Challenge Cup Round 2

After a terrible run of results Balally finally got their 2nd win of the season and for a change, the only thing horrific was the weather. On a day when everyone expected the match to be called off, Balally took a trip out to Lucan to play Arthur Griffith Park FC in round 2 of the Challenge Cup. 

AGP FC are currently doing well in Div2a and as expected we were given a tough game. The pitch was in great condition with only a couple of small puddles at one end, despite the torrential rain over night and throughout the morning. The slippery conditions were bound to cause mistakes. A long ball out of defence by AGP took an awkward bounce skipping up off the turf and setting AGP's number 10 through on goal. As Marty came out, the striker tried to round him however luckily for Balally, he lost his footing and Marty was able to collect easily. Not too long after a similar situation occurred but this time Marty was forced into a great one on one stop keeping the teams level at 0-0. 

Balally's opening goal came, perhaps slightly against the run of play, about 15 minutes into the first half. A corner from the left hand side was whipped in by Paddy and Moe towered above everyone to head home. Balally were creating quite a number of chances down the wings with Highland and Gonzo getting on the ball regularly. Additionally, the long kick outs by Marty were not being dealt with by the AGP back four. In fact, Marty only narrowly missed making it 2-0 when the keeper misjudged a kick out and it bounced over his head and just wide to the right. We did get our second when Gonzo popped up at the back post to slot home. Again, great work down the left from Highland and Paddy, allowed Gonzo to arrive late from the right and finish calmly.

The second half began much the same, with AGP pushing on trying to get back into the game but without causing any difficulty for Balally's defence. Moe and Diego were pulling the strings in the midfield dictating the play and picking out sublime passes. The third goal came when a ball from the left hand side by Diego over the back four left Paddy through on the keeper. The slightest of touches from Paddy guided it past AGP's number one practically killing the tie off.

The ref decided to make things interesting by giving a very soft penalty. His reasoning being that "the game was getting boring" was frustrating for Balally as we had worked hard to keep a clean sheet after conceding a lot over the past few weeks. But credit to Balally, as we worked even hard in closing the game out and stifling any renewed vigour that came from the home side. It finished 3-1 and Diego was named man of the match.

The hard work put in during the week showed on Saturday lads. Let's keep the work rate up at training and we will see the results on the pitch every Saturday.

Goals: Moe, Gonzo, Paddy

MOM: Diego