Twenty four ex players (plus Jamie Whelan and Neil Flannery) turned up on a cold blustery afternoon and despite the conditions shared the spoils in a 4 goal thriller. On paper (and on the pitch!) the much younger Green Team had most of the ball players and it showed in the first 10 minutes as the Red Team struggled to launch an attack despite having the strong wind behind them. Some neat passing moves from Paul Lyons, Anto Leeper and Neil English resulted in Stephen Lyons opening the scoring when 'The Kid' steered the ball past the advancing Paul Waters in the Reds goal. The Reds did have some goal chances following good approach play from Neil Flannery and Keith Kearns but unfortunately the opportunities fell to the wrong Flannery (Jimmy) who missed both attempts at goal although Jamie Whelan did make a decent save from one shot.
With the wind behind them and leading 1 nil the Greens were full of confidence as they tipped off to start the second half. The Reds found it difficult to keep the ball and rarely got out of their own half. Pressure from the Greens led to a Reds defensive error which allowed Darragh English to pounce on an under hit back pass which he slotted past the unfortunate Paul Waters. Losing two nil the Reds eventually began to pass the ball with Alan Murphy, Leo McCarthy, Neil Flannery and Keith Kearns starting to dominate in midfield. The Reds pressure paid off when Ray Flannery, the oldest player on pitch by a mile (mainly because Dessie Mangan was not available!!), unleashed a screamer from 6 yards past Jamie Whelan in the Greens goal. With time rapidly running out the Reds piled on the pressure and were rewarded when Jamie Whelan up-ended Ray Flannery in the box. Referee Charlie Pierce, perfectly positioned 60 yards away, had no hesitation blowing his whistle and pointed to the spot. Leo’s penalty crashed off the crossbar dropping in front of the goal line but Whelan somehow managed to scramble the ball away. Martin ‘Yaz’ Tracey collected the loose ball and crossed it back into the goal area where the resultant melee led to another penalty when Engo handled on the line. No mistake this time as Ray Flannery dispatched the ball to the roof of the net to settle the match at 2 – 2.
A great come back from the Reds!!!!!!!!