Dub slumped to another disappointing defeat on Sunday at Ormeau Park. Only 11 players were available, with a long list of injuries affecting the large squad - despite this though, Dub had a strong enough team to get a result. Voice-over man Cormac inspired the team by reading Art's detailed written instructions in a monotone droll, with "Art says" starting every sentence. Not since the famous "inches" speech had Dub been so fired up. News that Art had a violent bout of the runs only added to the pre match build up.
Dub failed to translate this hype into action, with a tame start to the game when the whistle blew. Stalemate was the winner in the early stages, with the Dub defence handling the Clifton attacks easily in normal play. Corners were a different story though, with the entire team taking taking a nap as the ball floated into the Dub box. The only surprise was it took Clifton 3 corners to score, as the advanced technique of forwards moving around in the box as the corner is taken left the Dub boys wondering what to do.
Dub pressed forward searching for the equaliser, with a few half chances spurned before Dub were caught with a breakaway goal to go 2-0 down. Cries of off side were dismissed by the ref - "I can't give off side all day"!!!
A vastly improved Dub team appeared in the 2nd half, with 10% more commitment from everyone making all the difference. Dub retained the lion's share of the possession, and produced some good passing moves, but ultimately failed to create many clear cut opportunities. The travelling fans were even treated to another ballerina 360 degree turn by Donal "Art is a class act" MaCann as he went past half the Clifton team before lashing a schoolgirl strength shot at the keeper. Still, it was probably the best Dub shot all day.
The inevitable happened when Dub were caught again on the break and went 3-0 down with about 15mins to go. Dub battled on, but the game was lost. Dub certainly didn't deserve to lose 3-0 on the day and would certainly have got something from the game had they played as well in the first half.
Squad
David McSparran,
Mark Harvey, Sean Doherty,
Liam McCollum,
Darren Price,
Donal McCann,
Shane McCusker, Kevin Duffy,
Peter McToal,
Chris Hodgkinson, Cormac Kernan
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