to come home......