De La Salle 1, Waterford Crystal 2
TWO Crystal goals in a devastating seven-minute spell during the closing quarter, sent De La Salle crashing to defeat in their own ground on Saturday.
If the result came as a shock it was none the less richly deserved, as Crystal soaked up a great deal of first half pressure, and then came strongly into the game afterwards.
They took the game to the League leaders after the break, and while there was a touch of good fortune about their opening goal, they put together a very neat move to add another in short order and so clinch victory.
The second goal arrived 18 minutes from the finish to set up a pulsating closing spell, as De La Salle poured forward in a desperate effort to save the day.
They pulled one back after 82 minutes and afterwards laid siege to the Crystal goal as they forced a series of corners.
An equaliser looked very much on the cards, but a brave Crystal defence held on to the end through four minutes of added time to gain a shock win.
HERO’S ROLE
Player manager Donal Kelly, together with Paul Butler, played a hero’s role at the heart of a Crystal defence that refused to buckle under heavy pressure.
A Barden cross led to the first Crystal goal and he added the second himself for good measure, on a day when everyone in the Crystal team rose to the challenge.
No fault could be found with La Salle’s approach as they largely controlled the game in the first half. They pressed forward in a desperate effort to unlock the Crystal defence, but there was always one pass too many, or the finishing was off the mark.
The leaders looked solid and capable at the back, with Ian Robinson and Mark McGrath very much on top of their game. They afforded only the minimum scope to their visitors, but their front men ran up against a brick wall in the Crystal defence, and never found an easy road to goal.
De La Salle had much the better of the first half and were only inches away after 16 minutes when a 40-yard free from Robinson cracked off the crossbar and over. In another two minutes the same player burst through to collect a throw-in and fire narrowly wide.
Glass gradually came more strongly into the game, without ever troubling the home goal, though a minute from the break, an attempted lob from Browne was not too far away.
Signs of things to come were evident in the opening exchanges of the second half, when Crystal had every bit as much of the play as the home team.
LA SALLE UNDONE
They still never managed to seriously trouble David Underwood on goal, but La Salle were undone after 65 minutes play.
Barden crossed from the left, and in attempting to head clear, McGrath headed into his own net to give the visitors the lead.
They went two ahead after 72 minutes, when Michael Sheridan passed low to Barden, who cut inside to sweep an angled drive low to the corner for a beautifully taken goal, giving Underwood no chance at all.
La Salle stormed forward afterwards and they had a deserved reward with eight minutes remaining. A Sutton free from near halfway was met with a crashing header from Peter O’Dwyer that flew high to the corner of the net.
The home team applied desperate pressure afterwards, and goalkeeper Maher rose to the challenge as he made a fingertip save from Brian Walsh at the expense of a corner, and then brought off another fine save to deal with a cross from Peter Murphy.
Time ran out on La Salle’s efforts to leave them facing a critical week as they face their next game away to Villa.
