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Line up was: Mooney, Molan, McGauley, Finucane, Woulfe, Nolan, Donnellan, Barrett, McCarthy, O'Brien, Kelleher.
Mooney went off injured in the first and was replaced by Kevin O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan did well, he made some good stops but spilled the ball a number of times from crosses and scrambles. You could put it down to nerves or a lack of match practice but he doesn't look confident under a high ball.
City had their keeper sent off at the end of the first half for handling outside the area. It was a harsh sending off as there wasn't really a goal chance on the cards, just poor concentration from the 'keeper. As far as chances went, Robbie Kelleher had our best one when he was put through by Derek but he shot wide with only the keeper to beat. Dublin had more of the ball and had more chances, O'Sullivan had to make a few saves to keep them out.
Second half saw us come into the game more but we we still weren't creating anything meaningful up front. Then Dublin shot themselves in the foot by getting a second man sent off, Scully picking up his second booking after a poor challenge from the side on Nolan. From the resulting free we forced a corner, and Finni scored a superb 25 yard volley after City failed to clear. From that point on though it was all Dublin, and seeing that we were up against nine men, we were quite poor, especially in midfield. City missed several good chances to score an equaliser and continued to cause havoc in our defense by putting alot of high ball into our box. Rossi replaced Jamie Nolan and did quite well going forward, though he did give away alot of ball in his own half. We got going again in the last ten minutes and started to hit City on the break through CP and Rossi out wide, and Robbie through the middle, and it was one of these breaks that won us a penalty in the last minute when CP was brought down in the box. CP put the penalty away well to secure the points. BTW, Keely was sent off with about 10 minutes to go for generally being a tw@t and sqwaking like a caged monkey at the ref and assistant.
Overall it was a great result, but not a great performance. We were lucky to get away with a clean sheet, Woulfe was caught out on at least two occasions that should have led to goals for City. Nolan was very poor again, Rossi looked much brighter when he came on. However, from a defensive point of view I can see why maybe NOC prefers to go with Nolan over Rossi, although if Rossi was given a run in the team this area of his game might improve. I thought CP played well, Robbie was his usual busy self while Tommy Barrett and Derek put in alot of work as well. Finni was excellent and was my MOTM.
Highlight of the game for me was Damian's header from the touchline - he did more with that than Nolan did all night
Originally Posted by 4tothefloor
)colours again. Finni had a great game as did CPOB and I thought Thomas McGauley was solid again. We definitely need another central defender as Woulfe isn't up to it. I think Rossi should get a chance to start. O'Mahony should return ahead of Molan, as Conor is not a right back. Great trip overall and seeing Keely banished to the stand was lovely. By the way whoever posted on another thread that we Limerick supporters should wise up to the fact that Finni isn't a great player should have been at Richmond Park on Saturday night. You're right 4tothefloor, he was MOTM!
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