Spartak 2 St Pats Cy 2
Spartak had to be satisfied with a point from this tough encounter with the Ringsend outfit. Without no fewer than five of the previous game’s squad for a variety of reasons and with a number of players carrying knocks into the game it did not make the ideal preparation, however Steve Grier’s overnight trip from Sligo to play was a boost.
On a poor pitch, quality football was at a premium but Spartak made the early running and shots from Gintaras Cibirka tested the keeper, while Glen Burke and Neil McGowan, from a 30 yard free, were just off target.
Cibirka shot over from a narrow angle when a cross might have paid dividends.
A stray square pass from Burke allowed Pats to get a shot in – just over. Spartak made the breakthrough on 24 minutes whe a Steve Grier throw was headed powerfully in by Graham Breen.
Spartak seemed to ease off and poor marking from a throw resulted in a free conceded by Grier and which Pats smacked off the bar. Disaster struck on 32 minutes when Cibirka passed back to Peter O’Toole, whose kick was short and skied. The Pats winger tussled with Anto Doyle for possession, and fouled him, but when Anto put his hands on the winger in the box, the ref pointed to the spot. 1-1. Dave Browne was yellow carded for his protest. Worse was to follow on 44 minutes when a goal kick was flicked on to a clearly offside visiting player who went on to score. The ref maintained he got the ball direct from the goal kick, a version that was hotly disputed by the home players.
Spartak found it difficult to pass the ball and were being bullied off the ball in the middle of the park, where St Pat’s displayed more aggression and control. On the attacking side Neil McGowan had a good volley saved and Stuart Love’s header from a corner was too close to the keeper. Glen Burke had a great solo run but just failed to find the final cross. Glen also was over with a snap shot from 15 yards. At the other end Pats had a drive just wide.
Spartak got the equaliser from another set piece when Burke’s corner was headed in Breen. Kevin O’Toole had come on earlier and made a good impresson as he set about winning the ball but was soon in the ref’s notebook. He also had a powerful goalbound drive blocked by a Pats player, who took some time to recover.
Neill Bolger reacted to a foul off the ball and when a Pats player tried to extract revenge he was red carded.
There were still chances to break the deadlock. On 86 minutes Spartak were grateful to Rob Mahon’s saving tackle and in injury time Breen’s flick on was volleyed over by Bolger with the keeper stranded.
Not a night of classic football but Spartak showed resilience and mental strength in adversity to claw their way back into a tough game which had turned against them for a while.
Form report
Peter O’Toole 6 Anto Doyle 5 Rob Mahon 7 Steve Grier 8 Dave Browne 7 Glen Burke 7 Neil McGowan 6 Gintaras Cibirka 6 Will O’Connell 5 Graham Breen 7 Stuart Love 5.
Subs Kevin O’Toole 6 Neill Bolger 6 Fintan Grace 6 Mick Greene. Mark Bolger no show Tom Kowal no show.
