Match Report - Kilbarry Rangers 4-1 Waterford Crystal

Our first league game was set to be a tough one as we welcomed last years cup finalists Waterford Crystal to the RSC. Full of experience it was set to be a tough encounter.

Waterford Crystal started the better and it took the boys a couple of minutes to settle down but once they did they started playing brilliantly.

The opening goal came when a corner was headed back out to Daniel Mihalache, his feint chip to the back post just went over everyone and was met by new signing Jack Quinn to power in a header to put us 1-0 up!

Another debutant Conor Hennessy played excellently and after a very smart turn he went in on goal but was pulled back and a penalty was given. Conor stepped up himself and calmly slotted it away for our second goal. 2-0.

Just before half time a rare mistake in the midfield caused the Glass to pull one back, a terrific strike into the far corner with Kieran having no chance for 2-1. This chance led to a tricky spell where a good Waterford Crystal side were able to get a foothold in the game.

But the boys weathered the storm and a terrific smart flick with his back to goal from Conor Hennessy played in Jack Walsh who managed to finished calmly to restore our two goal cushion.

And just after half time then a great free flowing move resulted in a very smart run from Jamie Regan who finished to make it 4-1 Kilbarry.

There was chances after that for us and we continued to play very well but it ended up finished the same at 4-1.

A great win for us considering the strength and experience of the opponent.

So a good start for the boys early on in the season. The hard work and lessons seem to have been learned from pre season. However it’s just the start, this years league is going to be consistently tougher and if the boys switch off even for a second it will cause points to be dropped so it’s crucial the mentality and focus applied on matchday 1 can be maintained going forward now.