Saturday 1st
December
vs Hudson Hibs 1-6
Team: Ciarán; Ben, Joe, Tom,
Elliot; Adam, Ollie, Caleb, Josh; Danny O, Jacob. Subs: Cormac, Danny D.
These are hard days for the
boys as they went down to another heavy defeat, although they showed much
greater belief in the second half.
They were a goal down after
two minutes as, having cleared the ball once, they allowed Hibs to pass through
them with ease. A minute later Elliot’s clearance off the line saved their
blushes with the Hibs forward alone at the near post.
Relief was coming mostly
down the left side, with Ben feeding Adam down the line. Joe’s quick free kick
to the same man was clever, but Adam put his shot wide as the forwards streamed
into the box. Adam and Jacob then both went for the same Caleb corner as they
finally put Hibs under some pressure.
Ollie and Josh swapped roles
to try and bolster the midfield but, having got away with stopping for an
offside decision that never came, they fell further behind in the 16th
minute. Lady Luck is not smiling on them at the moment: Joe thought he had done
enough to put the forward off but a touch turned into a lob that deceived
Ciarán.
The keeper is suffering with
every mistake being exposed at the moment and dropping a free kick after 21
minutes, allowing Hibs to extend their lead further, left him cursing his
error. He could, with some justification, ask why the first three players to
respond to his spill were Hibs’ forwards as the defence again stood and
watched.
Cormac and Danny D came on
at half time to play down each flank, replacing Tom and Danny O, and each
played their part in an improved display after the break.
Danny D used the space on the right well, rounding the full back and putting in a series of dangerous crosses. On the left, Cormac looked to hold the ball up and link up with his midfield teammates as they came forward. The boys moved the ball around quicker in the second period but struggled to penetrate as Hibs held them at bay on the edge of their box.
A clean take from a swerving
shot in the 35th minute restored Ciarán’s confidence and he went on
to pull off a string of fine saves during the half. The defence still looked
easily exposed, though, and so were grateful for their keeper’s heroics. Joe
played his part, too – a shot on the break in the 47th minute was
only parried by Ciarán and the centre back somehow got back to incredibly hook
it off the line.
The boys had been denied a
lifeline a minute earlier when Caleb, after Cormac had slid it into his path,
rattled a shot onto the crossbar. Jacob was quickly on hand to head home the
rebound only to be denied by a strange offside decision. After that and Joe’s
heroics, it was a cruel blow to concede again in the 49th minute as
Ciarán pulled off another great save only for the rebound to be tapped home
with a hint of offside about the forward’s position.
Cormac shot narrowly wide as
they attacked straight from the restart but Hibs promptly went back up the
other end and scored as a simple ball took out the midfield and defence and the
forward rounded Ciarán to score.
 |
| Danny Don - Man of the Match |
The tentative display in the
first half was, to their credit, replaced by a better effort as they responded
to the half-time challenge to, at the very least, make the second half a
contest. The substitutes both played their part in this and the Man of the Match award went to Danny D for his penetration down the right wing.
