St Patrick’s fall at first hurdle
Coill Dubh prove too strong for Wicklow representatives
ST PATRICK’S COILL DUBH AFC 1 3
ST. Patrick’s hosted Coill Duibh AFC in the LFA Junior Cup on Sunday. After making the long journey down from Naas for this cup clash Coill Duibh played with intent from the get-go.
Despite complaints from management about the playing surface, the away side quickly took control of the game, restricting St. Patrick’s to the odd counter attack.
While both sides lined out with a four man midfield, the Naas men always seemed to have a spare man in the centre of the park.
This was in no small part down to the outstanding performance of central midfielder Aengus Murphy. A reassuring presence in possession, Murphy made his presence felt both in attack and defence.
Although they found themselves pinned back early on, St. Patrick’s did have the better of the chances in the opening exchanges.
Adam Browne was a constant menace on the shoulder of the last man. On several occasions, Browne forced Coill Duibh goalkeeper Matt Duggan into several fine saves to keep the sides level.
St. Patrick’s would live to regret these spurned chances as soon as the second quarter of the game.
Awarded a free kick wide on the left, Coill Duibh attempted to catch their opposition off guard with a low pass down the near side of the box.
St. Patrick’s failed to react well to this and panic in the box resulted in Ross Carew being body checked as he ran across the box towards the ball. The referee duly pointed to the spot and Barry Noone made no mistake to send his side into the lead.
While both goalkeepers were the stars of the show, Ryan Werder in the St. Patrick’s goal learned just how quickly a goalkeeper can go from hero to zero late in the first half.
When Aengus Murphy played a perfectly weighted pass behind the defence for Barry Noone to run onto, Werder got off his line quickly and made himself big.
Noone unselfishly passed across goal for Joey Behan who seemingly had the goal at his mercy.
However, when Behan pulled the trigger Ryan Werder pulled off his best Randy Orton impression, coming ‘outta nowhere’ to divert the ball over the bar for a corner from point blank range.
For his troubles, Werder was left injured for several minutes after colliding with the post following his wonder save.
Mere moments later, Werder was beaten after making an unforced error.
The St. Patrick’s centre backs failed to deal with a high ball in. This allowed the industrious Joey Behan to get a shot away which was saved comfortably by Werder. However, Werder spilled the ball in front of goal and Barry Noone was in like a flash to find the net.
After the break, St. Patrick’s came out with renewed vigour. Adam Browne came ever so close to halving the deficit when his free kick looked destined for the top corner only to see Matt Duggan soar through the air to pull off a sensational save.
In truth, that was as close as St. Patrick’s came to getting back in the game. Coill Duibh could have pulled further ahead on several occasions but Ryan Werder saved multiple one on one’s to keep his side alive in the tie.
With Coill Duibh well on top, frustration creeped into the St. Patrick’s side and they saw both Patrick Kennedy and Martin Kenny dismissed for their second yellows midway through the second half.
In fact, Kenny’s foul resulted in a second penalty being awarded to the visitors and this time it was Danny Scully who dispatched the ball to the net.
Down to nine men with 20 minutes remaining, St. Patrick’s could have been forgiven for imploding and shipping more goals.
However, the home side instead threw caution to the wind and attacked with more purpose than before.
This did leave them looking suspect at the back but when you’re three goals down with a goalie saving one on one’s at ease this is a risk well worth taking.
Against another goalkeeper the game could have finished 7-0 but St. Patrick’s held firm and added a goal of their own in the closing minutes when Wayne Kennedy scored from the inside left channel, opening his body and bending the ball over and around the goalkeeper into the top corner in a manner Thierry Henry would be proud of.
St. Patrick’s exit the LFA Junior Cup but the strong show of team spirit in the closing stages will provide some consolation.