Mens 3rds 3-3 Naas

Match report loosely based on Corinthians Men’s 3rds vs Naas. Captain Neil Townsend did well to get a team together for this re-arranged league match (those who chose the Panto instead of this game….. we have your names on a list and will remember it), so with the bare eleven travelling, injuries on the day really did cause a problem. (luckily the Gardai breathalyser tests were on the other side of the road at Naas on the way to the game – otherwise there may have been less than 11). The Christmas over-indulgences were immediately obvious when the 3rds went 1-0 down the first short corner after 3 minutes. But the 3rds did eventually get back to 1-1 through Guy Banton after great work by Tim King in midfield. The second half started badly when Naas got 2 breakaway goals (one of those kindly described by Stapo as ‘the sweeper being caught with the ball and stared up like a rabbit caught in the headlights before giving it directly to the Naas centre forward’ (no names given!). Despite being 3-1 down with 10 minutes to go the team never gave up and had all the possession for the next 10 minutes and firstly hit the post and then scored a well-rehearsed short corner, a great shot from Gordon Lindsay deflected in by Matthew Ralph and the game finished off with a great ‘overhead smash’ goal from Guy Banton after Darragh Butler showed all his strength to get his pass in from the end line. 3-3 on the day a was a fair result in a match which could have gone either way. The 3rds are now in a 3-way tie at the top of the table.