Match Report - Villa 2-3 Kilbarry Rangers

Unfortunately there was a serious injury before the game started to our own Dan Lye which required emergency services who to their credit responded very swiftly and we can’t thank them enough for coming down so quick. We wish a speedy recovery to Dan and hope to see him back on the field as soon as possible. Thanks to Villa also for their understanding and help during the situation.

The game stared 15 minutes late and we started off very brightly and we’re rewarded with an early lead, good play from Adam Walsh and Conor Houlihan managed to squeeze a ball through into the path of Jamie Robinson who ran in and applied a cool finish into the bottom corner to make it 1-0.

And very shortly later we doubled our lead, a great delivery from Jamie Robinson from a corner was met by a brilliant faint flick by Peter Grogan to double the lead for 2-0. That is now Peters fifth of the season!

We had other chances to extend our lead in the first half. Jamie Robinson caused chaos down the left again and tried to square a pass into the path of Conor Houlihan but a brilliant last ditch interception kept it away from the striker. Another chance came also when Ben Hogan went on a fantastic solo run which led him down the left hand side and he unleashed a ferocious shot that just went wide of the post.

Villa grew into the game in the final 20 minutes of the first half and we’re on top and produced a good save from Adam Power before half time and they also started to threaten more and they carried this momentum into the second half. Straight from the second half a good strike from range was well saved by Adam Power. A few minutes later a shot from the edge of the box took a wicked deflection to deceive Adam Power and pull a goal back.

And Villa were level shortly later when a ball across the face of the box went through a couple of bodies and a smart finish through Adam’s legs squared the game.

After this the game begun to get scrappy in patches and chances became slightly more limited for both sides.

Jamie Robinson made a good run in behind in the left channel but his smart chipped effort just went wide. There was another late chance when Jamie Robinson again got in down the left and produced a good save from the keeper, however the ball would fall back to Ben Peacock who’s strike was incredibly saved again before Jamie Regan turned a shot over the bar on the third attempt.

At that point you’d have been forgiven for thinking the game was destined to end all square at that point but credit to this side they never give up and good play down the right in the 85th minute produced a chance for debutant Jack Walsh who even at a slightly tight angle produced an incredibly emphatic finish into the top corner at the near post to spark wild celebrations for 3-2.

We then defended resolutely and didn’t cough up any chances which saw the full time whistle blow in due course to give us a massive three points.

It can’t be understated how important that game was for our season. Villa were a strong side who were 4th going into the game. There were patches where we didn’t play well at all but we battled it out and found a way to win again, as mentioned prior this teams never say die attitude is to be admired, the win keeps us up in the hunt which is an achievement in itself considering where we’ve come from in the last three years. Well done boys, onwards and upwards! Next game vs Bohs in the RSC is on Saturday February 12th at 2pm. All support welcome.