Saturday, April 23, 2011

Dunderry v Kells I.F.C. John Newman Park 7p.m. Saturday 16/4/2011

Conditions ideal for football.Pitch immaculate.Fair attendance. Expectations high as Kells have not beaten Dunderry at this level for a long time in the Championship.
Dunderry team.
                                          David Jennings.
Darren Callaghan.              Darren Fay                   Colm Harte
Evan Stephens                    Kevin Slattery             David Mc Cormack
       Damian Clarke                          Peadar Callaghan
John P,Kenneally               John Kelleher             Andy Coogan
Simon Carty                        T.J.Garry                     Keith Callaghan.
On the line.Barry Callaghan(Manager),Stephen O Rourke,Con O Neill,Tommy Garry,Pete Conaty (Selectors)
Kells win throw in,send in long ball,which they win .Point within one minute.Kells win kick out .Earn free .Quickly taken to number 7,who solos towards goals.Kicks wide.Dundrry take short kickout to Davy Mac ,who sends  down wing.Intercepted by Kells number 7,Passes to number 8,passes to corner forward(13) .Shoots wide.Stephens wins kickout.Long ball in.Intercepted by Kells. Back up field .Davy Mac Intercepts .To Kelleher..Shot blocked.Kells number 7 collects,Back to goalie.Swiss intercepts .To Fay.Long ball in.Kells full back gathers.Ball worked to Kells 13.Fouled .Free pointed.Kells win kick out .Move ball to 21yard line.Free awarded.Free converted.Kells 0-3 .Dunderry 0-0.Dunderry win free from kick out.Stephens takes quickly to Callaghan.Callaghan bundled off ball.Kells work ball to number 15.Point.Harte wins break from kickout.Pass intercepted by Kells 5.Broken play.Dunderry free.Quickly taken by Stephens.Kells 2 wins ball.Passes to 9,then to 7,to 8.Long ball in .Kells point.Kells 0-5.Dunderry 0-0.IN broken play,Callaghan earns long distance free.Garry hits a ground ball across goal,breaks to Carty,shot blocked,breaks to Stephens ,to Harte.Fouled.Callaghan takes from hands.Wide.From broken play,ball worked to Carty.Scores from play.Duck broken.Pereiod of broken play.Kenneally passes good ball to Carty.Shoots wide.Period of aimless passing from both sides ensues.You would think that Kells have an extra player.From a Stephens sideline kick ball worked to Callaghan through Garry.Callaghan impeded.Ref.gives free against Callaghan for charging.Wrong call.Keith’s shot went over bar.Disallowed.More aimless passing by both sides.Kells awarded a free for foul on 15.Pointed. 06-01.Looking bad. Kenneally and Garry switch.Dunderry spectator roars at team to get with pace of game.More aimless play from both sides,culminating in a quick free to Garry ,who scores a minor.Coogan to corner forward.Kelleher to wing forward.From a good passing movement Kenneally is fouled.Ref.moves ball in 14 yards for dissent.Garry converts.Paddy Kenneally replaces his brother.After a period of aimless interpassing by both sides Garry wins throw in ,is fouled and converts a minor from his hands.0-6 to 04 in favour of Kells.Half time .Blessed to only 2 points down.We’ll take it though.
Dunderry pressure results in Carty being fouled.Callaghan converts.One point in it.From broken play Kenneally is fouled 50 yards out.Garry converts.Draw match.More broken play culminating in a Clarke shot going narrowly wide.Kells win kick out and ball worked to 14,who scores.Series of Dunderry passes end with Harte ,who kicks wide.More broken play ends with Kells 7 in possession.He runs most of pitch and ball ends in back of Dunderry net.Fay seems to have moved outfield before goal  and gets involved in play out the field.Kells get possession,work ball in and score a good point from play.Kells earn another free and work another point.Gary Newman and Bob Doherty replace Coogan and Garry.Broken play ensues.Kells score from play.Stephens and Mc Cormack switch wings.More overelaboration by both sides results in a close in Dunderry free which Callaghan converts.Some elaborate interpassing movements don’t advance either team and Doherty has a pointed effort drift wide.David Callaghan on for Peadar.A  good passing movement involving Darren Callaghan,Stephens ,Kelleher,and a kicked pass by Doherty to Keith results in the latter being fouled.He converts the free himself. 1-10 to 0-8 in favour of Kells.Eight minutes to play.Sustained pressure results in a converted Dunderry free.Ivan MC Cormack replaces Kelleher. 4 points in it.Intricate Dunderry passing movement ends with Dunderry wide.
At this stage my tape ran out.In the remaining time Kells kicked another point.Kells by five in my book.
Because I was Manager when we were regulated from Senior to Intermediate a number of years ago,there are those who would not be slow in saying that I am the last person who should judge our performance today.And I am slow.Been there done that and suffered plenty of acrimony.That’s the way it is around Dunderry,where most of us believe that we actually belong in the Senior ranks and many have very definite views on football.
Well here goes.Today was a bad day in the Office.Kells deserved their victory.They were the sharper team and appeared to be fitter than us.This is hard to understand.Dunderry have trained as much as could be expected from any amateurs for a long time and should not be wanting in fitness.There is a millennium of experience and knowledge,both at club and county level in the management team.There would be the universal belief in the Parish that from the 47 players training the Thursday before the match a team adequate to not alone beat Kells ,but win the Championship outright,is selectable.
I hold this belief.But scoring two points from play is not good enough.Nor is breaking even in one line only of the team(the half back line in my view) good enough.The slimmed down Keith Callaghan is a definite plus.
In my view the selectors will have to rethink the team selection policy and get the players to play to the level  of which they are capable.The players will have to play with the  confidence their ability deserves,throw caution to the wind and not be looking over their shoulders for fear of being replaced..And  give it their best shot from now on in.This set of players have underachieved and now is the time to put that to bed.
Used properly this defeat could be the catalyst for ultimate success.
Ref Report.There was no hard hitting and match was played in a sporting manner.All in all the match was refereed in a manner that feminises the game,making it less attractive as a spectator sport and frustrating those few players willing to commit to the physical aspect of the game.Nothing new there in GAA land ,where legislators seem held bent on making rugby the only  team sport  where legitimate physicality is encouraged.Wake up call urgently needed if football is not to evolve into a game for pansies.Within the prevailing health and safety mindset currently in vogue the ref did his job according to the book.
 Junior B match report is cooking.

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