dirty 1 - 8 Gerrys (392872396)

Clear skies welcomed the 36000 spectators who had made their way to Helland Road. Boško Škerget was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Vítor Cameira and Rob Wallace. dirty had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Namouchi - Stephan, Querinjean, Mazeraud, Kinsella - Hennessey, Forrer, Brennan, Morales, McGinn - L'Eau.

Gerrys tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. The following players took the field: Coghlan - Digan, Griffiths, Curtin, Ó Coilean - Buckley, O'Donnell, Dunphy, Magennis, O'Connor - Munroe.

dirty were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. This was a good period for the visitors, with several opportunities to take the lead, particularly when L. Digan slipped through the defence on the right to come up alone against A. Namouchi, but the home side's keeper showed his lightning reflexes. Gerrys took the lead after 23 minutes making the score 0 - 1. B. Ó Coilean placed the ball out of reach for the home side's keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. There was concern in the stands when, at the 24 minute mark, Gerrys's B. Ó Coilean hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. After 31 minutes, Gerrys's L. Digan burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 0 - 2. Gerrys's B. Ó Coilean left the field after 32 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was E. Glen. After 34 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave C. Buckley a chance to increase the lead for Gerrys, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 3. It was 0 - 3 at the break. Gerrys enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 63 percent of possession.

Some fine movement on the left led to a Gerrys goal after 47 minutes, making it 0 - 4. A. O'Connor was noted down as the scorer. D. Griffiths received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 55 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 0 - 5. The Gerrys fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. After 60 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for E. Glen who increased Gerrys's lead to 0 - 6. After this, you could see that the players of Gerrys were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. The visitors' K. Munroe took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 64 minutes into the match. 0 - 7 for Gerrys. dirty's C. Kinsella got the home crowd going when he finished off a left wing charge, reducing the away team's lead to 1 - 7. With 72 minutes played, seemingly due to lack of experience, L. Digan needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. After 73 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defence allowed C. Buckley to get through. He outclassed the home side's keeper, adding another goal for the visitors. 1 - 8. Possession in this half belonged to Gerrys, who controlled the ball 63 percent of the time.

dirty's best player was F. L'Eau. J. Forrer turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating Gerrys player was without a doubt D. Griffiths. However, L. Digan made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 8.