eircom National League First Division

Date	15/11/2002
Score (Blues First)	3 - 2
Venue	St Mels Park, Athlone
Kick Off	7.45pm
Attendance	492 + Mick Wall arrived 25 minutes late
Weather	Freezing cold but dry
Referee	Not sure
Goal Scorers	Og, Murphy, O'Sullivan
Cards	Yellow: Di Lella, O'Brien
Pitch	Soft all over

A super display in Limerick last Sunday saw us go 3 points clear at the top and we would be the first team to play this weekend so a 6 point lead at the top on Friday night would look really nice to all Blues fans. The pitch passed a morning pitch inspection which must have been a relief for Jimmy and Giles as the last thing they wanted was the game to be postponed when we are on a good run of victories.

The pitch was soft in St Mel's Park, with the weather the way it was over the past week that was no real surprise, but I must admit it was so bloody cold in the midlands. The starting line up was again changed as Kevin O'Brien replaced Wayne Fitzgerald and Vinny O'Sullivan took over the number 10 jersey from Mario. The first 17 minutes of this game was what dreams are made of. After 4 minutes Athlone scored an own goal, shortly afterwards Frosty bombed down the left crossed to Darryl who found himself unmarked 6 yards out with the keeper stranded and headed the ball into the net over the Athlone netminder. Then on 17 minutes another piece of schoolboy defending, Waters found himself with acres of space just out side the box and crossed the ball into Vinny also unmarked 7 yards out and he coolly converted. Even though the 3 goals were total gifts from Athlone, the Blues were passing the ball around very well with every player wanting the ball. The passing was short and accurate and was causing the home side all sorts of problems, so why did we change our attitude and style of play is beyond me. I know its hard for the players who are 3 up to keep their minds on the job and relax but we need to start keeping clean sheets if we are to win this league and we don't seem capable of doing this.

Breener his best display in weeks

We came out for the second half lucky to be still 3 up, after Athlone had narrowly missed a great chance just before the break. We knew that Athlone weren't going to lie down and die, they had nothing to lose at this stage. So we had to play a counter attacking system from now on and grab a third goal to kill off the game. A nightmare is all I can describe the second 45 minutes as, we were pushed back to the edge of our box, everytime we got the ball we gave it away. A simple ball over the top saw Russell make a bad decision running from his line and being lobbed. A needless tackle by Leahy in the box, left the referee no option but award a penalty which the home side converted. This was a harsh lesson for Leahy, don't give the referee an opportunity to please the shouting home fans, it made his an instant hero. Pressure, Pressure and more pressure was all that come the Blues way after this. The changes made by the bench were strange Gus was replaced by Wayne, but himself and Kevin run all over the pitch and are tacklers not ball players so we never controlled the middle. Then you need your forwards to hold up the ball and we brought on Joey Watson who just runs ahead of the play and didn't look for the ball at his feet. Then we played 5 at the back as Brendan came on for the last few minutes.

Ross a changed player in last 2 1/2 games

The final whistle came as much relief to the 10 traveling fans and the Blues were 6 points clear of the field. Sligo at home, Dublin away, and Kilkenny home are our next 3 games, nine points and we can start to celebrate a return to the promised land of Premier football. We should win these games and hopefully some clean sheets as well. The Blues are going up.