Shield semi-final here we come!!

Ormeau Park, Sunday 7 December 2003, 1:30PM

Dub FC (2)2 Trinity Lodge (0)0

Dub continued their impressive run of results on Sunday with a hard-earned but well-deserved victory over First Division Trinity Lodge in the Shield Quarter final. An added bonus for some was Cormac's failure to hit the net for the first time in a dozen [Editor: thirteen] games. With Phil increasing his lead in the top scorer table, rumours abound of the website stats being "revisited" to ensure club funds are not wasted on non-Kernan awards this year.

McCusker looks relieved after 90 minutes of sheer hell

Match preparations had been taken very seriously, with Dub Management sending warning text messages to the weakest willed players (ok, just Ryan) to go easy on the drink the night before. All seemed worthwhile though, as a sober McGaughey and Mullan showed up, with John Quinn returning to fill the stretched No.7 shirt like no one else can.

With the Dub players well fired up, Trinity were put under pressure from the start, with a half chance falling to Mullan in the first minute. Hit with real pace, the ball followed a near vertical trajectory, eventually landing somewhere near the changing rooms. However, Dub continued to pile on the pressure, with the back line of McGaughey, Smith, Harvey and Murphy easily containing the Trinity forwards. After relentless pressure, the deadlock was broken in the 20th minute as the keeper could only parry a fierce Cormac shot to the edge of the 6 yard box. Phil was well positioned to cooly slot home, and a trademark Dub roar (copyright Michael Smith) bellowed round Ormeau Park.

The pattern continued, with Dub's wingers Dickson and McToal forcing Trinity back into their own half, allowing the Dub full backs to join in the attacks. A long throw into the Trinity box eluded almost everyone, falling at McCusker's feet a few yards from goal. Traditions were upheld though, as the side netting rustled a few seconds later, and a red faced midfielder retreated to the half way line. The lead was eventually doubled though, when an early clearance from keeper Neil was deflected by McCusker into the path of Fireman Dickson. Ignoring the teasing "you'll miss it!" abuse from the chasing Trinity defender, Dickson thumped it into the top corner. If ball skills go hand-in-hand with hose control, Dickson will surely soon be YMCAing like the best of them. Half time 2-0.

At half-time, Sean Doc replaced the now-hoarse Michael Smyth, and Antrim all-star Kevin Madden made his debut for Dub, taking over from Dickson. Both soon made an impression - Sean was selected by the referee with his Trinity counterpart as being "The instigators" of the growing animosity between the teams, while Kevin proved a real handful for the Trinty defence. Frustration grew among the opposition, and bad takles starting flying in, with Mullans ankles a seemingly irresistable target as he was hacked down time and time again. Trinity did produce some chances, but keeper Smyth was in sensational form, producing a string of remarkable saves.

With the tension growing, Art unlocked the cage he had been keeping JQ in and brought him on to replace Cormac. Just back from suspension, the big man got stuck in straight away, showing the Trinity midfielders what an elbow in the side felt like (just to return the favour, of course). This culminated in a short stand-off in the middle of the pitch, with JQ bitch-slapping the cheeky offender in the face. Unfortunately the referee caught sight of this, and the ensuing booking catapulted JQ to the top of the "Worst Discipline" player stats. "Hardman of the Year" looks like a formality once again...

The game was almost wrapped up in spectacular style, as McToal sped down the right wing to beat the keeper to the ball and shoot from corner flag. The ball trickled into the net, but the ref judged the ball to have gone out of play just before. In the end it didn't matter as the match finished 2-0, a victory for the good honest country folk (mostly) of Dub over the filthy, cheating wah-wahs.

Squad

Neil Smyth, Michael Smyth (sub 45 mins), Shane Murphy, Mark Harvey, Gareth Dickson (sub 45 mins), Sean Mullan, Shane McCusker, Peter McToal, Ryan McGaughey, Cormac Kernan (sub 80 mins), Phil Doherty

Subs

Sean Doherty (45 mins), Kevin Madden (45 mins), John Quinn (75 mins)

Match Statistics

Goals	Gareth Dickson Phil Doherty
Assists	Cormac Kernan Shane McCusker
Yellow cards	John Quinn
Red cards	-
Man of the match	Neil Smyth