5-3 loss to Flahertys

It was a bit of a mishmash before the game as lack of fit or unsuspended players meant a frantic friday trying to get bodies in for the Michael Collins. After the last friendly vs Flahertys where we were winning comfortably until the last 20 minutes and their 5 subs made the difference, we were determined to have replacements for the game. This meant finding Michael from the BIFL website, calling Glendon who hadn´t played for us for a while, and pressganging Nick into his first game for 6 months. Sami came in too for his league debut, and Hector made up the numbers.

Terry came in as goalie which allowed Mike to get on the field in his favoured left back role. James and Rich as centre backs, and Fritz started as RB. The midfield and forwards were interchangeable in a 4-1-4-1 lineup with Nick, Victor, Samuel, Glendon, Caj, and Doctor.

I have to say, Flahertys have improved dramatically and have a very strong will to win. They battle for everything, complain about everything, shout at everyone, and expect a high standard from their players. Their Midfield is especially strong. From the start, they were putting us under pressure and it wasn´t long before they beat the offside trap to slot home 1-0. Our midfield was struggling to cope with their fluidity with the unusual formation, at 2-0 we decided to revert to 4-4-2 as the midfielders didn´t know where they were supposed to be. It immediately changed things and we came back into the game. Terry was pulling off a series of good stops, and only a poor penalty beat him after losing control of the ball and handling outside the box. 3-0 at half time, changes needed.

Caj came off and Victor came on ignoring his injury and made an immediate impact, scoring and giving us some width. Central mid was not helping to contain the powerful running of the flahertys players so we needed a change, step up Michael into his debut. Not knowing what to expect, it was a last throw of the dice, and in hindsight it should have been done earlier. Michael came in like a dynamo, snapping at heels, winning ball, and turning the tide in the centre. All of a sudden we were going forward again, Samuel scored soon after. It took a postage stamp shot from 25 yards from Nick to end the scoring but i was very pleased with the second half display and attitude. Thats the first half of the league over and we´re in the 2nd division, but now the real work starts, we need 3 points against Independent on saturday and lets try to make a challenge for this league.