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The Portmarnock u13 F team were drawn away to Skerries Town in the cup. It was an early kick off at 10.00 am but thankfully it wasn’t as cold as forecast. A cracker was about to take place in Park Lane.
It was a great warm up for when we will play them in the league. Portmarnock took the lead after some intricate footwork from Kevin O’Reilly, at the edge of the box to lay the ball off to Jamie O’Hanlon whose first time strike hit the roof of the net. One nil Portmarnock! However Skerries equalized a few minutes later after some poor Portmarnock defending let their striker run the length of the pitch. Then Skerries made it 2-1 from a corner to take the lead. Portmarnock didn’t give up though and after a great through ball from Dominick Kowalski for Jamie O’Hanlon to run on to he crossed it into the box and Aidan Joliffe-Byrne put it into the net with a great strike. It was now Skerries turn to be under pressure and Dominic Kowalski was really unlucky not to score as his free kick hit the crossbar. Matthew carrick took a ferocious ball in the face which left him with a bloody nose and had to go off for attention. Dimitri Pavlyuk was an able replacement Half time 2-2.
The 2nd half started at a fast pace and Skerries scored again to make it 3-2. But this Portmarnock team are fighters and battled back in to it again. This time it was Arion Aliu’s turn as he scored a great goal with a lob from outside the box to make it 3-3. Portmarnock had a stone wall penalty denied a few minutes later and then Portmarnock came really close to winning it with 5 minutes to go as Arion Aliu hit the post with a great shot inside the box. Unfortunately Portmarnock had another penalty denied in the last kick of normal time. Full time 3-3, could extra time decide this thriller. In the first half of extra time Portmarnock conceded again to make it 4-3 to Skerries. Half time 4-3 Skerries.
With both teams tiring and 3 minutes left Skerries were defending their lead. Portmarnock were giving it all they had. Joshua Caparra went off injured after some ferocious tackles and Matthew Carrick returned to the fray. Aidan Joliffe-Byrne was everywhere, tackling and forcing mistakes from the opposition. The back line of Adam Hughes, Mark Doherty, Matthew Carrick and Kaylem Donohue were pushing forward as a unit pressing Skerries back. Time was running out when we got a corner which Dominick pinged in to the area. In the melee of bodies Jamie O’Hanlon grabbed his second goal of the match to pull Portmarnock level with a rare header.
Full time - after extra time 4-4. Penalties again!!
Unfortunately it just wasn’t to be our day as Skerries were victorious 4-2 on penalties. Ryan Finnegan calm as ever in these shoot-outs was agonisingly close as he got finger tips to one. Hard luck lads you gave it everything and you go into the Christmas break top of the league and unbeaten. Hope you all have a great Christmas.
Match Day Squad: Jamie O’Hanlon, Ryan Finnegan, Kaylem Donohue, Adam Hughes, Kevin O’Reilly, Mark Doherty, Dimitri Pavlyuk, Aidan Joliffe-Byrne, Arion Aliu, Matthew Jeffrey-Carrick, Dominic Kowalski, Joshua Caparra.
Not available: Rhys Chapman, Adam Laaisoui, Luke Lloyd, Sean Church, Sean Lambert.
Managers: John O’Hanlon and Stephen Peppard.
