Ten Men Secure The Win

Winter is well and truly here, it was a dull cold day as I made my way to Bernard Curtis Park to catch some LSL Premier Sunday action.  It has been a while since I have seen an Inchicore team in action with me being away last week and games being cancelled before that.  After a minor blip against Wayside Celtic Inchicore returned to winning ways last weekend away to St Marks and were hoping for another good result against early season pace setters Lakelands FC.

Ciaran Ronan is surrounded

Inchiocre got off to a flying start when John Luby, who I believe has a road named after him in Inchicore, struck a sweet shot barely five minutes into the game low into the corner of the goal leaving the visitors keeper with no chance.  Stephen Fay then made it two minutes later with a neat finish to leave Lakelands in a total state of shock.  The away side threatened as the shock of conceding two early goals wore off but were thwarted time and again by a resolute Inchicore defence leaving new goalkeeper James Hillis with little to do.

The second half got off to a muted start but Inchicore soon found themselves under pressure when midfield maestro Dean Costello received his marching orders from the referee.  Lakelands looked to find the gaps in the home teams defences from that moment onwards.  They were met with a passionate and determinde display of defending from Wes McDermott who almost single handedly kept them at bay.

Wes McDermott and Sean Blake stop another Lakelands attack

With time running out Lakelands launched one final attack  The visitors forward found some space and got a shot away that goalkeeper Hillis palmed onto the post but the bounce of the ball went the against him and suddenly Lakelands were back in the game.  It was too little too late however as the referee blew his whistle to Inchicores delight as they claimed maximum points from a very tricky encounter.

Wayside Grab The Points

All the attention in Inchicore was focused on Richmond Park for the League Title race involving St Patricks Athletic and Sligo Rovers.  Inchicores other team, and in my opinion the best, had their own league title race to deal with at Bernard Curtis Park.  A win for the black and ambers would see them leap to second on the table behind pace setters St Marks.

It was an uneventful opening half with both teams cancelling each other out in midfield for much of it.  Inchicores new signings Adam Morgan and Martin Quinn really stood out but Wayside were not intent on giving the home team an easy ride.  Ger Marshall was back in the team after a brief injury break but was looking as sharp as ever in defence alongside Robert Mahony.

Five minutes in to the second half and the game as a contest really sprang to life.  Alan Brennan, being his usual busy self up front, went close to giving 'The Core' the lead but it was Wayside who cleared from Brennans initial effort, swept down field and took the lead themselves.  Two more opportunities fell to the home team, one of them to John Byrne who was backing up from the previous days action in LSL Premier 1 Saturday, in a five minute spell before Wayside pounced again to double their lead.  It was a breathtaking ten minutes of football that stunned the home support.

As the clock ticked down Inchicore were awarded a penalty when Wes McDermott was tripped in the box.  It seemed however that Lady Luck was not smiling on Inchicore today as the usually dependable Robert Mahony struck the crossbar with his spotkick.  It just wasn't Inchicores day as the referee blew for full time shortly afterwards.

However it wasn't all doom and gloom around the village as local League of Ireland team St Pats, as mentioned above, finally brought the League of Ireland trophy back to Inchicore after a 14 year absence.  Hopefully by seasons end the boys in LSL Premier Sunday can match their achievement.

Unbeaten Run Continues

This week I took a trip to Markievicz Park to catch some more U-21 action as Tomo Byrnes team came up against Dalkey United.  It has been entertaining to say the least week in week out for the youngsters as they looked to continue their unbeaten start to the season.  The team also proved it's not all about winning though when they offered to replay last weeks game against Knocklyon after a controversial goal saw them come away with a win.  Dalkey, however,  were looking to spoil the party and put a huge dent in Inchicores title aspirations.

The home team were on the front foot from the first whistle and Caomh McCauley almost had Inchicore ahead within the first 60 seconds.  Dalkeys goalkeeper was alert and made a very impressive point blank save to keep the scores level.  Young 'Spanner' O'Toole almost opened the scoring with a long range effort but again Dalkeys keeper was showing he was in no mood to be beaten.  Captain Alex Dolan then had to react quickly to keep out an effort on goal as Dalkey looked to take the the lead just before half time.

Keifer Byrne, who was awarded The LFL player of the month for September, showed his class five minutes into the second half.  Having broken free from his marker Byrne unleashed an unstoppable drive from 30 yards that crashed back off the crossbar.  Following up for the rebound Keifer was then brought down in the box and 'The Core' were awarded a penalty.  Sean McGarry stepped up and coolly slotted past the keeper to give Inchicore the lead.  Inchicore worked hard for the all important second goal and survived a late scare when Dalkey had a great chance come back off Martin Carrolls post.

 There was relief all around when the referee blew his whistle for full time that kept Inchicores unbeaten start to the season intact.  Next week it will be a return to BCP and some LSL Premier Sunday action as the mighty Wayside Celtic come to town to take on Alan O'Briens team.

Shootout At The OK Corral

It was about time I took in some LSL Premier 1 Saturday action and 'The Core' delivered a breathtaking encounter against Pegasus FC at BCP.  The game was certainly not for the faint of heart, as Inchicores coach Mossy remarked with the game entering its final stages.  Both teams went out all guns blazing in one of the most frantic forty five minutes of football I have ever witnessed.

Sean Blake was in fine form scoring early for Inchicore but Pegasus hit back straight away within the opening ten minutes.  Two goals in five minutes from John Ojo and Jay Carey gave the home team a two goal cushion but Pegasus hauled themselves back into the contest with two quick fire goals of their own.  Thirty minutes into the game and I could hardly catch my breath.  The winner, as it turned out, was scored by Jay Carey in first half stoppage time as he pounced on an error by the visitors goalkeeper.

The second half, although not as fast paced as the first, did have some moments of note.  Firstly Robbie Mahony rattled the crossbar with a perfectly struck free kick while Pegasus had what they thought was another equaliser ruled out for offside.  There was even time for local legend Keith Marshall to pick up the first yellow card of his career, a minor blemish on another outstanding performance for one of my heroes.

Amongst all the madness I got to meet a true legend of the game, referee Alex Aldea.  Alex has refereed over 1,000 games and has documented each and every one of them with photos he takes himself, hopefully I get to meet him again as the season progresses.  Below are just a few images from the days action.

Cup Heartbreak In Inchicore

It was time for the first taste of cup football for Inchicore this season and not even the looming All Ireland Final was going to get in the way.  There was a change of venue as BCP was left behind and Inchicore took to the field against Bagnelstown from Carlow in the first round of The LFA Junior Cup at The CIE Sports Club.  Could a return to Inchicore spur the home team on to victory?

Sean Blake plays his way out of defence

It looked for the early part that Inchicore would continue their rich vein of form.  Adam Ryan came close to opening the scoring but his shot went inches over the crossbar.  Karl Cogan, captain for the day in the absence of Ger Marshall, then shot narrowly wide as Inchicore sought the opener.  The first goal arrived for the visitors against the run of play as half time approached after an unfortunate defensive mix-up.

It was a cruel blow for the home side but with a whole half of football still to be played you sensed that chances would be created.  There was a sucker punch from Bagnelstown minutes into the second half, however.  Again the visitors had a huge, huge stroke of luck when an Inchicore clearance was deflected into the path of their striker who rolled the ball into an empty net.  It could have been a real horror story at CIE when Bagnelstown were awarded an indirect free kick only 8 yards from goal, thankfully the resultant shot was not on target.

Inchicore survive an indirect free kick

Inchicore sprang back into action and thought they had pulled a goal back when John Byrne got on the end of an in-swinging corner but the referee had blown for a foul on the goalkeeper.  The referee was in the thick of it again waving away an Inchicore shout for a penalty.  It looked like it was just one of those days as the minutes slowly ticked away.

Bagnelstown hung on in the end to scrape through to the next round of the cup to the disappointment of Inchicore and their supporters.  Dublin winning the All Ireland later in the day went some way to making up the disappointment of Inchicores brief appearnace in this seasons LFA Junior Cup.  There is still the league to concentrate on and their is always next year for The LFA Junior Cup.