Spa Road get points in the bank

DENNY DIVISION 2B

Spa Road 2 Mainebank 0

THIS was an attractive tie between two sides making a comeback to the KDL. Their short vacation did not do either of the sides any harm as they provided a good keenly contested game played in very difficult conditions.

The two goals the winners scored won’t be contenders for goals of the year but they were fully merited given their superiority in the game.

A gale blowing down the pitch made it very difficult to control the ball but both sides defied the elements and provided an entertaining game.

Spa Road faced the gale in the first half and created the better chances in the opening 45 minutes.

Mainebank started very strongly and put a series of attacks together but their play was breaking down in the final third of the pitch.

They got a free kick in a good position after 9 minutes but James Long shot was too close to the Spa Road keeper and he made a comfortable.

Spa Road should have gone ahead in the 19th minute when Conor O’Callaghan put Tommy Moriarty through on goals with only the keeper to beat but Stephen Cahillane managed to make a great a finger tip save.

Mainebank went close to opening their account in the 30th minute after great approach play Colm O’Neill’s shot was brilliantly saved by Patrick Fitzgibbon in the Spa Road goals.

Four minutes from he break Spa Road had another great chance when Andrew Hobbard opened the Mainebank defence with a great over the top ball to Tommy Moriarty who was clean through 1 on 1 with the Mainebank keeper and Conor O’Callaghan on his shoulder.

He chose to shoot and missed when he could have laid the ball off to O’Callaghan who had an empty net to put the ball into.

Mainebank made two substitions at half time but it was Spa Road who began to dominate the game.

They went ahead in the 49h minute with a strange kind of a goal.

It came from a corner kick that was floated into the goalmouth by Brandon Evans and as everyone tried to get to the ball in a forest of players the ball went over the goal line acccording to the referee last touched by a Mainebank defender.

Mainebank were very unhappy the goal was awarded as they claimed the it did not cross the line but to be fair the referee was in a great position to view the incident.

Lady luck was in their favour again 6 minutes later when Michael O’Brien moved the ball out the flank to Tommy Moriarty and after getting past a defender let fly with a shot from just inside the box and in an effort to clear the ball a Mainebank defender put the ball past his own keeper.

To their credit Mainebank battled back hard to try and engineer a goal but they could not break down the Spa Road defence which was excellently marshalled by Darren Crotty and Andrew Hobbart. SPA Road: Patrick Fitzgibbon, Dylan Burke, Darren Crotty, Andrew Hobbard, Declan Clifford, Blake Byrne, Brandon Byrne (Hayden Fitzgerald 82 mins), Ethan Byrne (Ryan Byrne, 67 mins), Michael O’Brien, Conor O’Callaghan (Darragh Murphy 75 mins), Tommy Moriarty (Paul Murray 80 mins), .

MAINEBAK FC: Stephen Cahillane, Stephen Moriarty (Colm Sheehan 82 mins), Gary Long (Jason Foley 75 mins) Eoghan O’Connor (Luke Flynn 79 mins), John Andrew Cahillane, Jonathan O’Regan, Conor Dowd, Colm O’Neill, James Long, Shane Prendiville, Aaron O’Sullivan.

REFEREE: Dinny O’Rourke