Soccer: Camp out as two sent off in action replay

Castle Bar League Cup semi-final replay
TRALEE DYNAMOS 4, CAMP UNITED 1

THERE was never any doubt about the result of this Castle Bar League Cup semi-final replay as Tralee Dynamos were in complete control from start to finish and they cruised past Camp United to reach the decider.

It was never a contest as it failed to live up to the pre-match hype despite the fact that Camp had displayed admirable fighting qualities first time out but Dynamos never allowed the West Kerry side any time on the ball this time around.Dynamos had a very solid spine to the side and this made all the difference as Eoin Cassidy and Maurice O’Rahilly dominated at the back while Mark Fitzgerald and Samier controlled the play at midfield with the latter spraying the ball out wide with regularity.

Up front Adrian McHugh showed why he is such a class act with two superb goals while Damien Diggins showed pace and control that had the Camp defence stretched throughout.
Camp United probably knew that they had missed the boat the first day and having to line out without the experienced Kieran O’Driscoll did not help their cause as it required Gene Farrell to be switched to midfield in the reshuffle and this meant they were never dangerous up front.

Having conceded an early goal to Dynamos, Camp then had Adrian O’Donnell red carded for a rash and dangerous tackle on Maurice O’Rahilly in the 23rd minute and the hill became a mountain as Dynamos cruised to a facile victory.Dynamos are still the side to beat but they are vulnerable down the wings and at moment they have two players serving suspensions (Kevin McCannon and Edward Duggan), which will not help there cause in their busy run in on three fronts.

Dynamos are a much better side when Mark Fitzgerald plays alongside Samier in the middle of the park and they could have been three up inside the opening five minutes but James Farrell made a stunning save to deny Adrian McHugh and Paul Farrell had to put in a fine tackle to deny Diggins the lead goal.The opening goal did come in the third minute when Duggan’s corner was knocked back by McHugh into the path of Mark Fitzgerald who shot to the Camp net from outside the box.

McHugh then shot into the side netting as Camp were under siege and James and Paul Farrell along with Brendan O’Driscoll had to defend stoutly to keep the Tralee side out. Samier and Fitzgerald were pulling the strings at midfield as Dynamos continued to dominate and when O’Donnell put in a late tackle on O’Rahilly he was red carded and Camp were a goal and a man down.

Sean Fox Farrell had Camp’s first and only real chance of the half in the 29th minute when O’Brien parried his shot.James Farrell then denied Diggins with a great save in the 40th minute but Dynamos made it 2-0 just before half time. Samier fed Duggan with a superb 25-yard crossfield pass and when he found McHugh, he turned and sent an unstoppable shot to the top corner and Camp were in big trouble.

The game was effectively over four minutes after the restart when Diggins took advantage of a defensive error but was taken down by the keeper and Duggan clinically dispatched the spot kick.The rest of the game was akin to a kick about as Dynamos passed the ball and gave Camp precious few chances though the tackles got tougher and a number of player saw yellow. Fitzgerald and Samier were dominant and O’Rahilly and Cassidy were awesome as Dynamos eased their way to victory.

Edward Duggan, who had been booked in the first half, foolishly got involved with the linesman and got a second yellow with the result beyond doubt and this type of indiscipline could cost Dynamos. McHugh scored a brilliant second goal 10 minutes from time when he raced through from midfield and took the ball around the keeper before side footing the ball home. Camp got a late consolation when Gene Farrell played Gearoid O’Shea through and he beat O’Brien but it mattered little.

Tralee Dynamos: R O’Brien, D Crotty, E Cassidy, M O’Rahilly, P Daly, E Duggan, M Fitzgerald, Samier Benkoutein, J White, A McHugh, D Diggins. Subs: I Maher for M Fitzgerald, B Stack for J White, M Lynch for S Benkoutein, E McGrath for A McHugh.

Camp United: J Farrell, S O’Mahony, B McCormack, P Farrell, B O’Driscoll, D O’Neill, G Farrell, V O’Driscoll, S F Farrell, A O’Donnell, G O’Shea. Subs: J O’Driscoll for V O’Driscoll, F Herlihy for D O’Neill, P O’Driscoll for S F Farrell.

Referee: G Kruis