Spartak Dynamo FC

Cancel all other social arrangements and get along to the Spartak quiz night, to answer Mick Greene’s fiendish questions under the watchful eye of Niall Hanratty as moderator/referee/general factotum.

All who can donate spot prizes are asked to do so. Thanks in advance.

Should be a good evening.

Be there for 9pm

Update as of 26th August.
Tuesday game against Brighton Celtic goes ahead but the Thursday game v Lisadell is off. They could not field a team last night and may pull out of league.

So Kilians training now starts Thurs 1st Sept at 9pm.

Training in St Kilians, due to start 29th Aug, will now be delayed by a week as midweek league games are fixed for Tues and Thursday . Training on astro resulmes Tuesday and Thurs Sep 6th and 8th at 9pm.

18.8.11
Spartak 4, St Vincents 2

Spartak survived a nightmare start, going two down, to finish strongly and with better finishing in the second half could have run up a big score.

There was more than a suspicion of offside about the first Vincents goal, although the home side were caught in possession and slow to try to get back. Failure to play to the whistle costs precious seconds in reaction time. Martin Costello was then dispossessed trying to carry the ball out and the Sky Blues were two down. When Kevin O Toole and Dave Browne were outpaced, Vincents hit the bar.

Spartak were slipshod in possession and slow in thought and movement, and generally listless throughout the first half.

Martin Costello redeemed his earlier error by reducing arrears with a left footed snap shot just before the break.

The introduction of Niall Hanratty and Neill Bolger added energy to the Spartak cause and the tide then turned rapidly in favour of the home side.

Two goals by Ger Byrne edged Spartak in front and Dave O Kellys effort was deflected in to make it four.

Good approach play created a litany of chances against a tiring Vincents outfit. Glen Burke hit the post from close range, Martin Costello missed a great chance from point blank range when set up by Niall Lennon, who himself missed a one on one. Neill Bolger blazed over when Stuart Love headed down and Anto Doyle’s shot was straight at the keeper. Stuart Love had a “goal” disallowed when Ger Byrne was adjudged to be active. Ger found the golf course with a shot from close in from Stuart Love’s cross. A great Hanratty cross could not be converted by the inrushing Byrne and Bolger.

The Sky Blues finished the game far better than they started it.

Form Report
Peter O’Toole 6 Glen Burke 5 Dave Browne 6 Martin Costello 6 Kevin O’Toole 6 Keith Kelly 6 Niall Lennon 5 Anto Doyle 5 Stuart Love 7 Thom O Driscoll 5 Ger Byrne 7 Neill Bolger 8 Niall Hanratty 8 Dave O Kelly 7 Steve Walsh 6

Because the site was down for so long last week, we start the scoring form week 2, as per option offered. Get your team in now…..

14.8.11
Wayside Celtic 4, Spartak 1

One of the final warm up games found a Wayside squad of 22 who looked slick and moved the ball better for most of the contest. Additionally they were more eager in the challenge and quicker to the second ball.

With Graham Breen recovering from his latest operation, and Tom Flanagan returning after injury, Spartak looked somewhat rusty. An early free conceded by Kevin O’Toole was converted past Peter O’Toole from 25 yards.

Wayside added a second before the interval when Spatak’s cover was penetrated.

As the Sky Blues struggled to get to the pitch of the ball Kelly moved to the middle to good effect; but David Browne, Paul Kinsella and Kevin O’Toole played roulette with a high line and were frequently caught by pacy attackers who finished tidily to put the homesters four up. Peter O’Toole also had to race out to head clear on one occasion, and the offside call came to Spartak’s rescue in a couple of dubious cases.

Glen Burke finished a neat move for a late Spartak consolation goal.

A good flavour of LSL Premier standard.

Form Report
Peter O’Toole 5 – a good save, also advanced quickly off line to save a certain goal, but won’t be happy with the goal conceded from a direct free.
Glen Burke 5 – a second half glimmer of 2008/9 form and took his goal well, but too often chose the wrong option on the ball.
Paul Kinsella 5 – A sleepy performance.
Keith Kelly 7 – Good at the back and energetic when moved to midfield.
Kevin O’Toole 5 – rusty from lack of match practice; some good tackles, but positional sense still off , and distribution not great
Tom Flanagan 5 Injury has hampered his pre season and he is still off the pace.
Steve Walsh 5 Nice touches on the ball and good vision, but weak in the air and in the challenge.
Anto Doyle 5 Belatedly got to the pace of the game in the second half.
Stuart Love 5 – Ran hard and took plenty of punishment. Touch and passing not at standard yet.
Thom O’Driscoll 5 No sign of the silky touches Thom is capable of, and hold up play poor.
Ger Byrne 5 A little short of Ger’s usual high energy performance.
Dave Browne 5 Was caught for pace and distribution and positional play weak.
Rob Deering 5 Started well but lack of training quicjky showed, and he faded.
Niall Lennon 6 Solid hold up play and drew fouls. Distribution good, missed a decent chance when through.
Steve Grier – no show

Spartak have obtained use of full pitch on in Kilians Thursday, at extra cost of course. Training facilities overall for the coming season will cost over €8000.

Annuals of €50 now due. Please cough up as quickly as possible, as we have had to pay upfront for training, and are (deeply) in the red for the moment. So you can help keep the administrators at bay by paying up early – thanks.

Also after match refreshments and social nights will be held in the sumptuous premises of the Eden from now on. We look forward to a good relationship with the Eden.

Spartak 0, Leicester Celtic 5

Spartak’s back four imploded in the second half to allow Leicester to win with ease. The first half saw a tentative Sky Blues approach, with late cry offs and no shows limiting selection and substitution. Spartak’s midfield could only rarely get hold of the ball, and were wasteful in possession. Leicester led one nil at the break, but ran riot in the second period, with too many Spartak players going missing.
A notable exception was Niall Hanratty, who never stopped and continued to show even when the game was beyond recovery.

Form Report
Peter O’Toole 6 Anto Doyle 4 Niall Hanratty 7 Paul Kinsella 5 Dave Browne 4 Tom Flanagan 4 Glen Burke 4 Fidel Benson 4 Ger Byrne 4 Graham Breen 4 Martin Costello 5 Niall Lennon 5 Thom O’Driscoll 5 Bobby Hayes Shane McInerney.
No show : Dermot Dooley, Mick Young, Steve Grier.

Spartak 0, Stedfast 0
Spartak 1, VEC 0
Spartak 1 Terenure 0

A determined Spartak squad fought their way through to Sunday’s semi final meeting with Leicester Celtic. An opening scoreless draw with Stedfast, where Peter O’Toole pulled off a last minute save to ensure a point left Spartak with plenty to do to qualify. Spartak might have nicked the game, but Ger Byrne’s excellent volley was ruled out, somewhat dubiously, for offside.

The Sky Blues got an early tonic in the second game, when Shane McInerney’s cross was turned past his own keeper by a VEC defender. That was enough to clinch the points . Glen Burke went close with a couple of efforts and Niall Lennon made a strong impact coming on as sub.

Game three was the decider, and Spartak were up for it. Ger Byrne gave notice of the intention with a volley just over, but it was left to Niall Lennon to emphatically volley home early in the second half after Anto Doyle’s cross had created confusion. Fidel Benson saved the day with a last gasp clearance tracking back, but overall the Spartak defence , well marshalled by Paul Kinsella, were in command.

A solid performance by the whole squad.

Form Report
Peter O Toole 8 Niall Hanatty 6 Conor Canavan 7 Steve Grier 8 Paul Kinsella 8 Dermot Dooley 7 Tom Flanagan 6 Thom O Driscoll 6 Ger Byrne 7 Graham Breen 7 Martin Costello 7 Glen Burke 7 Fidel Benson 6 Dave Browne 6 Shane McInerney 6 Niall Lennon 7 Bobby Hayes 6 Anto Doyle 6

4.8.11
St Judes 1, Spartak 2

Spartak continued their good friendly result sequence, but this result masked the underlying performance, which was shaky, especially in defence in the first half.

The home side played the more composed football in the first half, but Spartak took the lead from the spot, very much against the run of play, after Graham Breen was held back. To the home team’s surprise, a spot kick was given. Even Martin Costello protested vigorously, assuming it was a free out! Mick Greene confidently drilled home on 22 minutes. Corners in particular were causing problems to Spartak, and a number of free headers were permitted. Dave Browne’s underhit back pass caused problems, and later when Dave O’Kelly was outpaced, Judes contrived to miss a double chance.

Judes had much the better chances, aided by uncertainty in the sky blues back four, where Dave O’Kelly and Dave Browne did not gel well together. Spartak’s back four was in some disarray, playing too square and too deep, regularly at odds with each other as waves of attack engulfed them in the early stages. Newcomer Tom Foody and Mick Greene both struggled at full back. Spartak’s only real chance from play in the first half fell to Graham McEnroe, trying to finish a move he had started, but he shot over.

Paul Kinsella gave the visiting defence some stability on his (belated) arrival, and played well. Spartak showed immediate improvement on resumption and had a tonic start to the second period when Niall Lennon found himself in space some twenty yards out and to the left. He fired a super dipping shot to the net to make it 2-0.

Just on the hour, Judes got back into it with a very soft goal, but as they pressed forward in search of the equaliser, Spartak created a few chances on the break. Jose Vargas might, with more confidence, have bagged a couple. Hesitancy in taking control of possession frequently costs him, and denies him the chance to use his pace and trickery.

The Sky Blues, as usual, worked hard for each other. Mick Greene gained composure as the game progressed, and linked well with Graham McEnroe, who showed some classy touches. Mick Young won his fair share of the ball in the middle, but was sometimes profligate in his distribution. Shane McInerney and Niall Hanratty combined well on occasion. Up front, Graham Breen, playing aginst his old club, Martin Costello and Niall Lennon all showed some nice touches.

Meanwhile, back home in bed, Thom O’Driscoll wondered how the game had gone.

Form Report
Peter O’Toole 7 Tom Foody 5 Mick Greene 5 Dave O Kelly 5 Dave Browne 5 Graham McEnroe 7 Mick Young 6 Niall Hanratty 6 Jose Vargas 5 Graham Breen 6 Martin Costello 6 Paul Kinsella 7 Bobby Hayes 6 Shane McInerney 6 Niall Lennon 7.
Thom O’Driscoll – slept it out!