FC Carlow Vs Tralee Dynamos

F.C. CARLOW 3 TRALEE DYNAMOS 1

Padraig Harnett - Tralee Dynamos Media Officer.

The ‘Ballon’ bursts for Dynamos:

Two teams who were on great league runs met in Ballon in this A Championship clash. Dynamos had won seven of their last eight while FC Carlow were on a run of three wins from four games having strengthened their squad with a number of new players for the second half of the season.

This was the proverbial game of two halves with Dynamos playing with the strong wind in the first. However they were forced to start without Wayne Guthrie, Brian Fitzgerald, Chris Kerins and Eoin Cassidy although he was able to come on for the last fifteen minutes.

It took Dynamos a while to settle and Carlow had the first real chance in the 10^th minute when Jimmy Dermody shot over following a good move involving Davy Walker and Andrew Hickey.

This gave Dynamos the wake up call they needed and two minutes later a good move involving David Hayes and Jonathan Burrows set up Jamie McIntyre but his shot was too high.

The next move saw Hayes, Sugrue, McCarthy and Adrian Quirke involved ending in a Wayne Conway effort but it didn’t trouble Gavin Dowling in the FC Carlow goal.

However they did not have to wait too long for the breakthrough. Eoin Fitzgerald was given time and space on the ball and he picked out the perfect ball for Peter McCarthy to run onto and he finished with his trademark skill and coolness in the 14^th minute.

One nearly became two three minutes when a carbon copy move almost came off but this time Byrne just got back in time.

Dynamos knew one was not going to be enough and pushed for the second. A David Hayes free kick was headed just over by O’Rahilly and the same player volleyed over a minute later following another Hayes free.

In the 26^th minute Fitzgerald again put McC arthy through and this time he did get his shot away but Dowling got down well to save.

Darren Crotty then set up Conway but again Dowling saved as Dynamos took control of the game but just couldn’t find that elusive second.

In the final minutes of the first half McCarthy again went close but Dynamos were also given a scare when Darragh Walsh almost got in, only to be denied by a good O’Rahilly tackle while Timmy Cotter did very well to finger-tip over a Robbie Farrell in the 43^rd minute. 1-0 to Dynamos at the break.

To their credit Dynamos took the game to FC Carlow in the opening period of the second half. McIntyre found McCarthys head but he couldn’t keep the header down and then in the 8^th minute came what proved to be a turning point in the game. McIntyre found Fitzgerald, he passed the ball out to Conway on the right who cut in and hit a low shot which Dowling did very well to push away. If that had gone in it could have been a different story.

Both sides were cancelling each other out and with 75 minutes gone it looked like Dynamos would hold out. However sport can be cruel and this time it was the opposition who finished much the stronger. In the 78^th minute a quick Dynamos free kick was cleared and Gary Sytula, who was making his Carlow debut beat the Dynamos cover to the ball, took it past the out rushing Cotter and finished from a tight angle to even up the score.

The FC Carlow changes were working a treat and in the 83^rd minute disaster for Dynamos. One of those subs Alan Wren chased down what looked to be a lost cause, swept the ball back into the danger area and Andrew Hickey rose to head the ball home.

It got worse in injury time when another sub Shane Clark found space inside the Dynamos box and made no mistake to give his side all three points and sparking off wild celebrations on the Carlow bench.

Cassidy and Theo Diggins had come on for Dynamos at this stage but the momentum was with the home side and they took the spoils albeit a little flattered by the 3-1 scoreline.

This Dynamos team doesn’t go from being a good team to a bad one with one defeat and they will be looking to bounce straight back, as they did following their last league defeat, to Bray a number of months ago.

Its now crunch time in the season with away trips to Pats (next Saturday) and Rovers the following week before two big home games to Cobh and Bohs. It time for everyone to rally together to make sure all the hard work in the first eleven games of the season doesn’t go to waste. Commitment is needed from players, managers and fans and if what we have seen, before today, is replicated in the last five games then we are still on course to top the group and what an achievement that will be.

Teams: Dynamos – Timmy Cotter, Darren Crotty, Jonathan Burrows, Maurice O’Rahilly, David Hayes, Adrian Quirke, James Sugrue, Jamie McIntyre, Peter McCarthy, Wayne Conway, Eoin Fitzgerald. Subs used Eoin Cassidy and Theo Diggins. Not used Eddie Duggan, Peter McCarthy and David O’Leary.

FC Carlow – Gavin Dowling, Emmet Phelan, Jimmy Dermody, Brian Quigley, Adam Byrne, Davy Walker, Robbie Farrell, Craig Hore, Darragh Walsh, Neale Phelan, Andrew Hickey. Subs used Shane Clark, Alan Wren, Gary Sytula. Not used Philip Smithers, Stephen Duncan.

Wayne Conway started at right of midfield