7.5.2011<\/p>\n
Spartak 0, Pegasus 2<\/p>\n
Spartak lost the cup final in the most frustrating manner possible, by simply not performing on the day. For the first time this season, Spartak failed to score, and created fewer chances than in any game all year.
\nThe first goal in a cup final is always vital and having got off the hook when Peter O\u2019Toole saved a penalty on 32 minutes (conceded by Steve Grier for second final in a row) Spartak fell into arrears following a corner in the 38th minute.<\/p>\n
The Sky Blues never got going at all in the first half, and with Keith Kelly carrying an injury into the game and replaced early in second half, Spartak never got a grip in midfield. In three appearances against Pegasus Keith has had to depart early in each case. Distribution from the back was poor and very little in the way of constructive play in evidence. An over reliance on the long throw, easily dealt with by Pegs, meant that Spartak simply forgot to play the ball on the carpet. A fatal mistake<\/p>\n
A slight improvement in the second half gave some hope, with a few half chances following the introduction of Stuart Love, until the red card for Kevin O\u2019Toole dealt a killer blow. When Anto Doyle was caught in possession on 82 minutes Pegasus took full advantage to score number 2.<\/p>\n
Form Report
\nPeter O\u2019Toole 8 Composed performance, penalty save, always in command, Peter rounded off an excellent season and should have been rewarded with the man of the match trophy.
\nGlen Burke 5 One of \u201cthose\u201d days from Glen, who defended well enough but lacked composure on the ball, and tended to panic in possession.
\nPaul Kinsella 6 Strong tackling defender who finished the season as well as he started it, after injury disrupted much of his season.
\nSteve Grier 6 Decent performance, but failed to vary his throws when they were clearly easy meat for Pegs defenders.
\nDave Browne 4 Occasion seemed to get to him, never looked in command and stood too far off his man.
\nKeith Kelly 4 Should not have started, injured, and made no impact until substituted.
\nNeil McGowan 5 Had a couple of half chances, one from a free, but persistent injury has reduced his effectiveness.
\nSeamus McCahill 4 Ineffective on the day. Never got going at all, and a very disappointing performance overall.
\nKevin O\u2019Toole 4 His red card effectively nobbled any chance of a late comeback.
\nGraham Breen 4 Was dominated by the Pegs centre backs, and could not impose himself on the game
\nGer Byrne 5 No shortage of energy, but lacked composure and his touch and hold up play were poor
\nThom O\u2019Driscoll 4 His normal excellent touch deserted him and he fatally delayed his shot in what was probably Spartak\u2019s best chance.
\nStuart Love 6 Unlucky not to start, showed composure and energy to inspire Spartak\u2019s best spell.
\nAnto Doyle 4 Went on to help search for equaliser, but caught in possession and Spartak were two down.
\nFintan Grace, Neilll Bolger, Niall Tilley. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
7.5.2011 Spartak 0, Pegasus 2 Spartak lost the cup final in the most frustrating manner possible, by simply not performing on the day. For the first time this season, Spartak failed to score, and created fewer chances than in any game all year. The first goal in a cup final is always vital and having […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-news","category-sunday-lsl-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spartakdynamofc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spartakdynamofc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spartakdynamofc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spartakdynamofc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spartakdynamofc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2133"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.spartakdynamofc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2140,"href":"https:\/\/www.spartakdynamofc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133\/revisions\/2140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spartakdynamofc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spartakdynamofc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spartakdynamofc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}