Well blow me down
Academy
Sunday 13th May 2012
Blarney United v Ballincollig
For a change the Under 10s had an away trip last Sunday at a very sunny yet blustery O’Shea Park. Despite the difficult conditions the lads served up yet another entertaining game. With the aid of the wind Blarney started off well and soon drew a fantastic save from the now regular Ballincollig keeper, Cillian Kierse, who despite diving to his right managed to get his left foot to the ball and then collect it into his hands. Pepe Reina would have been proud of that one. Ballincollig had to spend most of this period defending wave after wave of attack as Blarney enjoyed the advantage of the strong wind. David Hume, Alex Hill and Jamie Slavin were outstanding in defence with midfielders Scott Kelly, Adam Summers and Bryan Smith having to spend more time defending than attacking. Blarney’s pressure and possession was finally rewarded with a goal. Ballincollig eventually managed a couple of attacks allowing Cormac Dineen and Jack Desmond a rare sight of the ball.
The second period was a more even contest. Early on Justin Eguaibor, now in defence, made a great last ditch tackle to prevent Blarney extending their lead. Sean O’Donoghue was rock solid in the centre of defence and Josh Ambrose and Jordan Murphy were very busy in midfield, allowing Cormac and Jack to become much more involved up front. At one stage Josh made a powerful drive forward and won a corner for his team, but Blarney defended it well. Blarney then finished stronger, but David, Justin, Sean, Adam, Josh and Jordan held fast.
Ballincollig and Blarney shared the possession in the early part of the final period, but neither side really threatened to score. Ballincollig then had a spell of defending where Cillian, Jamie, Sean and Alex cleared all before them. Josh took a nasty smack to the head when he jumped to block a Blarney free kick, but thankfully it looked much worse than it really was and he was able to quickly shake it off. Ballincollig then upped the pressure with Justin, Josh and Jordan each raiding up along the right wing on different occasions allowing Bryan to have a couple of shots, one going just wide, the other one saved by the Blarney Keeper. This was soon followed up by a right footed shot from Scott whose shot just dipped over the bar, so close. At the final whistle the coaches thanked the lads for a great effort in very difficult conditions and the applause from the coaches and supporters was very much deserved.
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