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Date : 28 Feb : Portmaronock U15 1 : Dunshaughlin 0
Game : Cup
On election weekend Portmarnock top the poll.
There is something about a cup competition that gets the blood running faster, perhaps for us slightly older ones it's memories from our youth of Wembley with it twin towers, Ricky Villa , and Liam Brady , our for those slightly younger its champions league finals, with Messi and Ronaldo..
Today was the first round of this years’ Champions league for Portmarnock U15s and luckily we had a home fixture ,the cup has the added spice, being in a sudden death format. Before kick-off everyone had their game face on, be it Alan “Ferguson” our Manager , or Diego “Aubameyang” our expensive Spanish import . ..
The pitch was in great condition and the weather was dry and mild, only downside was the late arrival of the ref. The first 10 minutes of the game were a cagey affair with both sides feeling each other out. Cian “Terry” our centre half was to the fore, settling down things with timely interceptions and good lays off, with Ewan our Keeper, Joe Hart like commanding his area. On 15 minutes a good pass by Matt “Martial” , set Ben “Costa” goal-wards, he appeared to have being clipped as he went to pull the trigger, but the ref said play on. Next up Danny “Vardy” hit a screamer from outside of the box, it rattled the crossbar, but somehow stayed out. Portmarnock were on top and Tyler “Inanovic” and Aria”Bellerin” were pressing forward along the wings to great effect. For the second game in a row Tyler , ably assisted by Matt had their tricky winger sorted.
The dominance created by the ball winning of the hard working midfielder , take a bow Matt, Ben ,Diego, Harry M meant Portmarnock started to play more ball on the ground and we looked the better team for it. From one of these moves a slick pass by Diego set Matt goal bound , only for the opposition to upend him, penalty..
Danny “Vardy” bravely stepped forward and hit a good shoot ,low to the left, but somehow the keeper saved it, so we turned scoreless at the break.
If Portmarnock shaded the first half ,the opposition appeared to start the second half the better. But thanks to some fine ball wins by Cian B and Scott, Portmarnock dug in and established a platform with Evan “Huth” driving them on from the back. The game was very tight and an opposition break resulted in their forward finding an out stretched leg to fall over, second penalty of the day.
It was a case of the goalkeepers Union , with the opposition keeper being their peno taker, but Ewan won the battle, too brilliantly tip his shoot over the bar.
James “Coleman” entered the game to add fresh legs to the back 4, and they were needed as Portmarnock endured a period of pressure, with a number of goal line clearances and last minute interceptions. Every player from both side were giving their all, this was cup football at its best. The game was so engrossing that Alan appeared to be back in his heyday with the Orchard or was it Old Trafford ! .
Next from a long pass forward Davey ( who had being having a very productive afternoon) produced a perfect flick to set Danny free, Danny calmly rounded the keeper to slot home. The roar from the supporters on Paddys Hill could be heard all the way to Malahide. The opposition pushed forward but Ewan was an impasse, producing save after save. One a full length dive to his right was particularly special.
The Ds Danny And Davey got hold of the ball, and helped us see the game out in the oppositions half, We even had time for Scott and Danny to do our corner routine.
Post match the talk was of how the team is coming together ,with everyone being clearer on their role and what's expected. Teams win matches and today was another great team performance ,well done all, the cup dream is up and running.. remember strength and conditioning on Wednesday,, and ball work on Friday.
Match facts:
Scores: Danny
Man of the match : Ewan
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Date : 21 Feb : Clontarf 3 Portmaronock U15 4
Game : League
Storm Portmarnock leave clontarf in their wake.
Whoever said the gusty wet day was not made for football was wrong. Portmarnock won the toss and wisely played with the wind had their backs. With the game only a few minutes old Matt, playing as one of the two forwards used his pace to keep the ball in play and create the first chance of the game for Danny “Vardy”...Portmarnock continued their early dominance with Danny hitting a post and Matt doing his best Fellaini impression, with a missed header following a good cross from Scott.
Harry and Ben had the midfield battle in hand assisted by the ever diligent Scott , with James being a kin to Sheamus Coleman as a willing runner down the wing. On 10 minutes ,Matt chased down another ball, his cut back fell to Ben, who passed it inside for Harry S to let fly , lobbing the big Clontarf keeper from 30 yards, Ross Barkley eat your heart out.
For the next 5 minutes Portmarnock kept it tight ,with Cian H ,and Evan being to the fore with well timed solid challenges, staying on their feet and communicating with everyone as to who's ball it was etc.. Tyler and Cian B being ever willing full backs offering themselves to receive the ball and lay it off to the receptive midfielders.
Any frees that we're going seemed to favour the home team, and Ben received a yellow card for making his point. In this league our experience has shown that Referees seem prone to flash yellow cards for talk back, while letting other things go, so going forward we will plan better for this.
Next a good move started by Tyler who was having a stormier at full back ,stepping in to provide extra cover for the centre backs when needed so Evan was free to sweep, ended up with Danny one on one with the Tarf keeper, this time Danny won out and we were two up.
Shortly after , Matt did more of his best Man United impressions, first up was Depay with a glorious missed lob when it seemed easier to find the net, then a Wayne Rooney , cutting in from the left and sliding the ball into the bottom corner.
On 20 mins, Harry M stepped in for James to add fresh legs and a new challenge for Tarf to think about.
The talk at half time was all about the advantage the wind would give Tarf in the second half and the need to close them down quickly, before they could set their sights on Ewan's goal.
From the tip off Portmarnock were on the attack with Danny beating two players before playing Matt in on goal, but the Tarf keeper was having a super game and again his positioning was good to block the attempt.
The wind was winning a lot of the battles for the ball despite the best efforts of Portmarnock who notably kept trying to ball the ball on the ground. Harry s and Ben constantly probing with well placed balls . Ewan who had seen none of the ball in the first half was being domineering in his goal keeping area. Then somewhat against the run of play, slack marking from a thrown in, exposed a gap in the centre of portmarnock's defence, Harry S tried to fill it , but did not know whether to fill the space, or follow his man,, it was a heads you win tails you lose choice..Clontarf converted the opportunity and it was game back on.
Ben ,was building on his Diego Costa impression of the previous match, putting himself about with intent and holding the ball up well. A number of chances came Portmarnock's way, but somehow we failed to convert and the travelling supports got more anxious when Tarf knocked in another to make the score 3:2.. with 15 minutes to go...
At this point, and with a memory of last weeks game fresh in the mind, Alan made a strategic move to tighten things up more and switched the attacking minded Harry with the more defence minded
Scott, the message being what we have we hold. Then Ben "Costa" let his frustration at not getting a penalty moments earlier when being clearly pushed over in the box, by battling hard to hold the ball up and then turn on a 6 pence to slot home Portmarnock's fourth.
With 5 minutes on the clock , clontarf swung in a corner that was initially cleared off the line by James on the near post, then spectacularly cleared by Tyler on the far post before being slotted home down the centre to make it 4:3..
In nervous times like this a cool head is required and Ewan stepped up to mark, with two brilliant saves ,(one that left him covered head to toe in mud) that ultimately won the game for portmarnock.
In his post match team talk , Alan spoke about how this group of players are becoming a team, playing to each other's strengths, small things like balls in front of Matt to let him use his pace, passes to Bens feet , the pass inside to the ever receptive Ben S or Harry S.. The fullbacks covering the centre backs for attacking.. There is more work to do, but two games unbeaten is a very positive step forward, make sure you are there on Wednesday for ball work and Friday is a must for strength and conditioning.
Match facts:
Scores: Harry , Matt, Danny, Ben
Man of the match : Harry
Date : 8 Feb : Portmaronock U15 3 : Dunshaughlin 3
Game : League
Portmarnock u15s kicked off their 2016 leg of the campaign today with a very committed and spirited performance against a Dunshaughlin side that currently top this league. With the game only 10 minutes old, the visitors took the lead against the run of play, using the strong wind to curl in a soft free kick despite the best attempts of Ewan in nets.
Portmarnock gritted their teeth, and got back to their passing game, with Aria in at right back, working the ball to Harry S in centre , who picked out Matt of the left wing, he cut in, Martial like and feed Ben, who held the ball up well (ala Costa) ,before playing back to Matt who coolly slotted Home the equaliser .
With their confidence up Portmarnock started to take control, Diego was Aaron Ramsey like attacking from midfield, with Danny like a young Jamie Vardy up front, running at pace at the helpless defence. All this pressure had to tell , and Portmarnocks, own version of John Terry (ala Cian H) was on hand to slot home the second with a header from Danny's corner.
As half time approached Portmarnock nearly had number 3 , Matt and Ben combining to slip Danny in, but the finish , under pressure went just over. Evan set the tone for the second half, with two strong ball wins (Robert Huth would be proud). Next up was a maundering Tyler down the right , who like Stuart Pearse in his hay day was also taking no prisoners . The 3rd goal duly came , from a Leicester like break out following a Dunshaughlins corner, Harry " Ozil" winning the second phase ball in the middle , feeding Matt on the left, who picked out Scott on the right. Scott's pass gave Danny "Vardy " a one on one, with the full back.... Need I say more... 3:1..
Dunshaughlin pushed forward in an attempt to get back into the game, but the back 4 of Cian b, Cian h, Evan, Tayler and Aria stood firm, aided by confident keeping by Ewan.
Several chances came and went for Portmarnock most notably a Matt break , a Ben pile driver following a fine Ozil like feed from H, a Diego diving header and a Harry S holdup and feed to Danny. Then as can happen in these windy conditions, a lucky cross creep in, for the opposition which set up a nail biting finish.
Unfortunately the luck went with the visitors who struck with 2 minutes left to earn a share of the points. But this was a great performance by Portmarnock in difficult conditions and holds well for the games ahead. The disappointment felt by all ,shows were this team has set it's own bench mark, the hard work is being done on the training ground , bring on the next game ...
Match facts:
Scores: Matt, Danny, Cian
Man of the match : Ben
