Notes 21/5/10

Killarney Athletic Notes
League
Killarney Athletic 2 Lisselton Rovers 2
The sides finished all square in this Premiere A top table clash in Killarney Athletic Park on Friday night, but it was far from a classic and both sides will be hoping to improve on the standard of play in their now vital rematch to decide on who will gain the runner-up spot for the league play-off. Lisselton were in front within a couple of minutes of the start after some ‘sloppy’ defensive play by the home side allowed Mousslin to scramble the ball over the line from close range. However Athletic settled better after this and enjoyed the lion’s share of possession for the remainder of the half. Denis Galvin had the best chance of squaring the match midway through when he was clear on goal but the in form striker pulled his shot wide of the post. Carr’s men rarely threatened Athletic’s goal but still held the one goal lead into the half time break. The second half turned out to be a petulant affair with a number of controversial incidents. Athletic pressed for the equaliser early in the half and a Galen Carroll shot went narrowly wide on 55minutes. Shortly afterwards the tie ignited when Steven Conway’s perfectly timed challenge on Brian O’Reilly was adjudged by the referee to be a foul inside the box and the Athletic captain duly dispatched the spot kick to the roof of the net. The momentum was very much with Athletic at this stage and centre back Dave Looney could have given his side the lead on 60 minutes but he failed to direct Rory O’Sullivan’s corner kick on target from close range. Then O’Connor made a fine save for Lisselton when he deflected O’Sullivan’s strike over the crossbar. Lisselton always posed a threat on the counter attack with Moussie gaining the upper hand on his markers while Conway’s delivery of the set pieces continued to trouble the Athletic rearguard. Lisselton were then reduced to 10 men when Fahy was shown a red card for a rash challenge on Lucas Polyak in an attempt to prevent the flying winger’s surge on goal. But the North Kerry side responded well to the numerical disadvantage and looked much more creative going forward with former Athletic man Shane Doolan impressing in the midfield, then Athletic had a let off when Basalua shot narrowly wide of Brian O’Connor goal. Then on 70 minutes Lucas latched on to a quick Reilly free kick to break into the box before finishing brilliantly from an acute angle. The large home crowd must have thought at this stage that the goal would ensure Athletic’s passage into the league final play-off with local rivals Celtic but the tie was far from over. A couple of tactical substitutions by Athletic in an attempt to see out the remaining 15 minutes did not work out as they would have wished, and although substitute Mike Moloney did add his presence to the midfield the fragile Athletic defence were still giving up too many scoring chances to their opponents. Then the sting on the tale came in the 90th minutes when Rovers were awarded a free kick from outside the box that Conway floated to the back post where it was headed down for Moussie to slot home and earn his side a valuable share of the points. Lisselton were fortunate not to finish the game with 9 men after the restart when another controversial incident took place behind the referee’s back. Most certainly referee Tom Templeman did not get every decision right but it was a very difficult game to referee as nearly every decision made by him was disputed, particularly in the second half. Athletic will be disappointed not to have held the lead against the ten men but will look to O’Reilly, Carroll, Lucas, Galvin and Moloney to see them into the play-off.
Under 13 League
Killarney Athletic 4 Park 3

A powerhouse performance by the boys in blue showed just what this team is capable of. Danny Healy (1 goal) led the team by example and together with Jordan Kiely (2 goals) – they ran the Park ragged. Sean McGrath (1 goal) controlled the midfield with good ball supply around the pitch. Athletic were always on top and with David Sheerin, Shane Lyne and Darragh Coffey playing like old pro’s and another fine game from the ever improving Chris O’Meara and Darragh Curran. With Caiman Mangan & Brendan Cronin working hard on the wings – there are signs that this team is capable of beating the best if only we could get the rub of the green! Note: A special word of thanks to Stefan McMahon and his Under 13 Kennedy Cup Team for the excellent coaching of the Athletic lads over the past few years and best wishes for success in June – we’ll all be on the same side that week!!
Athletic on the Web: Check out the new look www.killarneyathletic.com and feel free get in touch via the contact page. Comments facility coming soon.
Congratulations:
Congratulations to Jordan Kiely and Danny Healy on making the Kennedy Cup Squad and Best of luck in Limerick in June from the entire club.
Contact: If you have anything to add to Killarney Athletic notes please contact Mary McCarrick on 087 7750773 or mccarrickmary@hotmail.com
 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 10:40 pm and is filed under Club Notes.

 

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