Spartak Dynamo FC

Saturday Team – AWAY to Rathoath THURSDAY NIGHT (meet at Spawell at 6pm)

Sunday Team – AWAY to St.Pats

Over 35’s – HOME to Schalke

Balbriggan 0, Spartak 2.

Spartak enjoyed a comfortable win courtesy of a clean sheet and two goals by Mick Costello to make it 6 wins from last seven games. 

The back four put in a solid shift with Cathal Clancy dominant in the air while also making important blocks and distributing the ball simply. Dan O’Connell was in fine form and almost broke the deadlock with a cracking shot just wide in the first half.

 For quite a while Spartak had good midfield supremacy  courtesy of Will O’Connell’s tireless covering and neat distribution, but the final ball was often wasteful on the flanks from Niall Hanrattyand Rob Deering or the wrong option taken by strikers Thomas Gaynor and the hard working Glen Burke.

Rob Deering missed a big chance when volleying over from 10 yards after Glen flicked on.

On 38 minutes, Glen and Will combined to win the ball and transferred it to Rob Deering , cutting in from the left. His pass was controlled at the edge of the box by Mick Costello who slotted home. Cathal’s great block prevented Balbriggan from getting straight back into the game.

The visitors began the second period strongly with Dave O’Kelly finding his passing range and Hanratty’s cross was fluffed by Rob Deering. O’Kelly’s cross was neatly laid off by Thomas Gaynor to Burke who blazed over.

Balbriggan threatened when O’Kelly handled and Spartak switched off. Jason Northey missed a cross but the home side could only hit the side netting.

On the hour a fine move by Dan, Glen and Tom saw the ball break to Mick Costello who lashed home first time from 20 yards low into the bottom corner.

Derek McGoldrick made inroads down the left and should have won a penalty but the ref did not oblige. He then laid on a simple chance for Tom Gaynor who stuck the post. Tom was repeatedly caught offside and received a yellow card for protesting too strongly against the decisions.

Balbriggan had a goal disallowed on 80 minutes and that was the last scare.

A fine win and a good performance. 

 Form Report

Jason Northey 6 Dave O Kelly 7 Dan O Connell 8 Martin Costello 7 Cathal Clancy 8 Will O Connell 8 Niall Hanratty 6 Rob Deering 6 Thomas Gaynor 6 Glen Burke 7 Mick Costello 7

Subs: Derek McGoldrick 7 Ross Kelly 6 Colm O Sullivan 6

Snow covered Marlay unplayable for fixture v Dunboyne

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Everton 5 Spartak 0.

Spartak suffered their worst defeat in years on the back of a terrible second half performance. A robust and rampant Everton side destroyed the visitors in a short spell after the interval.  A local referee allowed a physical contest and Spartak were simply not up for it. Sometimes you can outplay opponents; sometimes you have to fight them. This occasion was the latter and Spartak did not have the will to resist.

An early chance for Spartak was created by Graham Breen who put Stuart Love through but he pulled his shot wide from 12 yards. Glen Burke shot over when a pass might have served better; a lead goal might have instilled more desire in the team but it was not to be. After that chances for Spartak were few. Breen had to go off injured on 25 minutes.

Peter O’Toole was working overtime at the other end and he made a number of good saves; Steve Grier headed clear time and again and Dan O Connell and Fintan Grace scrambled clearances as Everton took command.

Spartak nonetheless reached the interval without conceding.

The start of the second half saw Grier conceed a penalty for number one on 48 minutes; on 50 minutes mistakes by Grier and Rob Mahon preceded number 2; on 52 minutes Everton broke after a corner and O’Toole made a great save, but it was to be a temporary reprieve and the hosts scored from the resulting corner when the back post cover was abandoned. Three goals in just over 5 minutes conceded as Spartak wilted.

 Neil McGowan was harried into an error that Alex Kenny could not cover and Everton were in for number 4.  A poor free by Tom Flanagan was cleared and        Everton  broke the length of the pitch in a 4 v 1 breakout to complete the nap hand.

 Goalkeepers mistakes are often harshly highlighted  but on this occasion O’Toole was the only Spartak player who could derive any satisfaction from his performance. He was not at fault for any of the goals and his saves kept the scoreline from reaching even more embarrassing levels.

A truly miserable display.

 Form Report

Peter O’Toole 8 Dan O Connell 4 Rob Mahon 4 Steve Grier 4 Fintan Grace 4 Tom Flanagan 4 Neil McGowan 4 Will O Connell 4 Glen Burke 4 Graham Breen 5 Stuart Love 4

Subs Alex Kenny 4 Dave Thomson 5

Spartak 1 Everton 3

Spartak exited the Tom Watt cup on Saturday with late goals conceded flattering the opposition somewhat.

The match was delayed by 45 minutes due to late arrival of substitute referee and Spartak had to weather an early storm, conceding free after free, mostly needlessly and some blatantly, although the opposition’s propensity to go to ground did influence the referee somewhat.

Spartak’s attacks from free kicks were halted by Everton’s simple expedient of stepping out to play offside.

Spartak led from the 47th minute until conceding an equaliser on 80 minutes from a corner which the  defenders allowed a free header on the 6 yard line.

Spartak had a dream start to the second half when Steve Browne’s run was halted by the keeper’s tackle outside the box; Steve won the block tackle and transferred to Tom O’Driscoll who was coolness itself in finding the net from 18 yards through the covering defenders.

Jason Northey showed hesitation when Everton headed wide from 3 yards and his slowness to leave his line caused a number of incidents, with Spartak’s defenders having to come deep for the through ball. In one incident he took a knock as Cathal Clancy and a forward collided with him in the box.  Nonetheless he made a couple of fine saves from good Everton opportunities.

Spartak were now pinned back as Everton piled into the attack in search of an equaliser. Spartak looked to defend for their lives and run down the clock.

Despite the pressure Spartak looked set to hold on until the goal from the corner. Following the equaliser a slick move by Browne, Bolger and Kelly created a one on one only for the referee to call offside, incorrectly.

Extra time loomed until, in the 90th minute,  Martin Costello, not playing at his usual level,  allowed a ball to bounce and then slipped at the edge of the box and the forward beat Northey with ease. 

To add insult to injury a long ball following loss of possession by O’Kelly gave an Everton player time to pick his spot as Northey backed off. 

Spartak will rue that equaliser.

Form Report

Jason Northey 5 Dave O Kelly 6 Mick Greene 5 Martin Costello 6 Cathal Clancy 6 Rob Deering 6 Neill Bolger 6 Chris Hogan 5 Steve Browne 6 Tom O Driscoll 6 Mick Costello 5.

Subs: Colm O Sullivan 5 Derek McGoldrick 5 Ross Kelly 5

Training tonight as usual in Three Rock.

Training on Thursday is off as the school is on mid term. Instead we are training in St. Columbas College on WEDNESDAY at 9.30 just for this week.

Saturday Team AWAY to Balbriggan – Won 2-0

Sunday Team HOME to Dunboyne – OFF

Over 35’s AWAY to Garden County – Lost 4-1

Saturday Team HOME to Everton in the Cup – Lost 3-1
Sunday Team AWAY to Everton – Lost 5-0
Over 35’s are IDLE

SDFC 5, Knockmitten 4

Spartak over 35’s overcame the disappointment of last week to produce a good cup win over Knockmitten.

The omens did not look good however early on when the away side were well on top and deservedly took the lead through the now familiar sight of a ball looping over the head of Jimmy Browne. Spartak gradually came more into the game and Mark Byrne scored the equaliser with an excellent finish in the left corner following a good header on from Shay McCafferty. As the half wore on Knockmitten reasserted their superiority and it required two excellent saves from one-on-one situations from Jimmy Browne to keep Spartak in the game. The away side did however go 2-1 up just before the break with their striker taking advantage of some penalty box pinball to shoot home from close range.

Literally facing an uphill battle in the second half Spartak produced the best performance of the season so far to completely dominate the remainder of the game, apart that is from a bizarre final two minutes.  Firstly Ken Byrne equalised having got on the end of a great move involving at least 5 Spartak players. Then Barry Crowe produced the goal of the season so far with a volley to the top right-hand corner from close to the left touchline. Dave Mohan and Greg Callan were dominant in the centre of the defence with Gerry Doran and Tony Kavanagh proving equally adept at defensive and offensive play.  Paul Burke, Shay McCafferty and Paul bossed midfield and provided plenty of probing passes for Ken Byrne, Frank McNamee and Rory Campbell to threaten the opposing defense. Further goals from Ken Byrne and Rory Campbell deservedly pushed Spartak into what appeared to be an unassailable lead of 5-2.

With the game reaching its conclusion and the home side both tiring and taking the foot off the pedal, Knockmitten won two corners one after the other and somehow managed to score from both of them to make the score  5-4. Thankfully there was no further drama and the game finished with that score.

A somewhat inconsistent performance over the 90 minutes but a very satisfying cup win and one that certainly showed signs of what the team is capable of when the work rate and competitiveness levels are high.

The spartak panel was Jimmy Browne, Tony Kavanagh, Dave Mohan, Paul Burke, Shay McCafferty,  Ken Byrne, Mark Byrne, Rory Campbell, Paul, Frank McNamee, Barry Crowe, Gerry Doran, Leon David, Greg Callan.