Sunday, August 30, 2009

Tuesday Action

Our next game is away to VEC 3rds in Terenure on Tuesday night. Lets hope we can keep our composure and continue playing as well as we can.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Riverside Drowned out by Unbeaten Allenton

Unbeaten!!!! Sounds unusual for Allenton, considering last season it took 16 games to amass the six points we have achieved in the leagues opening weekend. Going into the game we had a number of players on the missing list, with Lee's injury looking ominously long-term, Billy injured/suspended and Mark still waiting on his ribs so he can make his league debut.

So as we travelled to Brickfields on a pleasant enough Monday evening we had one change in the starting 11, with Richie coming in to replace the injured Billy. Andre slipped into the centre alongside Alex and Marc played wide left, with a licence to get forward when able.

Allenton started brightly with the wind at their backs and in the first minute a through ball which Thomas could have better controlled could have opened the scoring.

Minutes later, Riverside were ahead and Allenton looked a bit shaky. But unlike previous games, we rallied to the cause, Alex meeting a cross with a great header. Riverside went and tried to ruin the day by scoring again but Alex equalised for his second of the game.

Then Riverside's left full produced a moment of magic at the wrong end of the pitch. Under pressure from Thomas, the full-back went to clear behind for a corner but proceeded to hammer the ball past his own keeper from 18 yards for what could arguably be the best own goal of the season.

Minutes later Thomas started and completed a move which involved no less than 5 Allenton players, when it fell to Mick on the far side he slid it into the area to find Thomas unmarked who hammered into the roof of the net, 4-2 and Allenton looking comfy.

Marc had to be replaced by stand-in Eamo, who played very well in the centre of the park. So 4-2 at half-time and looking in control, Allenton went in search of more. And they got it. A great ball through sent Mick to the edge of the area after Alex had been blocked and an inch-perfect chip found the bottom corner to put Allenton 5-2.

Thomas made way shortly after and Richie was replaced late on by Andrew and Spike. Both contributed well and Alex bagged his hat-trick to complete the rout and take all 3 points back home with us.

Roll on next Monday for our away fixture against VEC 3rds, hopefully to keep the run going.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Off with a Bang!!!

Allenton United today did something that took 15 attempts last season and recorded a great win on day one of life in Division 3B.

On a bright sunny afternoon in Belcamp Park, Allenton faced Green Bay Celtic who had a respectable finish in Division 3b last season. Injuries had taken their toll on the squad already wit Lee, Mark and Spike all absent due to numerous injuries, hopefully all none too serious.

Things started well when Mick opened the scoring after a nice flick from Marc and could have gotten much better when Mick was brought down in the area - but Andre put his spot kick narrowly wide. This was the start of a difficult spell which contained Thomas having his game cut short with a hamstring injury and followed by a harsh penalty given against Paul. Green Bay slotted home the pen and looked threating for quite a spell.

Just on half-time a contested free-kick resulted in a scuffle and the referee sent Billy off, only minutes before he was to be replaced due to injury. A bad end to the game for Bill who had pressed so hard in the first half So at the break it was one-one and Allenton were down to 10 men.

Richie replaced Thomas and slotted in nicely on the right and Allenton's pushing reaped its rewards. Mick added another to his tally and Marc scored 3, including an Henryesque back heel from 6 yards out. Andrew replaced Fran who had a great chance to score but shot over the bar. Andrew worked well on the left in tandem with Barry who puts in everything week in week out.Kevin in the Allenton net touched the ball twice in the second half as Allenton ran out worthy winners.

Roll on Monday against Riverside in Brickfields, maybe we can bag another win and keep the train rolling.

Season....Starts......Now!!!!

Its back!!! A week after the Premier League has begun, the second most important division is about to get up and running, Div 3B in the UCFL. Allenton, on the back of a crazy season which culminated in a runner-up spot in the 3a shield but unfortunately a relegation to the next rung on the ladder.

So lets get up to speed. The main body of the squad continues with some goodbyes and some new exciting faces arriving. On the way to pastures new are Jon Redmond, Paul Byrne and Davide Meunier and we wish them all the best. But on the flip side we have made some great additions starting between the sticks with Kevin Doyle, who made a great impression in pre-season by scoring direct from a kick-out(with the help of a defenders flick) and saved a pen in a 3-0 win over VEC and on his 21st birthday no less!!! Along with Kevin comes Paul Keating, a stalwart from earlier days of Tommy's management career who is currently pursuing his Professional badges after stints coaching at a very high level. He brings Alex Kuvracos, our first Latvian signing into the fold and he impressed with a goal on his debut in a tight defeat to WFC 5-4 on Tuesday last. Also added to the side are Mark Boland, a find purely by luck after impressing in training, our two left sided players Andrew Murphy and Spike who bring finally a couple of left footed players to the set-up.

Pre-season has been up and down and going into week one we have Mark, Lee and Spike on the injured list.

Our first 2 fixtures have been confirmed, away to Green Bay Celtic this Saturday and a tricky away fixture in Brickfields against Riverside on Monday evening. Hopefully my next post will be a happier one than this time last season!!!!