Dub FC: Back with another one of those Knock-rockin' beats

Ormeau Park, Sunday 11 January 2004, 1:30PM

Dub FC (1)2 Knock FC (0)1

Dub arrived back at their favoured Ormeau pitches to try to get back on track after a fairly poor Christmas period with a match against Knock ? a team who looked like promotion candidates after a good start to the season. Dub had yet to meet Knock this season and were looking forward to the first of at least three encounters having drawn them in the cup.

With Phil Doherty, Sean Mullan and Chris Hodgkinson all missing from the squad, Rikki Lake was drafted in to give the starting lineup a makeover. The midfield diamond formation of McCusker, Dickson, McToal and McGaughey particularly pleased Ms. Lake who was quoted as saying, "Diamonds are SO in this year". McGaughey did well to last most of the match before a nosebleed forced him to retreat to right back.

Weather conditions were less than ideal for Dub who have suffered recently from panic attacks and long balls (a particularly acute condition suffered by defenders ? not to be confused with ginger nuts which only affects a small percentage of players (or a percentage of small players)) but both teams found it hard to adjust to the strong diagonal winds. Dub played with the wind advantage in the first half, looking to put pressure on Knock early on. Dickson and McToal looked to support attacks up the wings with Dickson and left back Murphy seeing a lot of the ball in the first half thanks to the wind. Indeed, the Knock keeper had great difficulty keeping the ball on the pitch from his kickouts. Although mostly scrappy, Dub had the upper hand and had a series of corners and shots before the pressure finally became too much for the Knock defence. Dickson found himself in space on the left and look! ed up to find Art Kernan with a good long pass. Art knocked the ball down to the marauding McToal who found the bottom left corner of the net from outside the box. Relief for Dub who needed something to show for the first half pressure.

Art came off in the second half to be replaced by lightweight beer-stealer John Quinn*. The wind showed no sign of letting up and Dub were expecting more pressure from Knock but it never really came. Dub had the better of the second half and were unlucky not to extend their lead on several occasions. A long range effort from Dickson was put just over the bar and Dub again threatened from set plays. Mark Harvey was denied by the crossbar after another Dickson inswinger. ?All in a days work,? said Harvey who was confused by the new website stats thinking that a high minutes per goal figure was a good thing.

Knock rarely threatened but did manage to scramble a close range equaliser after sloppy defending. Neil Smyth could do nothing (something he had managed quite well all match). The right result was ensured late in the game, however, when Cormac Kernan managed to squeeze the ball into the top corner of the net with a looping header over the keeper.

Dub showed a renewed defensive resilience in this match and showed great character to come back and win having conceeded a late goal. Good news for the management (especially with the league leaders being held to a draw) who expect a big performance next week when they look to cause a stir in the cup.

*Joking John ? please don?t hurt me
Author: G. Dickson

Official Man of the Match: P McToal

Squad

Neil Smyth, Michael Smyth (sub 80 mins), Shane Murphy, Mark Harvey, Sean Doherty, Gareth Dickson (sub 88 mins), Shane McCusker, Art Kernan (sub 55 mins), Peter McToal, Ryan McGaughey, Cormac Kernan

Subs

John Quinn (55 mins), Chris Sherrard (80 mins), Kristian Hill (88 mins)

Match Statistics

Goals	Cormac Kernan Peter McToal
Assists	Art Kernan Peter McToal
Yellow cards	-
Red cards	-
Man of the match	Peter McToal