Medfield 2:1 Green Briar O30's
The half way point in the fall season was reached on the worst possible note, with a fourth consecutive defeat. Sitting on a total of 3 points for the season one would think the campaign is well and truly over, but hold the phone. First place (11pts) may be a tough ask but second place (8pts) and a playoff berth is still attainable, albeit the second half of the season would need to be navigated flawlessly.
On Sunday the Briar opened brightly. Michael Graham spurned a glorious opportunity in the opening minutes. A cross field ball skipped passed the last defender on the slippery surface. Reaching the ball just on the edge of the box he took the shot on the half volley and got it woefully wrong, sending the ball skywards instead of goalwards.
A costly miss, as the Briar would fall victim once again to two more catastrophic lapses of concentration when defending set pieces. On both occasions the Greens were punished from corners by 1: losing the first ball in the air and 2: reacting slowly to the second ball allowing easy tap ins. The quick succession of both goals conceded and the striking resemblance between them was a total embarrassment to everyone in a Green jersey.
Yet again the Briar found themselves behind the 8-ball and yet again it was all their own doing. At 2-0 down it would be difficult for the Briar to overturn the lead as they've struggled to find consistency in their build up play and in front of goal recently.
At the end of the 1st half the Greens sparked into life. Vlad Shursky retrieved a cleared ball from the Medfield area and with a spinning shot caused all sorts of problems for their keeper. The rebound was not capitalized upon and the chance to enter the half with a sense of renewed purpose went awry.
In contrast to the 1st half, the Briar took complete control of the ball and the tempo of the game in the second, in search of a way back into the tie. Davey Coen and Gavin Hall were gaining the ascendancy in the middle as they tried to get the front men and the wings involved in the play.
The lead was halved half way through the second half. A free kick from a central area was delivered long to the back post. Michael Graham timed his run to get behind the defense and headed across the keeper to the far side of the net.
With renewed vigour the Greens pushed for the equalizer. Davey Coen worked the keeper with a stinging shot on one occasion and Marty Tiffany was bundled over clumsily in the box but no decision was forth coming from the referee. Petey McNamee was unlucky not to get on the end of a decent cross from the left wing, as it seemed like nothing good would fall the way of the Green Briar.
Leo O'Connor had the ball in the net from a good pass fed into him down the right hand side by Conor Hannick. However the bane of the Green Briar's existence on the day was not the Medfield players but the trigger happy Assistant Referee who seemed to flag off side every time a ball was played into the danger area. On this one of a multitude of occasions the flag was raised incorrectly.
Though playing with a desperation their league standing deserved, the Briar were unable to convert their will into an equalizer and slipped to a fourth defeat on the spin. With 5 games remaining and a return tie with each of their opposition to come, the only way is up for the Green Briar O30's.
On Sunday the Briar opened brightly. Michael Graham spurned a glorious opportunity in the opening minutes. A cross field ball skipped passed the last defender on the slippery surface. Reaching the ball just on the edge of the box he took the shot on the half volley and got it woefully wrong, sending the ball skywards instead of goalwards.
A costly miss, as the Briar would fall victim once again to two more catastrophic lapses of concentration when defending set pieces. On both occasions the Greens were punished from corners by 1: losing the first ball in the air and 2: reacting slowly to the second ball allowing easy tap ins. The quick succession of both goals conceded and the striking resemblance between them was a total embarrassment to everyone in a Green jersey.
Yet again the Briar found themselves behind the 8-ball and yet again it was all their own doing. At 2-0 down it would be difficult for the Briar to overturn the lead as they've struggled to find consistency in their build up play and in front of goal recently.
At the end of the 1st half the Greens sparked into life. Vlad Shursky retrieved a cleared ball from the Medfield area and with a spinning shot caused all sorts of problems for their keeper. The rebound was not capitalized upon and the chance to enter the half with a sense of renewed purpose went awry.
In contrast to the 1st half, the Briar took complete control of the ball and the tempo of the game in the second, in search of a way back into the tie. Davey Coen and Gavin Hall were gaining the ascendancy in the middle as they tried to get the front men and the wings involved in the play.
The lead was halved half way through the second half. A free kick from a central area was delivered long to the back post. Michael Graham timed his run to get behind the defense and headed across the keeper to the far side of the net.
With renewed vigour the Greens pushed for the equalizer. Davey Coen worked the keeper with a stinging shot on one occasion and Marty Tiffany was bundled over clumsily in the box but no decision was forth coming from the referee. Petey McNamee was unlucky not to get on the end of a decent cross from the left wing, as it seemed like nothing good would fall the way of the Green Briar.
Leo O'Connor had the ball in the net from a good pass fed into him down the right hand side by Conor Hannick. However the bane of the Green Briar's existence on the day was not the Medfield players but the trigger happy Assistant Referee who seemed to flag off side every time a ball was played into the danger area. On this one of a multitude of occasions the flag was raised incorrectly.
Though playing with a desperation their league standing deserved, the Briar were unable to convert their will into an equalizer and slipped to a fourth defeat on the spin. With 5 games remaining and a return tie with each of their opposition to come, the only way is up for the Green Briar O30's.
Line Up: Fallon, Glynn, Concagh, Hannick, McElwain(c), Flannery, Hall, Coen, Graham, McNamee, O'Connor, Shursky, Higgins, Nassar, Tiffany, Gillick
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