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With the sun shining down on The Lawns, Ballyfermot United played host for the first time to Portmarnock U11’s D1 team.
We arrived to see Ballyfermot United already warming up, so Andrew Dunne and Andrew Farrell wasted no time in putting the Portmarnock lads through their paces and getting them warmed up and match ready.
Under the watchful eye of Referee John Smith, the game was on. Both sides came out fighting and appeared well matched. However, an early goal from Ballyfermot put extra pressure on in the first five minutes. We regained possession and perfected our passing.
The joy of a corner save from goalkeeper James Morgan was quickly taken away when the referee blew the whistle on a controversial handball. The resulting penalty gave Ballyfermot their second goal.
A confident Ballyfermot continued to test Portmarnock, with plenty of support for both teams, pushing them on. With ground to make up, Portmarnock quickly began to dominate possession, using the wings and a long ball. Training for the past few weeks has focused on passing, finding your space and calling for it. That effort was paying off as the lads kept the focus on the Ballyfermot goal mouth.
With great speed and precision, Jack Walsh gave Portmarnock their first goal a few minutes later. By half time, with another goal from Jack and two more from Lucas Dolan, we had turned it around with now.
Both sides made full use of substitution and this helped to maintain the pressure and excitement for both teams. A few minutes into the second half and Ballyfermot scored another goal, but we fought on, determined we were going home with a win. Ballyfermot didn’t make it easy as they quickly equalised.
Portmanock kept pushing forward, kept chasing the ball. Our defense was strong with Jude Cullen, Louis Burel and Theo Dunne keeping Ballyfermot back. Our midfield was protected by John Farrell, Lucas Dolan and Marcos Nunez who kept on their toes while our strikers Cillian Whelan and Jack Walsh kept our attacks relentless.
An own goal from Ballyfermot and any doubts were quickly put to rest as Jack completed his hat trick. With five minutes to go John Farrell scored our final goal.
