Spartak Dynamo FC

The presentation of the medals to last years Sunday LSL side due to be held in 3 Rock on Friday night has been postponed.

St Colmcilles 4, Spartak 2

Spartak were a little flattered by the final scoreline in the friendly game at VEC last night. In the first half particularly Spartak displayed all the hallmarks of players who have taken a long summer break. Passes were mis placed  which conceded easy possession to much sharper opponents and Colmcilles were very quickly two goals up. Spartak’s midfield and defence were being run ragged and  combination of some last ditch tackles and some sloppy finishing kept the score at 2-0 until late in the half when Paul Burke, who came on to improve ball retention, gave a very good pass to find Glen Carr and he finished at the near post. 

As Colmcilles ran out of subs and fresher legs were inroduced by Spartak, the game became somewhat more evenly balanced after the break. Nonetheless the vast majority of play was conrolled by Colmcille’s with Spartak almost constantly on the defensive and only able to mount sporadic attacks.

In general Spartak played very deep with midfield pressed back in support while the strikers were isolated, giving a very rigid look to the formation.  Colmcilles by contrast were a great deal more fluid, with full backs overlapping and forwards dropping deep as required, and players interchanging positions easily resulting in a very effective game of pass and move. 

In one desperate defensive passage of play a number of Spartak players made repeated heroic blocks to prevent a score. Tony Kavanagh starred in a defensive role  throughout but was unable to make any of his trademark surging runs. 

Colmcilles scored at the near post and again with a decent curling shot before Frank McNamee converted for Spartak.

With the first league match a little over a week away , this match proved to be useful both as a good work out and a wake up call.

Jason Northey; Tony Kavanagh, Greg Callan, Tom Maher, Gerry Doran; Ken Byrne, Steve Carr, Brian Stafford, Glen Carr, Frank McNamee, Ray Grady.

Rolling subs:  Paul Burke, Mark Byrne, Gavin  McLaughlan, Jason Doyle, Barry Crowe.

After 3 games, Mick Costello is racing ahead in the Spartak Fantasy Football league. Stuart Love is a close enough second with Neil McGowan a distant third.  With only 6 points separating the next 7 managers the competition is on to break into the top 4. Deggsie and Jay are firmly rooted in the relegation zone. Still, its early days and a long way to go to determine who really knows their stuff (or who has little else to do). Anybody interested in joining, the link is on the right and the code is 1062863-210098.

Spartak 3, Portmarnock 3

From 0-3 down at half time, Spartak showed skill, class and fighting spirit so reminiscent of last season’s title run to claim a point, and nearly all 3 , against Portmarnock, who were in the AUL Premier C division last year.

Spartak were well on top and missed some opportunities with Byrne shooting over and McEnroe missing a couple of chances. The passes from midfield were often lofted and and Tom Kowal’s final ball often let down his hard work on the ball in getting into good positions.  Against the run of play Portmarnock, who had a lively forward line,  took the lead in spectacular fashion from 30 yards  when possession was lost from a Spartak throw in. They added a second soon after when Jason Northey allowed a harmless looking free kick to drift in over his head. Spartak’s concentration slipped badly and they conceded a third from a throw in when the opposition were allowed to skip down our left, where Dan O Connell was having a torrid time, and cross to an unmarked centre forward to head in just before half time.

Substitutes Breen and Cibirka came on to good effect early in the second half and Spartak began to dominate the play. Chance after chance was created and the vistors got a big let off when the ball crossed the line from a  pass back and the keeper was allowed clear it with his hands.

There was still some threat by the visitors and we had a let off when their winger shot wide with Browne appealing for offside.

McEnroe, normally a cool finisher,  did not have his shooting boots on and missed a number of chances. Breen came on and led the line with some aggressive running and his header began the comeback. Then with 15 minutes to go Spartak went three at the back with immediate impact. McGowan’s turn and pass set up released Cibirka on his right foot 25 yards out and the top corner of the net net duly bulged. The equaliser came from Kowal, racing down the right and slotting home off  the far post. Cibirka then had a goal disallowed and also set up McGowan at the edge of the box but the shot, while powerful,  was too high.

A truly exciting match, sportingly played by both sides, and with some really excellent football by Spartak in the second half.

Northey 4 Browne 6 D O Connell 5 McGowan 7 Grace 7 Flanagan 5 Love 5 Byrne 5 McEnroe 5 Kowal 6 Thomson 5 Cibirka 8 Breen 7 Mahon 6

A great start to the second team’s season on Saturday, with a 4-1 win not fully reflecting the home team’s level of supremacy. A soft late goal conceded, coupled with some glaring misses at the other end kept the scoreline closer than the game warranted.

Spartak began well and some strong defensive work and quick thinking early passes gave the front two plenty of the ball early on.  This supply continued throughout the game with some clever prompting from the midfield. Dave Thomson thudded a shot against the woodwork afte 15 minutes, however it was Tom O’Driscoll, cutting in from the right, who unleashed a shot from more than 20 yards to the top corner to break the deadlock in spectacular fashion. Steve Browne then sprung the offside trap, drew the keeper and squared to give Dave Agnew a simple task to tap into the open goal from 8 yards .

Things took a nasty turn in the second half when following a tackle by Dave Thomson he was punched and spat on by an opponent. The tackle was not a bad one and the reaction was unbelievable. Unfortunately Shane McInerney ran to get involved in the punch up and was red carded along with the Phoenix player. The Phoenix goalkeeper later inexplicably punched Dave Thomson and was also red carded, so the game finished 10 v 9. Further goals were added by Steve Browne , the first a fine finish from a clever kick out by Mick costello, and the second following good work by substitute Hafid Mouhad (Ben). A number of chances went abegging with Agnew and Browne missing open goals and Ben hitting the bar with a header. The late concession of a consolation goal to Phoenix was the only blot on a very good defensive performance, with Martin Costello giving a man of the match performance.

Its the biggest win for a while; clinical finishing could have widened the margin considerably.

Mick Costello 6 Dave O Kelly 8 Martin Costello 9 Cathal Clancy 7 Rob Deering 7 Tom O Driscoll 7 Shane McInerney 4 Neill Bolger 7 Dave Thomson 7 David Agnew 6 Steve Browne 8 Mick Hull 5 Hafid Mouhada 6 Mick Plunkett 5.

Great to see supporters at both weekend games – Frank, Jimmy Browne, Hano, Deggsy, Ben (Hafid), Mark . Well done. A great result Saturday and a stirring comeback on Sunday.

Let’s continue this trend…..

Good workout last night for an over 35 selection against the Saturday team. We have requested the first week (aug 29th) off and are now likely to have our first match on Sept 5th. The league noticed our rapid improvement at the end of last season and have promoted us up to Div 2 (an alternative explanation is that they wanted to balance the numbers in the leagues and keep all the southside teams together). We need all players to download and complete the registration form and bring to next training session/match next Thursday.

Thanks for the help Frank, Over 35’s rule!!!!

Neill Bolger has set up the league. Code to join the league is 1062863-210098