Apollo Bring Dub Back Down To Earth

Victoria Park, Thursday 28 August 2008, 6:45PM

Dub FC (1)2 Apollo Athletic (1)3

Thursday saw Dub play Apollo in Dub's penultimate pre-season friendly. With a large squad to choose from Art had a selection headache, starting with Donal, Michael, Jimmy and Conan on the line. Dub started poorly with Apollo having the lion's share of the possession. Their efforts were fairly rewarded after 26 minutes when they took the lead. Dub stepped up a bit following the concession of the goal with a number of flurries into the opposition half. Good work from Paddy on the edge of the opposition box earned Dub a free kick and with Dub's normal free taker on the line captain Phil stepped up. A daisy cutter was dispatched past the Apollo keeper to give Dub a fighting chance in the second half.

A stern half-time team talk from disappointed Kernan seemed to stir Dub, coming out with much more purpose early in the second half. Good work by Phil Doherty at the edge of the box culminated with a volley from Cormac which struck the crossbar. Art then made a number of changes with Donal, Conan and Michael coming on for C Kernan, Duffy and McCallum. The changes didn't have the desired effect, at least initially, with Apollo scoring on 65 minutes to push into the lead again, 2 - 1. However, Dub raised their game again playing much of the game in the opposition half. On 80 minutes Donal took a deep corner which Michael headed over the keeper's head into the net - 2-2.

Jimmy and Art came on in the latter stages of the match, both making good impressions. Art seemed to bring new vigour to the Dub attack, while Jimmy defended well with a number of last ditch tackles. The last 5 minutes saw Apollo push hard for a winner, earning a corner in the dying seconds. The resulting well struck shot was too powerful for keeper Neil, leaving Dub no time for 3rd comeback.

Squad

Neil Smyth, Neil McCallum (sub 55 mins), Mark Harvey, Sean Doherty, Paddy Taylor (sub 80 mins), Cormac Kernan (sub 55 mins), Andy Bowd, Sean Mullan, Phil Doherty, Kevin Duffy (sub 55 mins), Ryan McGaughey (sub 60 mins)

Subs

Michael Smyth (55 mins), Conan Hodgkinson (55 mins), Donal McCann (55 mins), Jimmy Lavery (60 mins), Art Kernan (80 mins)

Match Statistics

Goals	Michael Smyth Phil Doherty
Assists	Donal McCann Paddy Taylor
Yellow cards	-
Red cards	-
Man of the match	Andy Bowd