Umbro U16 Division 2 Passage 3 Avondale 7. Passage under sixteens first league home match of the season was played in a damp overcast Maulbaun this Sunday morning. Avondale were the opponents for this half ten kickoff. As the referee blew the whistle for the game to start the rain began to fall and never let up for the entire game. From the outset it was obvious that Passage had a game on their hands as an athletic, talented, football wise Avondale started brightly and strongly. After only nine minutes they broke the deadlock when they drove down the right hand side of the Passage defence and an Avondale attacker stole in at the near post to direct the resulting cross into the home net. It was not all one way traffic and the Avondale goalkeeper had to be on his toes on a number of occasions especially when saving well from a Craig Crowley strike. Midway through the half an innocuous through ball from the Passage midfield seemed to pose no danger to the visiting defence as the goalkeeper came out to collect it. Suddenly out of nowhere and reminiscent of the Artful Dodger in Charles Dickens Oliver Twist Joe Browne stole in and picked the keeper’s pocket when he toe poked the ball away from him and then calmly rounded him to coolly roll the ball into the unguarded net. Passage grew in confidence from this score and pressed forward in search of the lead goal. Avondale however were quick to counter in numbers whenever the opportunity presented itself and when a Passage attack broke down a quick ball from defence allowed an Avondale attacker to get one on one with Dylan Murphy in the Passage goal where he placed the ball low to Dylan’s left and into the goal. The game continued on in this vein for the rest of the half and just as the halftime whistle beckoned an unfortunate handball lead to a penalty for the visitors. This was confidently dispatched into the Passage goal which left the score three one to Avondale at half time. A re-jigging of the Passage formation at the start of the second half allowed them to go in search of goals to rescue the game but this also meant that numbers would be thin on the ground when defending. This plan backfired early on when Avondale broke clear and converted a chance to make the score four one. Chasing a three goal deficit and with the rain pouring down it would have been easy for the Boys in Green to lie down and accept a drubbing, but these lads do not hide nor take the soft options. When Passage received a freekick inside the Avondale half Sam Mealy delivered a threatening ball into the Avondale box where the predatory Joe Browne ghosted in and steered the ball home to make it four two and make it four goals in three games for Joe. From the resulting kickoff Avondale went up the pitch and earned a corner from which they scored to again maintain their three goal lead. Passage kept threatening and Cathal McCarthy on the right wing displayed some lovely first touch control when on more than one occasion he killed the ball stone dead from long kickouts and drove at the Avondale defence causing consternation. Throughout the game the Avondale keeper thwarted the Passage attack by keeping well off his line to quickly cut out any through balls. As the half wore on an Avondale attack was broken up when Dylan Murphy bravely dived at an attackers feet to gather the ball. Dylan sprang to his feet to instigate another. He unleashed a powerful clearance which soared up into the grey morning sky and returned to earth just inside the Avondale penalty area. The Avondale goalkeeper who had been pre-empting through balls all morning misjudged the bounce and helplessly watched as the ball sailed over his head and into the net. The season is only two league games old yet Dylan has helped to keep a clean sheet and has also scored a goal, neither of which was achieved last season. In the very next attack Passage went up the field and an incisive probing run by Joe Browne was terminated only went the defender was forced to trip Joe, penalty!!!! Up stepped Joe and drove the ball low towards the bottom left hand corner of the goal, unfortunately the Avondale keeper was equal to his effort and got a strong right hand to it to force it wide of the goal. Avondale broke quickly up the field and scored from the attack to now make it six three. Avondale were to add one more goal before the final whistle to make the final score seven three. Although the scoreline was certainly emphatic and Avondale were well worth their win Passage can take a number of positives from the game. Joe Browne has been a revelation since been absolved of his defensive duties. Mark Hanlon’s ball skills are coming to the fore and are having a greater impact on the course of the game. The ever improving Michael Fenton combined well in the centre of midfield with Sam Mealy. Two players who had not played last season, Jason Caroll and Kristiek Zilinski, made their first appearances and gave good accounts of themselves.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 07:38:49 +0000
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