Apollo 11 Brought Down to Earth

Cherryvale, Thursday 25 August 2005, 6:30PM

Dub FC (1)2 Apollo Athletic (0)0

Dub turned out at Cherryvale with a few more regulars than the previous match, but a mix and match of kit still managed to keep everyone confused. Apollo had signed a few Newhill players during the summer which made this friendly even more challenging, as they've been a good passing side.

Dub started with a Chelsea like 4-3-3, with man mountain Kristian 'The Reaper' Hill taking his place in a solid Dub defence alongside Mark 'Onion' Harvey. Both teams started sharply and denied each other much time on the ball.

Murphy was finding men well with his throw ins from the left which led to a Dub free kick. McCann whipped in an in swinging cross and Dickson jumped highest to knock it into the back of the Apollo net. High frequency swearing from Apollo suggested that they weren't happy with the goal.

The midfield battle looked all square in the early stages with McCusker, McCann and Dickson easily containing the movement of Apollo. As the game started to stretch the referee seemed to find his whistle and was obviously so happy to find it that he couldn't stop blowing it as Dubs eagerness to win the ball was mistook for aggression (read malicious for Hill) on too many occasions. Dub looked impressive when they strung a few passes together but as the pressure grew the inevitable long ball started to show its ugly head.

After the turn around, Ballistic Rendall was replaced by player manager Kernan. Apollo, the number 2 in particular, started to make an impression on the match and also McCann's ankle. With the midfielder unable to continue he was substituted for Duffy, who settled quickly.

With Dub only smoldering, fireman Dickson came to the rescue - a loose ball into the box found Dickson who slid by two Apollo defenders and found the back of the net with an awesome 4mph drive, which earned him MOM for his brace. Dub still looked fresh but lacked concentration as Gillen and Hill were called on a few times to pull stops out of the bag with De Faoite providing an outlet from the back.

With more through balls played near the end of the match Cormac found himself free on the right and looked up to find out of position defender Doherty the only man in the box. A vicious shot/pass back off Doherty's left knee was cleared by the Apollo right back.

Dub saw out the match to notch up yet another win and clean sheet with the football slowly coming together just in time for the start of the season.

Squad

Liam Gillen, Shane Murphy, Mark Harvey, Kristian Hill, Andy de Faoite, Gareth Dickson, Kyle Rendall (sub 45 mins), Donal McCann (sub 50 mins), Shane McCusker, Phil Doherty, Cormac Kernan

Subs

Kevin Duffy (45 mins), Art Kernan (50 mins)

Match Statistics

Goals	Gareth Dickson (2)
Assists	Donal McCann
Yellow cards	-
Red cards	-
Man of the match	Gareth Dickson