2nd XI Match Reports - Kevin Brown:

Team: super 2s

20.10.07

Opponents: BRENT

Home/Away : Home

For (salvo)/against : 2-0

Competition : League

Scorers : Kevin Browne, Trevor McCarthy,

Man of the match: Ramsey tarabin

Dick of the Day: Kevin Browne

After a successful win in the cup the 2 nd team were focusing their attention on the league. So far we had lost 1 and drawn the other so had 1 point out of 6 which was just wasn't good enough and was stated at the start of the game. The games got to an electric start with the midfield combining well with the wingers and causing problems with their pace from the off.

The defence was taking shape and were winning the headers and getting a foot in where needed.

The ball was then played excellent from left to right and worked out well from the back a neat exchange between Munoz and Ruddy slipped Ruddy behind Brent's defence where he then slipped a perfect weighted ball into the path of Trevor Mc McCarthy who toe poked it into the bottom left corner. GOAL

After the goal the oppositions head dropped, allowing the midfielders more time on the ball which was a luxury, but then did not take advantage of this as the team came more complacent. This allowed Brent to hit us on the counter attack. A period of ten minutes allowed Brent to bombard our goal with a goal line clearance and 1 and 1 chance they should have converted. Only some excellent shot stopping by Tarabin kept Brent at bay.

Half time

The second half started slowly with some good football in places and we were definitely getting behind the defence and causing problems only for some wasteful passes and crosses in the final third.

Finally the second goal came with the tough tackling in the centre midfield by O Malley and Halfpenny released Browne who played a delicate ball into the path of McCarthy who was pushed in the penalty area as he was about to strike.

Munoz who had converted a Penalty the week before looked like he lost his bottle when the team are not 4- 0 up and didn't want it. Up stepped Browne to comfortably stroke the ball down the middle sending the keeper the wrong way. GOAL.

The game ended rather uneventful until the last few minutes when Browne went down in a heap near the corner flag, he was doing his Dida impression he told the lads. As a result he got DICK OF THE DAY.

Team: 2nds

13.10.07

Opponents: Old Kingsburians II

Home/Away: Home

For (salvo)/Against: 6-0

Competition: Cup

Scorers:Steven Ruddy 3, Trevor McCarthy , Craig Murphy , Carlos

Man of the match:Steven Ruddy

Dick of the Day : Paul fitz

Following a slow start to the season, the seconds were looking to kick start their season in the LOB cup game against Kingsbury Reserves.

Both teams started the game slowly with neither taking command. The first real move involved salvos first goal with Martin Masterson breaking inside from the left, and slipping a perfect ball behind the Kingsbury defence for Steve Ruddy to run through and finish well past the keeper.

Two minutes later Salvos added to their lead. Martin Masterson again caused problems down the left hand side providing a perfect cross for Trevor McCarthy to convert and double salvos advantage.

At this point Salvo's had taken complete control of the game. Their domination of the tie was again evident before half time where a great run and shot from Steve Ruddy beat the Kingsbury keeper to give salvos a 3-0 advantage at the break.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with Salvos adding a further 3 goals. Craig Murphy did well to pounce on a poor goal kick and finish in the corner with his first touches after coming on shortly after half time.

Carlos notched his first of the season from the spot after some good work from Steve Ruddy and Ruddy added a third to his own tally with another good run and finish.

There were a number of strong performances throughout the side, and a special mention must be made to the outstanding Martin Masterson and Trevor McCarthy for their contributions. The back four and Ramsey looked much more solid than in previous weeks, and the five man midfield dominated well. But, a constant thorn in the opposition side and having netted his first hat-rick for the club, there was little argument giving Steven Ruddy man of the match.

29.09.07

Opponents: Manorians

Home/Away: Away

For (salvo)/Against: 1-1

Competition: League

Scorers: Ruddy

Man of the match:

After a disappointing defeat in their first fixture of the season Salvos were eager to get some points in a tough clash at local rivals Manorians. The Kev Browne axe fell once again so there were a number of changes with some experience being brought back into the team. Manorians started brightly and had some good possession in and around our area but failed to create any clear cut chances due to some solid defending. As the game went on Salvo's gradually took control. Great forward play by both Leo Harrington and Trevor McCarthy allied with pace up the wings from Steve Ruddy and Craig Murphy began to cause the home defence lots of problems. A mixture of cynical tackles and some great last ditch defending managed to keep the scores level until we scored via the head of Ruddy (I think was him) only for it to be disallowed for a push in the build up.

Uphill in the second half we again started brightly and within 15 minutes we had taken the lead. A deep cross was met by substitute Liam Donoher who forced a great save from the keeper only for Ruddy to pounce on the rebound to score. We kept up the pressure for the next 15 minutes but needed to kill the game off during this period of superiority. With time running out and Manorians short on ideas the referee managed to miss a blatant trip on Kev Halpenny which left their centre forward a clean run on goal from which they equalised. The game slowly petered out from that point with both teams seemingly happy to accept a point.

It will be seen as two points dropped for Salvos rather than one gained but there were flashes of football that suggested we should be successful in this division.

Best Regards,
Jim O'Sullivan

22nd September 2007 :

Team: 2nds

Opponents: UCL Academics II

Home/Away: Away

For (salvo)/Against: 1-4

Competition: League

Scorers: Barry(who?)

Man of the match: Danny Whelan

Dick of the Day: Paul Fitzgerald

''A poor start to the season saw Salvos 2's lose 4-1 in a tough encounter with UCL Academics II. The game started at a blistering pace with Salvos down 1-0 before 5 mins had been played. This was courtesy of a long through ball which caused confusion between the back 3 and Ramsey, resulting in an easy chance that was converted well. Things appeared better for Salvos after this when they got into the game and some nice interchanges between the back 3 and the midfield meant that UCL were now on the back foot. This possession was converted into a fine individual goal on 15 mins when the pacey Stephen Ruddy took on 2 defenders, left them in his shadow and beat the keeper from a tight angle. Salvos were back in the game but this didn't last too long. An injury in centre midfield meant that Stephen O'Malley was replaced by Barry. This changed the formation to 4-4-2 which meant UCL now got to grip with things in the centre of midfield. Barry went to right back and had a very good game as UCL piled on the pressure till the end of the half. Unfortunately for Salvos they went in 2-1 down as another lack of communication at the back lead to a simple tap in once more. The second half was more of the same as UCL dominated possession restricting Salvos to 3 efforts on goal. Trevor McCarthy had the best chance with a great save when he was put through one on one by Halpenny. Halpenny also had a shot that was just over from the edge of the box and the other chance was Steve Ruddy where he hit the side netting from 6 yards out. This takes nothing away from UCL though, who had the majority of the possession and chances in a not so bright start for the Salvos 2's. Impressing for Salvos were Barry and Stephen Ruddy but Danny Whelan was solid at the back in an otherwise leaky defense and didn't deserve to be on the losing side with his "never say die" attitude. This Salvos team need to gel better if they are going to make an impact this season but showed some signs that the potential for improvement is there. ''

TEAM: Ramsey, Fitgerald, Browne, Whelan, Ruddy, O'Malley (Barry 20), Halpenny, Munez, Tousson, McLoughlin, McCarthey.