St Pats 0 Litchard (A) 5
St Pat’s welcomed the return of Nathan ‘Chabal’ Johns, Liam Barry and Stefan Rees to their starting XI for the visit of Litchard (A). An injury to keeper Tom Coles meant that Dai Rees would pick himself between the sticks behind a defensive line of Stefan, Truck, Crowley and Calligan. The midfield was made up of the Con, Liam, McGee and Matthew Jones. This left Brennan to start alongside Spadey in attack.
A defensive scramble early on saw Litchard grab the opener after less than 2 minutes play and the Pat’s had their backs against the wall for the following 20 minutes too. This Litchard side were well organised and had some top quality players in all areas of the field, and they were soon exploiting the Pat’s inexperience as a unit.
25 minutes in saw Stefan Rees limp off with a recurrence of his ever dodgy hamstring injury. A quick reshuffle at the back saw Ryan Calligan move to right back with Phil Tom on at left and eager to make up for the previous weeks disaster.
This proved a as a catalyst for the Pat’s best period as they started to get a grip of the game and force some openings of their own. Some great link up play on the right between Calligan and Matthew Jones provided Matthew with an opportunity to cross superbly for Brennan who controlled well but then slipped before he could get his shot away and the chance was squandered. Next saw a long ball from the back flicked on well by Brennan for the on running Matthew Jones who’s cross this time was floated in for the Pig who somehow headed wide from 8 yards.
A clash of heads between a Litchard defender and the Con left both players dazed shortly after.
Half time and with the score at 0-1 the Pat’s felt they could get something from the game.
Connor’s clash of heads forced him out of the game at half time and he was replaced by new signing Paul Evans who slotted into the middle of the park which saw Simon McGee move to the wing.
St Pat’ emerged after the break in much the same vain as the half ended and were constantly pushing for the equaliser with Paul Evans and Matthew Jones combining well on the right . Spadey had a right foot volley fantastically saved and Brennan hit the bar with an improvised header before Litchard broke quickly to double their lead and really take the wind out of the Pat’s sails. A sickening blow after the boy’s had worked hard to get into the game.
A Goalkeeping error saw Litchard claim their third. As Dai Rees tried to smother the ball in the box he saw it slip from his grasp twice and in a goal line tussle the Litchard attacker forced the ball over the line. The goal stood despite pleas from the keeper of handball (which was later admitted by the attacker) but should have been disallowed had the referee not been standing on the halfway line thinking of new offences he could enforce to book people.
At 0-3 down Dai used the remaining substitutes – inventively to say the least – Calligan was replaced by the ferret, Elfed replaced Liam Barry and Gavin Davies came on for a now knackered Spadey who had gave his all for the cause.
Elfed dropped into centre half with Truck moving to midfield and Gavin played alongside Brennan upfront.
The mass substitution disjointed the Pat’s and with players in new and untried positions/partnerships Litchard were attacking at will and were having great joy down the right and through the middle as pats pushed forward looking to restore a bit of pride if nothing else.
A deep cross by the Litchard winger caught new centre half Elfed ball watching and stranded as the attacker waltzed through to finish for their fourth and a low shot soon after saw keeper Dai Rees flatfooted as the away team went 0-5 up.
Final score St. Patrick’s Rovers 0 – Litchard (A) 5
Man of the match for the Pat’s was awarded to Nathan ‘ Chabal’ Johns, who never gave up and looked the biggest threat until his lungs gave up late in the second half and he wanted to give someone else a run out (this shouldn't have been his choice as even at 50% he was still the Pat's biggest threat) .
A disappointing result for all involved for the Pat’s and some serious consideration has to be given to certain positions and decisions, especially with keeper Tom Coles sidelined for a few weeks and new players arriving at the club. Some unforced errors at the back and missed opportunities up front need to be eradicated if the Pat’s are going to progress this season.
Nothing to funny to report this week I’m afraid, with the boy’s with one win from six outings there seems there’s nothing to laugh about. Changes need to be made and the management need to be honest with themselves and take a look at some of the decisions that have occurred and put their hands up and admit their mistakes! There’s no way they can make decisions if they are both on the field as they can’t see what’s going on and perhaps are just protecting their own interests. …