Week 5
In the 10:30pm Flash v Azzurri match we had plenty of subs...but lacked the type of transition you need against an organized team, like these guys, who wear pink(!!). We should have scored more than the 7 we gave them..... there was great stuff in goal from Mark E, plenty of hustle from Greg A, but as someone quipped about Todd Jones and Garvin who played in the middle and were passing to each other "those guys are over 100 combined, could easily pick three of their players and wouldn't break 90!" ...you could see the problem..... Flash have a young enough squad on paper, they need to show up to win games like this!Â
In the 8:30 pm match, Dublin United played LaBatt and had a very good showing in a hard fought match. We were missing some regulars, so we had some subs, who played well. It took us a little while to get orgainzed with all the subs, but Drew Buttermore played great in goal and made a ton of saves, and the offense took a ton of shots. If Drew Z. had some more pine tar on his boots, we may have scored several more goals! But once the match settled down, we began to take more control and looked more dangerous. Once we were up, the result was never really in doubt. Final was 6-3.
Halfway through the fall session, Azzuri remains on top and unbeaten with 15 points. Dublin United is next on 10 points ahead of Hammers (also on 10 points) only on goal differential. LaBatt is on six points. Flash FC has 3 points, but has left points on the pitch in a few matches. MFC has not won. Flash showed this past week that Azzuri is beatable and may have won had we finished even half of the many chances we had. We now head into the second half of the session and play everyone again. The team at the top of the table at the end wins the session. Now that everyone has adjusted to indoor up there, we are starting to play better. Hopefully, we can step it up a notch as the session continues.
Week 4
At the 8:30 match, Dublin United drew with Hammers; final was 9-9. It was a very intense and fast paced match with both sides playing hard. Hammers has a couple of really good players. We were a bit sluggish to start and went down 3-0 in the first few minutes before we got organized. We finally got better organization and played with much more intensity as them match wore on. Once we began to finish some shots, we played with more confidence and had better results. In the last few minutes, we had some chances to win, but we could not finish the last touch and could not grab the lead, so we had to settle for the draw.
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At 9:30, Flash got beaten by LaBatt 13-6. While LaBatt did not play much better, they definitely outran and out hustled us most of the time. We did not track runners through the back very well, and we missed several open shots. Once LaBatt got up by 4 or 5, the result was never really in doubt. Joe Fullen showed up at 10:30, despite the 9:30 kickoff. Oops. Ben called in sick at the last minute. Even worse, Culligan showed up but decided to play for the other team, even though they had 3 subs! What a wanker! If we had those 3 guys, it would have been a very different match. At least we had a few of the Dublin guys play, but they were pretty winded to start the match after running so hard moments before kickoff. Sergio and Tyler as subs definitely helped us out. Mark played well enough in goal (and shook off a save with the nuts), but we hung him out to dry far too many times by not tracking the back side runners.  At least the beer was cold afterward!
Week 3 - Dublin United v Flash, was an ugly affair when both sides needed a bucket load of subs and Dublin gets the youngest and fittest... United score about 14 and give up about 7..... a lackluster scrimmage....need full squads next week!
Week 2 Dublin United meet Azzurri and realize they need everyone there, and to step up one notch. Give up 12!
FFC have an easy match against MFC and grab their first win.
Week 1 - Dublin FC spank MFC in the opening game 11 - 1! In what must be seen as a big mistake MFC showed up this session unprepared for the competition this league has developed. Greg and the "green boys" from Dublin had a nice easy run around and will need to step up for next weeks clash with the misnamed Azzurri (they wear pink!) who beat Labatt 5-3 in a tough looking match.
Flash FC, who surprisingly had a boat load show up for a 10:30pm kickoff, looked like a new team getting used to the field and each other. The Hammers (lads from The Crew - not the team, dummy!) who may even have had a 30 year old on their squad, were very quick going forward but lacked structure and a defensive routine...but didn't seem to matter as they kept finding a way to keep the scoreline close. Flash gave up first one after 10 mins and the first half was a tight but scrappy affair, but early in the 2nd half scored some really nice goals and kept up the pressure to build a 5-3 lead. Then in a display of naivete' and unwarreneted overconfidence you could see the foot come off the pedal and Hammers took advantage of simple mistakes (give the 'effing ball up!) and had it tied up 7-7 with about 3 mins left to play. With 40 seconds left with Flash pushing forward they give up a 3 on 1 break and lose a game they should have won.... still, that's how you learn! ~ Some nice football anyway, standout goals from Ben who's bender from 20 yards found the bottom corner, a rip from Stu was pretty too, couple from Mike M and great work from Javier (who'd benefit from learning the 4 minute rule!), all in all something positive to work on but next week it's the hapless MFC.
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