Ugly Ducklig, Beautiful Swan!

They say the sign of champions is the ability to win ugly. While Style over Substance may not be champions this was certainly ugly!!! On a night ducks get a bad name for, this was a hard earned come from behind victory over a decent Boca Seniors side.

The Bosman ruling was again used to the full extent as Style over Substance again fielded without some of their regulars, this was evident early on as their play was disjointed and scrappy resulting in Boca Seniors seizing the initiative and taking the lead through a combination of decent build up play and poor defending, an attack down the right wasn’t dealt with and when the ball was squared across the Boca Senior striker had the simple task side footing past Tim in goal who had little chance.

Tim making his long awaiting come back from “key hole surgery” went on to have a fine outing between the sticks over the course of the evening despite the slippery conditions.

The trend of the game continued with Boca Seniors on top and Style over Substance surprisingly subdued. The changes to the side resulted in a lack of cohesion in defence with opposition runs not being tracked, it seems only a matter of time before before Boca extended their lead and they did so on 15 minutes, again good work in midfield laid the foundations and with an overlap on the left Boca pounced for their second of the night, almost from the kick off the lead grew, a turn over of possession in midfield allowed Boca Seniors to break and they played in their striker who smashed past Tim, 3-0 and things were not looking good.

Eventually Style over Substance started to settle, good work in midfield by Podge and Neil created an opening for Alan but his well struck shot was well saved by the Boca keeper, Style over Substance now started to dominate possession, their shape now much better with everyone working hard to retain and win back possession, building from the back Style over Substance caught Boca napping, a well struck shot from Stuart from pretty much on the half way line flew past the keeper, 3-1 and Style over Substance were now finding their rhythm, A flowing move involving, Alan, Neil and Ed resulted in Podge picking up possession on the edge of the box, he  skillfully lifted the ball over the onrushing defender and volleyed left footed across the keeper into the bottom corner for one of Style over Substance goals of the season.

Almost immediately Style over Substance were back on level terms, Podge won possession in midfield and fed Alan out wide, he ghosted past the left back and pulled back to Darragh who rifled past the keeper. Style over Substance were now in control winning most of the possession and looking dangerous, however against the run of play Boca Seniors regained the lead, again some sloppy defending allowed Boca Seniors a free shot from the edge of the area, 4-3 with 5 minutes remaining until half time.

On the stroke of half time it was 5-3, Style over Substance caught on the break while attempting to find an equalizer, Ed had a good shot parried by the keeper, the resulting clearance fell nicely for the attacker on the half way line and he ran through on goal to restore a two goal advantage.

On the restart Style over Substance upped the ante and played their best football of the night, Good work by Tomas down the left where he went past his marker and delivered a pin point pass into Alan’s path who side footed into the top corner.

Darragh, Tomas and Alan now dominated the midfield area and good work by the trio resulted in Ed picking up possession well outside the area, this mattered little however as he delightfully curled his shot into the top corner to level the game at 5-5. Boca Senior however rose to this challenge and with their best passing move of the game cut open Style over Substance’s rearguard leaving a two on one against Stuart who couldn’t prevent Boca Seniors making it 6-5. Back came Style over Substance excellent running and ball control by Tomas and Ed drew defenders away from goal and when Ed picked out Podge he again drew another defender to release Alan who shifted the ball onto his right and drilled it beyond the keeper into the corner. 6-6 and 9 minutes to play!

From this point Style over Substance’s greater fitness told as they ran a ragged Boca Seniors to a standstill, Alan and Stuart combined well and when Podge then fed Neil we feared a skyward shot but he neatly steered his shot into the corner and Style over Substance were ahead for the first time, Style over Substance were now defending much better, keeping their shape and tracking well, the equalizer  from Boca Seniors was the result of luck more than anything else with a speculative shot which was going wide catching a deflection and finding it’s way into the corner. This set back only fueled Style over Substance’s desire to find the winner and they gleefully pounced on some suspect defending with Stuart hammering past the keeper, almost from the restart they made the game safe, Alan robbed the defender of possession feeding Tomas who cut insdeonto his right and fired into the corner, 9-7 and time almost up. Style over Substance comfortably saw out the remaining time defending well, the victory takes Style over Substance into third position in the table on their own and with the top two playing each other in the next round they will hope to make inroads on the lead.

Scorers:

Alan [2] Stuart [2] Podge [1] Darragh [1] Neil [1] Ed [1] Tomas [1]

Gutted!

Last night Style over Substance had a dissappointing loss 5-6 to the league leaders FC Najduchy.
In a tight, controlled game with neither team giving up anything the difference was probably Style over Substance not reaching the levels they are capable of and a quick two goals for FC Najduchy with 5 minutes remaining that sealed the result and pulled off their hardest fought victory this season.
Starting out brightly both teams pressed very hard, and in fact in the opening quarter both goalkeepers were probably the most important players. Darragh in goals for Style over Substance was a rock at the back, and the polish keeper too was also outstanding. 


The games opening goal was scored by Alan Sheehy, he hit first time a loose pass across the back and it squirmed past the keeper into the corner. Surprise being the most important factor as he pulled the trigger before anyone could react!


Then Jameski started to work his magic, possibly the best player this hack has seen in the league. The polak paddy has superb balance, skill, pace and team work and he started to make life hard for Style over Substance  and he was instrumental in allowing Fc najduchy keep possession and make Style over substance react and work harder to close down space, this was wearing and pushed Style ove rSubstance back, and while they contained the threats, it cost toomuch to their attacking formation and as a result fewer and fewer chances came about.


The game continued int his compressed manner, and it was only a matter of time before FC Najduchy got a goal, a scrappy effort that took a deflection on route past Darragh in goals. 


their second goal came courtesy of Jamesski working through the middle, playing a smart one two but James butler got in a good tackle to cut put the ball, but it unfortunately fell to one of the Polish lads who slotted home nicely.


This was shortly before half time, and not to be out done, Stuart and Podge combined in an old school chicago bulls Jordan Pippen alley op wonder goal, Stuart picking up the ball and seeing podge's run down the right wing being tracked kicked the ball past him off the cage, the ball coming back perfectly for Podge to smash an unstoppable voley straight past the stunned keeper.


Half time 2-2 and both teams needing water.


The second half started brightly with Style over Substance kicking off, and some quick work by alan and Podge created a chance on the right wing, Podge dancing around the last defender and keeper to slot home! 


This was a welcome boost as it put a halt to FC Najduchy’s come back, The game at this point was fiercely contested with some heavy challenges going in, both sides created chances at this point but good defending from the Style over Substance defence and a combination of the post and FC Najduchy’s goal keeper prevented any further goals! 
Again the game was compressed in the middle third with breaks looking likely to provide the next goal, it duly came as FC Najduchy drew level with a fine move down the right the ball quickly switch across goal where the ball was hammered past Darragh into the corner, 3-3 and the game was there for either side at this juncture. 


Almost immediately Style over Substance grabbed the lead, good work by Neil and Podge won back possession where it was quickly transferred to Alan who cut inside his man and blasted past the keeper into the corner. FC Najduchy were not deterred however and back they came, again good defending from Eamonn and Darragh in goal prevented and equaliser. Style over Substance were at this point feeling frustrated by the referees willingness to allow numerous cynical challenges by FC Najduchy to go unpunished, Alan and Neil were on the receiving end of these tackles when in good goal scoring positions however no advantage ever accrued and the chances were lost!


FC Najduchy again drew level with a somewhat fortuitous goal a strike from the edge of the area deflecting past Darragh giving him no chance, 4-4 and 11 minutes remaining!
The game looked to be heading for the leagues first draw of the season but a momentary lapse in concentration in possession allowed FC Najduchy to steal possession and grab the lead goal this was quickly followed by another which was mainly due to Style over Substance eagerness to strike back, committing numbers forward left the defence more open than usual and FC Najduchy finished off a counter attacked with the insurance goal!


Style over Substance however made them fight all the way, a deflected shot from Stuart wound up in Alan’s path and he rounded the keeper to tap home, time almost up and trailing 6-5 Style over Substance launched one last attack good work by Stuart and Brian resulted in Podge testing the keeper but time ran out and so the winning run was halted. 


Scorers - Alan [3] Podge [2]

Winning

Another glorious night in the history of the club was achieved as Style over Substance reached an all time high of 3^rd in the table on the back of a convincing 8-3 win over a sometimes obnoxious Cissie Young’s with the “Cissie” being very apt on this occasion, credit must go to Jim Butler for this beauty.

The game started as usual with both teams feeling pretty fresh despite the excesses of the previous weekend, defences were on top with Style over Substance again pressing the opposition into mistakes and creating a few early chances which they weren’t able to take due to some, lets call it overzealous (over the fence) shooting!

After 10 minutes Style over Substance made the breakthrough; Tomas Connolly, a debutant on the night, forced a turnover and released Alan Sheehy down the right where he cut it back from the byline to the on rushing Tomas and he smashed it beyond the keeper in to the corner, This lead was quickly built on and almost in the next attack Style over Substance doubled their advantage, Podge Nicholas rolled the ball out to Jim Butler at left back and he fed the ball down into the corner where Alan Sheehy picked up possession beat his man before cutting in and after a dummy on the defender tucked the ball beyond the keeper, 2-0 and Style over Substance were flying.

Cissie Young’s however were made of sterner stuff in what was a hugely changed side from the one thumped 16-8 on match day 2. They clawed a goal back on 20 minutes with an excellent strike after some good interplay, the cross shot giving Podge no chance in goal. A blow to Style over Substance arrived in the form of a very harsh yellow card for Stuart a sliding tackle from him on the defender resulted in the ball hitting the back of the net but to the side dismay this was disallowed and was then compounded by the yellow, However Style over Substance hit straight back, excellent work down the right wing by the energetic Eamonn Kennedy whereby after beating his man for pace he squared it beautifully to Alan Sheehy who side footed home. Even with a man disadvantage Style over Substance were still the better side and saw out the 10 minutes with the loss of a goal.

Style over Substance were on top all over at this time with Stuart, Neil and Tomas doing some great work in Midfield to stop Cissie’s from getting through and turning over possession, Neil and Stuart both went close but heading for half time it was 3-1.

Almost on the stroke of half time the gap was reduced to 3-2 with Cissies grabbing a fortuitous goal with the aid of a deflection.

On the resumption Style over Substance showed why they are a championship quarter team and blasted ahead with some stylish play, Super work by Tomas and Alan released Jim who unselfishly played in Stuart who composed himself and flashed a shot past the keeper. The raiding Eamonn almost added a 5^th but was just unable to reach a cross from Alan after a flowing move.

Neil having arguably his finest game of the season was coming in for some rough treatment from an increasingly argumentative Cissie’s who were now feeling the pace of the game and were wilting under the suffocating Style over Substance defence where Eamonn, Jim and Stuart were outstanding.

Neil again danced away from a couple of challenges and good interplay with Alan resulted in Alan bearing down on goal and again he slotted home, 5-2 and sailing!

This was the dominant period of the game where after 15 minutes of the second half Style over Substance extended their advantage to four, when Stuart raiding down the left exchanged passes with Tomas, who beat two or three men and played Stuart in and he gleefully hammered home.

Cissie’s now had their best patch of the game, plenty possession but no cutting edge was evident, Style over Substance defended excellently and were subjected to some frustrated words from the opposition and their ‘fans’ once such phrase being “The Italian Job” this in reference to the water tight defence which has become a hallmark of the side of late.

With Cissie’s getting narky and some over the top challenges coming in Eamonn was again the subject of some banter with referee Amos with the “cross face” once again remarked on!!!

Tomas who had an outstanding game giving the side a huge boost with his energy again won possession with a strong challenge, evaded a challenge releasing Neil who drew the keeper and played in Alan who tapped into an empty net.

The pace of the game died for a while after this with Cissies resigned to another defeat, good work again by Alan and Jim prevent a shot on goal, Podge in goal played the time killing game to perfection although was penalized for hanging too long at one point but in typical Italian fashion didn’t really care.

Stuart and Eamonn repelled all that came at them, while the midfield of Tomas, Alan and Jim continued to outplay Cissie’s regardless of the supposed AUL player in the team who at one point threatened “I’d run around all of you if the pitch was bigger”, it wasn’t and he didn’t!

The gap was reduced to five with a long range effort which came through a crowd of legs giving Podge no chance, Jim then played in Eamonn but a fine saved denied Dani Alves, sorry I mean Eamonn his first of the season.

At the death Style over Substance again broke, Tomas, Alan and Neil combined with Stuart at the end of the move beating his man and slotting home, 8-3 and a comfortable night for the side in what is increasingly becoming a fine season.

Up to the 3^rd in the table with the leaders awaiting next week, Style over Substance will be hoping to avenge their 10-5 reverse again the same side.

Scorers:

Alan [4] Stuart [3] Tomas [1]