Spartak 3 Laytown 2
Spartak overcame a poor start to win despite being reduced to ten men on the hour mark.
The opening twenty minutes saw poor distribution and little in the way of aggression from the home side with touches and passes betraying the long lay off. A stray ball by Niall Hanratty put Laytown on the attack and from the resulting corner the Spartak defence was flat footed as Laytown hit the post and netted the rebound.
A good cross by Derek McGoldrick gave Jose Vargas a chance close in but he failed to beat the keeper, and when Chris Hogan’s attempted shot was deflected into Jose’s path, again the keeper came out on top.
It was Chris Hogan who displayed calmness on the ball to start the move for the equaliser by feeding Niall Lennon down the right. The cross was touched by Jose to Derek, and when Derek’s effort was half stopped by the keeper, Jose was on hand to finish to break his scoring duck.
Niall Lennon had a good header saved but Laytown showed their intent with a free header from a corner, just wide, and when Dillon Burke tried to play offside when twenty yards ahead of his fellow defenders, it was time for another near miss by the visitors.
The second half began with a poor Cathal Clancy clearance and then with Hanratty caught in possession from which the Sky Blues had a lucky escape. Shane McInerney had a snap shot just wide at the other end. Spartak settled and began to get on top and on 57 minues Martin Costello scored his first goal for the club, nodding home Hanratty’s looped free kick.
Laytown responded and immediately had a big miss, blazing over after a series of missed tackles by the sky blues.
Dillon Burke was then red carded, at the edge of the box, despite winning the ball, on the hour and Spartak faced an uphill battle, particularly as Derek McGoldrick’s first action as replacement left back was to divert a through ball past Robbie Hayes into the path of a Laytown forward to equalise.
Spartak then got a deserved but fortuitous winner when an attempted clearance rebounded to the net off a startled Niall Lennon.
A prolonged rearguard action by the ten men then ensued which saw some desperate defending and some determined attacks by Laytown, who fell just short of equalising. At times Spartak were reduced to nine by injuries. Keith Kelly relieved the pressure with a couple of blinding runs and missed a chance at the end of one run. Niall Lennon, unused to the pace, went down several times with cramp, as did Derek McGoldrick, while Dave O’Kelly failed to last the second period with groin trouble.
A great three points and a hard fought win, but fitness issues persist.
Form Report
Robbie Hayes 6 Dave O’Kelly 6 Dillon Burke 5 Martin Costello 7 Cathal Clancy 7 Shane McInerney 7 Niall Hanratty 6 Chris Hogan 5 Derek McGoldrick 5 Niall Lennon 6 Jose Vargas 6.
Subs Glen Burke 6 Keith Kelly 7 Jason Northey no show.
