By Sean Nevin
Team:
| Turner |
| Thomas |
Nevin |
Mullholland (c) |
Lees |
| Bajraktari |
Dixon |
McInnes |
Swartjes |
| Britto |
Cain |
Sub: Reilly & Ljung
Scorers: None for us and 1 for them!!
MOM: McInnes
With 4 games remaining and a 3 point lead at the top of the league, all that was required was to keep on winning! On a cold and dismal Saturday afternoon, the Vets 1st team gathered in an attempt to repeat the previous 9-1 result against the 4th place team of FC Ireland. How wrong could those thoughts be?
With Faddy on loan to the 3rd team, we still had a capable squad of 13 players that should have been strong enough to beat any team in the league. The Captain named the team above and the boys took to the park full of confidence.
From the 1st whistle it was obvious that FC Ireland had been badly hurt by our previous 9-1 victory against them. They started the match in a fast and furious fashion, not allowing our players any time on the ball. As a result, and to our opponents credit, we were never allowed to get the ball down and play our normal passing game. The 1st half was a tense affair with both defences coming out on top. A fierce battle in the midfield was dominated by the opposition number 6, who we found out after the game, had flown in from Ireland especially to play against us. It was also revealed that he had previously played for the All Ireland Amateur team. They really were hurt by the 9-1! A tense and scrappy affair resulted in only a handful of half chances for either side and the half time whistle revealed a 0-0 score with FC Ireland looking the stronger of the 2 teams.
A heated and passionate half time team talk by the Captain left the boys in no doubt that he expected better things to come from BUFC in the second period. One change at half time saw Mark Reilly replacing Mergim Bajraktari. Mark moved up front alongside Gerry Cain and Malcom Britto dropped back into the right side of midfield.
The second half continued in the same pattern as the first. Both teams were going at each other at a furious pace with neither side creating any clear cut chances. Within 15 minutes of the re-start, Gerry Mulholland made his second change of the game. Bent Ljung replaced Malcom Britto and the team re-shuffled with Sean Nevin moving into the midfield. As both teams began to tire FC Ireland brought on 3 fresh pairs of legs in a bid to maintain the pace of the game. The game seemed to be heading for a hard fought draw when 2 decisions from the Referee changed the whole outcome. With only 10 minutes remaining, he awarded a dubious free kick against Gerald McInnes. The ball was sent high into our penalty towards Dave Turner in goal. Dave called for the ball and seemed to have it in is hands when the FC Ireland centre forward jumped with his elbow leading straight into Dave. As a result, Dave went down and the ball bounced in front of the goal. A mad scramble of bodies ensued and the ball just crossed the line before it was cleared away. The Referee promptly signalled for the goal and despite the heated protests stuck by his decision.
The final 10 minutes saw BUFC frantically searching for a goal but the FC Ireland defence, despite several attacks of cramp, stood strong and rejoiced long and hard at the full time.
Final whistle, 0-1.
Match Summary:
A disappointing outcome for BUFC but credit must go to FC Ireland for their performance. They realised they couldn't beat us playing football and set out to disrupt our usual pattern of play that has taken us to the top of the league. Their work rate was better than ours and if we are to achieve any success next season at a higher level then we will also need to add that part of the game to our resume.
On a more cheerful note, LTC drew 0-0 so we are still 2 points clear at the top with 3 games to go.
