Daly the difference for Quay
QUAY CELTIC BAY FC 3 1
HOW Bay could have done with Quay match-winner Thomas Daly. Switch him and Bay would have won this match handsomely.
Instead it was Quay who went away with the morale boost they sought as they travel to Cork this Saturday to take on College Corinthians in the last 32 of the under-16 national cup. The Leesiders won the under-15 crown last year.
Quay will go down as leaders of the local under-16 league as a result of this win, but there was a lot of signs they hadn’t played for a couple of months and this was important match practice, and they will need to improve a lot on this display.
For anyone who walked into Oriel Park on Sunday morning and watched most of first-half they you would have mistaken Bay as the side at the top end of the table. Their cultured, controlled passing game which the big pitch suited belied their position third from the bottom.
But highly commendable as their approach is there was one crucial element missing. They couldn’t translate all their attractive play and ample clear openings onto the score sheet.
They let Quay off the hook with some weak finishing that spoiled lovely build-up play. Then after taking over 20 minutes to threaten the Bay goal, with more straight forward methods, Quay made the breakthrough, winning four corners in fairly quick succession, and from the last of those Daly put them ahead.
Bay struggled to cope with ally turning the tide in their match, as he broke free inside the Bay penalty box, resisting a last ditch tackle, and showed really the art of scoring as he guided his shot low and wide of Bay goalkeeper Norman.
Ronnick Achums epitomised Bay’s play with his sweet perceptive left foot central to their flowing passing game, and picked open the Quay defence with two delicious passes in quick succession. They didn’t yield the reward they deserved as a result of a miscued shot and heavy touch in the other instance that resulted in the ball running into the grateful goalkeeper’s hands.
Bay were rocked back on their heels , falling two goals in the space of minutes, and it took them a while into the second half to recover a rhythm to their play.
They received the fillip they needed just over half-way through when Victor Anjobi burst through two tackles from outside to enter the penalty box and from near the right corner curled his shot high into the far top corner of the net.
However, Vilainus put paid to their hopes of salvaging a draw less than ten minutes later when his shot from outside the 18 yard box flew underneath the diving body of Norman.
QUAY: Niall Brady, Christaps Vilainus, Eoin Reilly, Sean McArdle, Michael Staunton, Luca Murphy, Ryan McDonald, Oisin McCumiskey, Thomas Daly, Conor Marion, Keith Dollard, Lee Carroll, Dylan Cahill. Manager, Gary Morgan.
BAY: Oisin Norman, Gerard Mooney, Clive Mtatwaki, Kene Ubiefuna, Benson Chalake, Ronnick Achums, Jamie Wynne, Tyler Chiduza, Colin Ekedigwe, Travis Crowley, Victor Anjobi, Gerard Uamai, Cameron Lawall, Pierce Holmes. Manager, Matt McArdle.
REFEREE: Colin McConville.