We arrived at Bushy Park full of optimism looking to continue our long unbeaten run in 2014; a run in which no goal was conceded and, well, no games were played!
After the bruising encounters of 2013, we had sought some outside advice from coaching experts in London – and their recommendation was to get one of our biggest and most skilful rugby players and put them in goal – the logic being that they would not be afraid to go for the ball in all circumstances and probably had a fine boot-out as well...
We persuaded John Chambers to have a go – and a new Petr Czech was born. He played magnificently and I thought at one point he was likely to score from his end, such was the power and length of his kick-outs. The kick-outs actually took a lot of pressure off us as Dalkey were constantly under pressure from the get-go.
As captain, I would like to take the time to thank our peers and parents who are hugely committed fans and there presence on the sidelines, every week, is hugely appreciated.
But I have launched in to the middle of the report prematurely...
The match build-up was long and the boys were up for a game having spent so long waiting since out last outing (December 8th!!). As we gathered for a huddle, Hugh “Gaffer” Palmer got everyone focused with a passionate and rousing team talk. The boys responded and we were attacking Dalkey from the off – they were under pressure and they felt it!
We had some great breaks forward with Andy and Oisín providing through balls and overhead balls to Matto “Fast & Furious” Pearson. He outpaced the Dalkey defence on several occasions and was very unlucky not to score from close range.
We toiled constantly and the defensive line of Tom, Matt R., Charlie and Sam was very solid. The new line-up in midfield of Andy, Oisín and Jackson worked very well, with truly great running from everyone. Luke and Dan on the wings with Matto upfront completed the line-up.
Luke had a great game, competing for everything and running his socks off. We kept up the pressure and eventually had a well-deserved break-through from a corner with Dan sticking it in the back of the net. 1-0 in to half-time!
The second-half continued the battle royale, with Dalkey competing very well in midfield and frankly showing constant superiority in the air. Charlie had a fantastic game and took a well-deserved rest with Cian P coming on from him. Cian was then instrumental in the build-up to our second goal, passing it to Matto, who slid is past the Dalkey keeper for a well-deserved goal. 2-0!
We were starting to run out of batteries somewhat and Jackson, who had played brilliantly, got a ball full in the face, so came off and was replaced by Louis “Hopalong” Huggard. Andy “Bruce Lee” Palmer was also suffering from cramp after a super performance, so Cian McC came on for him. We kept Dalkey at bay until about the 65th minute, when they scored from a volley off a corner-kick.
For some bizarre reason, our heads went down, even though we were still 2-1 ahead, so the players were, er, gently reminded from the sideline that they were, in fact, winning!
A scrappy last 15 minutes was somewhat marred by a few dodgy refereeing decisions and we were caught napping with 10 seconds to go when a Dalkey striker found some space outside the box, said a Hail Mary and kicked... it went in just under the crossbar. Arrghhh! 2-2. Cruel.
The final whistle was blown at the restart and the boys were very disappointed. They shouldn’t be – it was their best performance so far and we registered our first ever point!!
Onwards and upwards ...
Sometimes even a Hail Mary won't do it...
ReplyDelete