ah come on Holly, I was at the game and Aob report is spot on and a great read, were you at the game, put up your report and lets see how different it is.
Were you at the game seabird.and woukd you have concerns about pa mullins playing against arguably the best centre forward in the country?? Check out how many goals from open play he has scored against pa.i rest my case. I dontbthink anyone in here woukd have concerns about pa bar alan ob.hes not OT captain for nothing.Originally Posted by Sea Bird
ah come on Holly, I was at the game and Aob report is spot on and a great read, were you at the game, put up your report and lets see how different it is.
wasn't at the game but heard from a few he gave the ball away a few times and didn't have his best game he is a human being at the end of the day and from what I have seen is the best c.back in the league so I would have no worries about him marking anyone in town or the country for that matter..
Hahaha.you will never learn will you.but it keeps you entertained so who am I to spoil your fun.ive been so many fellas now that you'll surely get it right one day. Haha
All fixtures didn't change... Dunno what the gripe is here but we were down to play balla before and after the strike
WTF?one of the biggest junior soccer clubs in the country ...down 3 players due to GAA committments.....has it come to that ,pike relying on gaa players,surely pikes squad is one of the strongest in the country,amazing stuff.one would of thought pat mullins is indeed the ideal captain for the OT team yet was not available for their game in clare,wonder why?
Carew 6
Aa 1.
Just for the record that was the original fixture that were
To play before the issues with the refs.
Any result from Pike today ???
Won 5-0 I think
Fairview Rangers 0-5 Pike Rovers
This season’s second trouncing of fierce rivals Fairview Rangers ensured that Pike Rovers extended their lead at the top of the Limerick District League table to 7 points with 10 games played.
Pike made one change from the side that defeated Aisling Annacotty 5-0 in the Tuohy Cup on Thursday night. Midfielder Keith Hartnett was unavailable – Gavin O’Shea was moved from centre back to replace him, with veteran Colm Enright coming into the side to renew his partnership with Pa Mullins in defence.
Fairview dispensed with the 3-4-1-2 shape that saw them overloaded down the flanks in the reverse fixture in August. They instead utilised a 4-5-1 formation, with Jason Roche as the anchorman and Karl Turner leading the line as the lone striker.
The main story of the game was the performance of Pike’s number 10 John Tierney. Nominally fielded behind striker Reece Healy – in reality the former Limerick man was absolutely everywhere. Mindful of the fact that Fairview were employing an anchorman in his area of the field, he varied his positioning intelligently to avoid being shackled – he dropped deep, he moved from flank to flank. On occasion he even played off the shoulder alongside Healy (with left winger Dunisha tucking in to provide the link play).
Fairview were unsure of how to manage Tierney. Roche seemed to be under instructions not to leave his zone and do a traditional man-marking job on him. In hindsight, this was a mistake, particularly as Pike’s midfielders John Boyle and Gavin O’Shea were not being particularly positive with their positioning.
It was the aforementioned Boyle, however, who would open the scoring with only 5 minutes on the clock. A corner from the left was not dealt with by ‘View goalkeeper Niall O’Connor. The ball fell to Boyle on the penalty spot and he duly dispatched it into the waiting net.
At that point, most in attendance were expecting the floodgates to open. But, this time, that didn’t happen (yet). Fairview were playing a canny game. They made it difficult for Pike to penetrate in two ways – firstly, by electing to play the fixture on the shorter pitch and secondly, by playing very deep, only choosing to press once the ball reached the halfway line. Once such incident late in the first half illustrated this well – Gavin O’Shea paused on the ball in his own half for about 10 seconds with only the four Pike defenders anywhere near him. Fairview striker Karl Turner, waiting near the centre spot, was the nearest opposition player to him, and was showing no intention of pressing the ball. The ‘View were putting the emphasis on keeping their shape. And it worked. In the first half.
The second half began with a change for the away side. Striker Reece Healy, the hat-trick hero in midweek, had struggled in the first 45. His game of running the channels was nullified by the depth of the home side’s defensive line and the size of the pitch. Thursday’s fifth goalscorer Seamus O’Carroll was introduced in his place – just as quick as Healy, but big and strong too. Immediately O’Carroll had a good chance to double Pike’s advantage – A cross from the right was chested down by John Tierney. O’Carroll shot marginally over.
Five minutes later, however, the away side had their second. Right winger Cian Collins easily skinned View left full Lee Whyte on the inside before exchanging passes with the omnipresent Tierney and rifling past O’Connor.
The last half hour was the O’Carroll show. Four minutes after Collins’ goal, he demonstrated the presence that Pike were sorely lacking up top in the first half, muscling left sided centre back Mullen off the ball before powering home. Seven minutes later, he doubled his tally – a right wing cross from (you guessed it) John Tierney was buried with the head. Finally, in injury time, he completed his hat-trick. Playing from the right flank at this point, O’Carroll collected the ball in acres in an inside right position, before thwacking home with his left – his weaker foot. That’s what those in the know call a “perfect hat-trick” – one with the left, one with the right, one with the head.
Fairview will be disconsolate at the final score but they should take pride in their first half performance. Right full Steven Gallagher didn’t give his opposite number Fatima Dunisha a sniff and centre back John Mullane was fantastic, making numerous tackles, interceptions and clearances to keep the score down.
Pike huffed and puffed in the first half, lacking the kind of incisive passing from deep necessary to unlock such defensive opposition. The selection of Healy was inappropriate on the day, but the introduction of O’Carroll, his subsequent performance, and the fluid interchanging of positions he engaged in with Tierney and Collins were marvelous to behold. Considered alongside Janesboro’s laboured 3-1 home win against basement side Wembley today, Pike will be very confident going into the two sides’ massive FAI Junior Cup clash next week.
Fairview (4-5-1): O’Connor; Gallagher, Mullane, Mullen, Whyte; Hogan (Long), Reddan, Roche, O’Riordan (O’Callaghan), Power; Turner
Pike (4-2-3-1): Neville (O’Regan); J. Mullins, Enright, P. Mullins, O’Donovan; Boyle, O’Shea; Collins, Tierney, Dunisha (Okoro); Healy (O’Carroll)
Another good report Alan, I was at the game too and more or less agree. I say more or less because while the report on the 90mins is good, I don't think you know the league very well. There's a lot more to it, no way Fairview are 'fierce rivals' at least not anymore. The game was a total mismatch, Fairview never had a prayer. Any indepth reviewing of the game would register one fact: better players. Maybe that's why some of the members on here say you talk rope. Just my opinion mind, but if you're going to keep doing such technical reports, maybe some colour is needed. e.g. Why did Neville come off? How is Dermot Finnan reacting to such a downturn in fortuntes? Is he being found out? Is Mike Sheils the real deal?
Treaty gooner Stevie Wonder could manage pike.. any 11 you pick will win 95% of games..
I would argue that the existence of a rivalry between two clubs is never negated by their relative strength. The history between the two clubs will always be there. I wasn't implying that they were in competition for honours this season and I would hope that the fact that View were only engaged in a containment exercise shines through in the report.
As for Shiels, when they play someone with an equivalent squad I'll let you know. At the very least, he's got them playing with far more fluidity and less predictability than his predecessor.
My point is there's a lot more to the game than just the 90mins. Injuries, suspensions, u18s making the step up make for a more comprehensive report and I think they'd be better received because of it. To do that though you'd need to talk to the people involved, not just presume to know what they're doing. I mean, did they really use Jason Roche as a holding midfielder or is he just too slow to get around the pitch? Anyone who knows Jason's playing style would know the answer.
I agree with you Second, Pike's squad will win 95% of games regardless of who's picked.
Anyone who was watching the game closely would have seen that Jason was fielded between defence and midfield, i.e. behind O'Riordan and Reddan.
You seem to be making two separate points in your two posts - the first post states that I should add more "colour"/opinion. Have you been reading my stuff over the last 2+ years? Most of the controversy that I've generated comes from exactly that - giving my views on managers or players. And it's only one or two, shall we say, sensitive fans that have taken issue.
The second post changes the goalposts and states that I need to give more background detail/context. This is a valid criticism. I'm not a member of any club or a player and therefore don't have access to the information that some are privy to. In addition, I'm just back in the country after a few months away and am somewhat playing catch-up on that front.
I appreciate your input nonetheless.
Ah look, I've praised your work in the past and I've agreed with you so far. I think you're only telling half the story and it comes across as condescending. eg. your remark about the perfect hat trick. And yes Jason Roche was in that position but was he suited to it? Did Fairview have better options on the bench? A lot of what you say is presumptuous based on what you see in 90mins, not in the broader context of any game.
Ha?
i suppose you should only be able to criticize if you were will to put up a report of your own to measure your concept of events.
so you would like him to be more presumptuous outside of the 90 mins on view. I think you are reading the tabloid reports to frequent and expect the same detail in Alans reports
By that rationale shouldn't he be only allowed to comment on junior soccer if he's a junior soccer player or manager?
Nobody's looking for tabloid style anything, that's what the facebook site is for... I just commented that I don't think the full story comes across in his accounts.
isnt he only giving a match report and not a club report, as he said hes not privy to the going on in the clubs playing and can just report on what he see, keep it up Aob, your reports are excellent.
Fair enough. After a year or so of these reports-and I enjoy the technical side of them-there's been no development in them, just the same info game after game from someone who I think doesn't know the league. They're good, solid, stand alone accounts but are sounding more and more like someone who reads too much zonalmarking.net and doesn't know enough about local soccer.
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