PAFC 3-1 Mountmellick
Portlaoise hosted near neighbours Mountmellick at the leisure centre all weather pitch in this early morning kick off. The home side went into the game knowing they needed all three points to keep their title hopes alive even this early in the season. They were also out to avenge an away loss earlier in the season.
Portlaoise started the brighter,flying out of the blocks from the first whistle. They created a few half chances but the most impressive part of their play was the ferocity of their tackling, spearheaded by Byron Mc Guirk and Robbie Farrell.
Portlaoise opened the scoring on eleven minutes. Robbie Farrell fed a clever ball down the left wing to find Tobi Olaoye at full pelt. Olaoye carried the ball to the byline before delivering an excellent cross to Mc Guirk at the back post. His deft finish gave Portlaoise a deserved lead.
The hosts weren’t going to sit back and continued to take the game to the league leaders. Their defence was outstanding, snuffing out all of Mountmellick’s attacks. Roady Dempsey, Anto Brennan and Adam Kingston were imperious in their timing,Kingston picking up a knock to be replaced by Oisin Bohan. The transition was seamless with Bohan also showing great composure and reading of the game.
Portlaoise spurned a couple of good opertunities to double the lead before half time but were more than happy with a very commanding first half performance.
The second half started in much the same vein with the home side pressing superbly. They got their second goal fifteen minutes into the half. A long punt from goalkeeper Jack Pedro was very well won by Tobi Olaoye five yards into the Mountmellick half. The big man shrugged off the attention of three defenders to break clear on goal. Just when it looked like the keeper was going to smother the ball Olaoye got a toe to the ball to slip it down the side of him,nestling it nicely into the bottom corner.
Portlaoise continued to control the game, restricting Mountmellick to long range efforts. The one time there was a lack of communication at the back Mountmellick took advantage. With ten minutes to go they made it two one despite the bravery of Roady Dempsey who clattered the post in an attempt to prevent the goal. This set up an exciting final ten minutes,Mountmellick now with their tails up.
In fairness to Portlaoise they kept their composure,steadying the ship seeing that attack was the best form of defence. Harry Whalley worked tirelessly to close down the Mountmellick defence with his hard work paying off as he won a free kick on the right hand corner of their box. Up stepped former Mountmellick player Kevin Plesea. He swung a venomous free kick towards the back post with only a slight touch from a defender helping it into the net. Just rewards for a very accomplished display from Plesea.
The final whistle was greeted with a triumphant roar from the home crowd who were more than happy with their team’s performance. Portlaoise will hope to continue where they left off in their next few games as their season starts to gather momentum.
Every player can take great credit from this display. Roady Dempsey and Martin Mc Donagh were excellent from start to finish but Man of the match was shared by Mc Guirk and Farrell.
Portlaoise; Jack Pedro, Adam Kingston, Kevin Plesea, Anto Brennan, Roady Dempsey, Martin Mc Donagh, Robbie Farrell, Brian Brennan, Tobi Olaoye, Byron Mc Guirk, Cillian Friel, Oisin Bohan, Harry Whalley, Lee Moore, David Mulhall, Charles Agha, Conor Graham, Cameron Carlisle.
What was the final…not used to reading a sport results without the score being some where in the story…
Hi Allan.
3-1 to Portlaoise. Sorry about that, result must have gotten cut out in editing, thanks for pointing it out, will fix asap.