6th February 2010

Clarence Cup Round 2

 

Kircubbin went crashing out of the Clarence Cup following a 5-1 defeat away to Barn Utd. Kircubbin travelled to Carrickfergus expecting top quality playing facilities, especially as Barn were in the Premier division until last season. But even though the off pitch facilities and hospitality were first class, the playing surface by contract was a virtual mud bath. This made playing conditions very difficult for both teams, but unsurprisingly it was Barn who settled quickly and put Kircubbin on the back foot. Indeed it took them less than ten minutes to take the lead with a route one goal. A long clearance by the keeper was flicked on and the striker was first to react to the breaking ball, and calmly shot into the bottom corner of the net. Turlough Bell had Kircubbin's best chance to equalise when the Barn keeper miss hit a clearance straight to the Kircubbin striker, but his thirty yard effort was cleared off the line by the covering defence. Kircubbin tightened up all over the pitch and didn't allow Barn time on the ball. Two minutes into injury time at the end of the first half Barn struck again, another route one ball identical to the first goal. 2-0 at the break.

Into the second half and Kircubbin again battled hard, and even though the team put on a solid display it just wasn't enough on the day. The final ball into the box always seemed to find a Barn player as Kircubbin were frustrated by the stubborn home defence. Tensions boiled over when two players were sent off for a minor altercation, but by now the referee, from Carrick, had very little control over the game. This frustrated Kircubbin even further as decisions seemed to go against them. Late on in the game, the 1A team made their fitness pay dividends as they scored a third goal on a quick counter attack. But Kircubbin were given a life line when the referee awarded them a penalty which Jonnie Clarke duly scored. But this was as close as Kircubbin got as Barn scored two further goals in the dying minutes to run away with a 5-1 victory.

This week the lads can return to league duties at home to Suffolk FC. Team to meet at 1pm.