Green Briar FC's first win of the season

Green Briar FC 3:1 Albania United

The Greens collected their first victory of the season against Albania United at a wind swept Madison Park High School on Sunday afternoon.

This was Albania's season opener and Green Briar looked to make a fast start with the wind in the 1st half and capitalise on any early season rust the Reds might have.

The fast start materialised after 3 minutes when Gary Cassidy slipped a ball through to Braima Samati. The flag stayed down and Samati took one touch to control and one to slot the ball home from 18 yards.

On 10 minutes Albania enjoyed a break away after springing the offside trap. The move was foiled by DelPieri in goal however as he rushed from his line to grasp the ball from the on rushing attacker.

The next significant action was on 20 minutes when Cassidy shot over from the edge of the area when a ricochet fell kindly to him. The lead was doubled on 30 minutes when a driving run from Peter Miller led to him finding Cassidy on the left. Cassidy found Samati expertly once again and the young man from Guinea-Bissau found the finish at the second attempt.

The teams exchanged good chances in the following minutes, O'Connor firing over from the corner of the box and Albania yet again beating the offside only to shoot wide right.

On 40 minutes Albania caught the whole Briar team napping. In organising a wall to defend a free kick at the edge of the box, nobody thought to stand on the ball. The Albania striker took his kick early and found the right side of the net completely unattended. A costly lesson learned.

Taking a 1 goal lead into the half the Briar knew it would be a tough assignment holding that lead in the 2nd against the wind. In meeting the physical demands of this challenge both Davey Coen and Colin Goin picked up yellow cards.

The Greens held out until 74 minutes when Goin was adjudged to have fouled in the box and Albania were awarded a penalty. Confusion reigned after the decision as players were unsure of the call. As John Bavota of Albania stepped up to take the kick a further delay ensued as a tussle on the edge of the box saw an Albania player get red carded. With at least 5 minutes elapsed since the call, Bavota missed the crucial kick.

Green Briar's composure returned after these developments and minutes later they added a third. Brian McGuinness found space down the right and his squaring pass was lifted over the defense first time by Davey Coen to the on rushing Morton. The clinical finish that followed was never in doubt.

As time ticked down on the tie the Briar introduced some timely changes and were unlucky not to add a fourth when a long range effort from Morton smacked the bar. Ultimately the Greens secured the points which push them up to second in the league.

Line Up: DelPieri, Clarke, Goin(YC), Coyne, Hennessy(85'), McGuinness(89'), Coen(YC)(c), P Miller, Cassidy(80'), O'Connor(60'), Samati(88')
Subs: Morton(30'), Kharakozov(10'), Hannick(5'), McCarney(2'), Claus(1')
Unused: Doonan, T Miller, Kumyanika, Rossetti, Lally, Caldwell