Green Briar O30's 3:0* Boston Gunners (Official)
Green Briar O30's 5:2 Boston Gunners (Friendly)
It didn't happen the way it was expected to happen (i.e. by forfeit), but that wont take away from a season long effort that saw the inaugural Green Briar Over 30 team gell as a unit and lead the OTH Division 5C from post to post. This is only the preliminary work however, as the playoffs are around the corner and each player will need to ensure they get everything right to secure promotion from the knock out format.
With this in mind the Briar took the opportunity to scrimmage their short handed opponents on the day, in order to maintain their match fitness. With some Briar players volunteering to make up the numbers for the Gunners, it was game on.
With the edge taken off of the contest, it can only be assumed that the Briar players switched off. They found themselves trailing after 4 minutes to a speculative lobbed shot as the Briar defense allowed too much space at the edge of their box. This seemed to serve as a wake up call for the players.
John O'Brien had the ball in the net but did so from an offside position. John Hickey sent a drive over from 20 yards and he would turn provider minutes later only to see John O'Brien mistime his connection on the half volley.
With the chances going begging the Briar would find themselves 2 down after 20 minutes. Again sloppy defending allowed a shot from 18 yards to beat Ken Mullane and ricochet off the cross bar and up into the air. The next piece of action was pure magic.
Chasing down the loose ball, Tom McElwain found himself looking skyward and facing his own goal from 6 yards out. With no immediate pressure around him Tom decided to take "the clearance" on the volley. Showing great agility he contorted his body into a position Gerd Müller would have been proud of. And just as Gerd did in 1970 versus England, Tom smashed the ball home on the volley with aplomb. The next edition of the Merriam-Websters may have a picture of Tom next to the words Horses Ass as he pole vaulted into the lead for the not so coveted end of season award.
Things needed to improve in the second half if the Briar were to save face. The inspiration for the come back came all the way from the west coast of Clare. Patrick "Muscles" Kelly from Kilkee Co. Clare with forever be spoken in the same breath as Rossi vs Brazil in 1982 and Fowler vs Arsenal in 1994. Kelly in 2011 was the hatrick hero. The first player in the history of the club to record such a feat.
His first on the road to Green Briar immortality came just after the 5 minute mark of the second half. He controlled a diagonal ball to the left edge of the box with his first touch and with a dip of the shoulder and a flick past the defender he made room for a shot that was driven with such ferocity, low to the keeper's left, that as the keeper got a hand to it, he was unable to change the tragectory of the ball's journey to the net.
His second came in the most oppotunist of fashions. A ball that was bouncing around the Gunners box was contested in the air by Gavin Hall and Elie Nasser. As Hall fell one way and the ball fell the other, Kelly pounced on the loose ball like a stray cat behind Fitzpatricks of Kilkee and hit a sublime shot on the half volley low to the keepers left.
The trifecta was completed just 10 minutes before full time. John O'Brien unselfishly passed the ball off in the box to Kelly. From closer range than his previous two strikes it was merely a formality for him to control and shoot to the net to crown a great performance.
In other news, John O'Brien scored two sloppy goals to complete the victory.
Line Up: Mullane, Glynn, Concagh, Hannick, McElwain(c), Kelly, Joyce, Hall, Shursky, O'Brien, Hickey Subs: O'Donnell, Caldwell
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