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Greyfriars Bobby · 06-24-2019, 12:04 PM

28 February 2016
The Irish President's Cup

The board don't care about our performance in this one-game "tournament," and I confess I wouldn't have either...if we hadn't been playing Shamrock Rovers, with their big payroll and their big-city attitude and their case full of trophies. They've won the Premier Division 17 times and placed second or third in another 27 seasons. They've got 25 Challenge Cups rattling around in their cupboard; that's the competition they bounced us from last autumn. We have four top-flight trophies, all told. Winning the league felt really good, but I'd like to put this particular club in its place.

Almost 3000 supporters shared my opinion about the importance of the match, and came out to Eamonn Deacy Park in fine voice. To my surprise, the big club from Dublin approached the game as if they were Ballypuddle FC. From the opening whistle, they packed into their end and rarely ventured out.

I'm used to smaller teams parking the bus, so I have an approach for dealing with it; I usually give my more creative players--Pasquale Van Daele, Declan Nolan, Gareth Kearney--freedom to do their thing. It worked, to some extent. We created 29 shots, only six from long range, and put 10 on target. But their goalkeeper, Sean O'Connor, was in fine form, and it took over an hour for us to beat him. Our own member of Clan O'Connor, Aaron, found a wide-open Kearney and set him up for an easy finish.

Thirteen minutes later, Rovers won a free kick just inside our half. Roy Murphy made a rare mistake, leaping to head it away, only to miss it and leave an attacker free as we scrambled back to defend. He cut the ball back to an equally-open Niall Lynch. His shot caromed off an unsuspecting teammate, Mark Dunne, and flew past a helpless Darcy Bradford.

That scoreline held through regular time and thirty minutes' worth of extra time, too. We had the only chances in the extra period, Aaron O'Connor going just wide and Declan Nolan forcing a fine save from Sean O'Connor. Still, the match would come down to penalties.

I'll make this short, because the outcome wasn't pleasant. Kearney, going third for us, was the first player to miss his penalty. Ross Tuite converted for Rovers, so it was up to Roy Murphy to keep our chances alive.

Sean O'Connor guessed right, made the save, and that was that.

It was a shame that Roy was part of the match's lowest points, because he played a typically fine game otherwise.

So, Shamrock Rovers went back to Dublin with another trophy, leaving me with one more reason to want to give them a thrashing or two in the league.

06-24-2019, 12:04 PM	#46
Greyfriars Bobby College Prospect Join Date: Sep 2013	28 February 2016 The Irish President's Cup The board don't care about our performance in this one-game "tournament," and I confess I wouldn't have either...if we hadn't been playing Shamrock Rovers, with their big payroll and their big-city attitude and their case full of trophies. They've won the Premier Division 17 times and placed second or third in another 27 seasons. They've got 25 Challenge Cups rattling around in their cupboard; that's the competition they bounced us from last autumn. We have four top-flight trophies, all told. Winning the league felt really good, but I'd like to put this particular club in its place. Almost 3000 supporters shared my opinion about the importance of the match, and came out to Eamonn Deacy Park in fine voice. To my surprise, the big club from Dublin approached the game as if they were Ballypuddle FC. From the opening whistle, they packed into their end and rarely ventured out. I'm used to smaller teams parking the bus, so I have an approach for dealing with it; I usually give my more creative players--Pasquale Van Daele, Declan Nolan, Gareth Kearney--freedom to do their thing. It worked, to some extent. We created 29 shots, only six from long range, and put 10 on target. But their goalkeeper, Sean O'Connor, was in fine form, and it took over an hour for us to beat him. Our own member of Clan O'Connor, Aaron, found a wide-open Kearney and set him up for an easy finish. Thirteen minutes later, Rovers won a free kick just inside our half. Roy Murphy made a rare mistake, leaping to head it away, only to miss it and leave an attacker free as we scrambled back to defend. He cut the ball back to an equally-open Niall Lynch. His shot caromed off an unsuspecting teammate, Mark Dunne, and flew past a helpless Darcy Bradford. That scoreline held through regular time and thirty minutes' worth of extra time, too. We had the only chances in the extra period, Aaron O'Connor going just wide and Declan Nolan forcing a fine save from Sean O'Connor. Still, the match would come down to penalties. I'll make this short, because the outcome wasn't pleasant. Kearney, going third for us, was the first player to miss his penalty. Ross Tuite converted for Rovers, so it was up to Roy Murphy to keep our chances alive. Sean O'Connor guessed right, made the save, and that was that. It was a shame that Roy was part of the match's lowest points, because he played a typically fine game otherwise. So, Shamrock Rovers went back to Dublin with another trophy, leaving me with one more reason to want to give them a thrashing or two in the league.