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Match report from 13th March 2016
Portmarnock U17 Vs Balbriggan U17s
It was a perfect day for football when Portmarnock U17s welcomed Balbriggan U17s to Paddys Hill on Sunday afternoon. The pitch was in its usual perfect condition for this quarter final clash in the NDSL Lee Brother’s cup.
Portmarnock had been struggling with injuries and sickness of late but we're still able to field a strong team for this vital encounter.
Portmarnock started off well with Cian O'Brien, Dave Smith, Ryan Boulton & Stephen Byrne dominating the midfield. Portmarnock's dominance paid off after 10 minutes when Ryan Boulton played a perfect pass through to Ciaran Gregan who slotted it past the Balbriggan goalie. Gregan was continuing on an extraordinary run with his 6th goal in 3 games. The good start continued on 25 minutes when a ball played from defence was flicked on by a Balbriggan defender to Gavin Nagle who lifted it over the on-rushing Goalkeeper into the net. 2-0 to Porto.
On the half hour, Porto lost Goalkeeper Catalin Ciocan to injury. The ever reliable Porto keeper had been injured in training during the week and despite heavy strapping on his ankle was unable to continue in goal. This necessitated a reshuffle of the team with centre-half Mathew Maloney donning the goalkeeper gloves and the versatile Dave Smith moving into the back four. Adam Rafter was brought on to shore up the midfield.
Porto went into the half time break 2 - 0 up.
The second half saw a rejuvenated Balbriggan team take to the field. Within 5 minutes of the restart they had hit the bar and forced stand-in stopper Maloney to tip a low struck shot onto the post. After several more minutes of decent Balbriggan play they halved the deficit with a close range effort. 5 minutes later the equaliser came, again after good build-up play a well struck shot from 10 yards just skimmed past the outstretched hand of Maloney into the net. Porto were now on the back foot and needed to dig deep to save the tie.
The following 25 minutes saw intense football from both teams. Portmarnock suffered injury after injury which required substitution after substitution. The bench was empty after Karl Bisset Lynch, who was just returning from injury himself, and debutant Adam Ennis took to the field. The injuries continued and players who had been taken off with knocks were called upon to retake the field. The pack had to be reshuffled several times as players were instructed to change position on a regular basis.
With 7 minutes to go Porto believed they had secured the victory when a perfectly taken corner from Gregan was met at the back post by a majestic Nagle header. The ball sailed into the top corner. Porto were now 3 - 2 up with minutes remaining.
Balbriggan pressed hard and were rewarded with 2 minutes remaining with a scrappy goal, scored from 6 yards. The ref blew the whistle with the scoreboard showing 3 a piece. 20 minutes of extra time loomed.
Porto Manager, Mick Gallagher gave a rousing speech to rally the troops and the players responded.
Portmarnock won the toss and elected to play towards the Astro pitch. After 7 minutes of extra time the deadlock was broken when Bisset Lynch gathered the ball on the half way line, leaving 4 Balbriggan players in his wake, he drove to the by line. A low shot from an almost impossible angle beat the Balbriggan goalkeeper at his near post. Porto were now back in front but knew Balbriggan had come back into this game twice already. Balbriggan mounted several attacks on the Porto goal but an excellent display from the back 4 of Callum Gallagher, Callum Cawley, Gavin Nagle and Dylan Twiss dealt with each threat easily.
Shortly after the restart, the gap widened as Balbriggan tired. A ball over the top to Bisset Lynch saw a powerful run into the box and the inevitable outcome, a goal.
2 goals up now, Porto were cruising. To cap off a fantastic performance, Porto scored with the last kick of the game. Who else but Bissett Lynch for his hat trick. This time he took the ball inside the full back and dispatched a left foot shot. The bulging net sparked wild celebrations from the numerous Porto supporters, including the injured Jake Foran, who had witnessed a truly brilliant match.
The final score of 6 - 3 saw Porto progress to the semi-final.
Both Mick Gallagher and his assistant Gary Foran paid tribute to every one of the team who had given everything to secure this victory.
"I am so proud of all the team, they played with passion and conviction. They even played through the pain barrier when their club needed them" said Mick.
Portmarnock now await the draw for the semi-final and then hopefully onto the Final!
