Ballynanty 3 - 1 Springfield. FAI JNR CUP.
Game of two halfs really ... I thought!. Bally had the fair share of possession during the first half but really only threatened and tested our keeper once aside from the penalty.
We could/should easily avoided conceeding the penalty, indecision between centre half & keeper in deciding who should clear the ball lead to Bally striker nipping in and attempting to round our keeper who had no choice but to bring him down to avoid a tap in. No qualms here - defo spotter!. Well taken aswell-down to keepers bottom right, he had no chance - peno was inch perfect. In 1down at half time but knew if we got one we could pip them.
Second half we owned majority of the possesesion and scored with header from corner. 1-1 back in the game!.
Not going to say we lost game cos of officials but it certainly does help when their hometown officials(cant understand why Fai didnt bring in some from say Tipp or Clare), and when u have the home team on first name terms with Referee ('Robbie this and Robbie that'') - it does help a bit.
Their tall striker scored with header from corner(see below) . . . but my opinion he shouldnt have been on the pitch. Prior to this he levelled one of our centre halfs with a blatant elbow challanging for a header. Defo a red card, but hometown ref only gave a yellow. Linesman nearest had perfect view but never spoke up!!! - perhaps it was the home support behind him he was frightened of.
Couple of mins later Bally got a corner which wasnt a corner (came back of Bally striker after our keeper block at his feet). This is where their tall striker scored. Some say it was 50/50 whether ball crossed the line but my opinion it did!.
Bally last goal could have been avoided, poor defending on the bye-line, which allowed their sub ghost into our box and finish at near post.
Bally did miss(bad miss) a spotter with 5mins to go, but game was over at this stage. Springfield had resigned themselves to the loss at thhis stage and were sick to the death of the tendancy of the officials to side with home team on decisions.
Finally, best of Luck to Bally in the next round.
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