Shall we Sing a Song for you?

Match Report by Philip Dunwoody

- Renwick title challenge all but over with bitter defeat at hands of rivals
- Unbeaten run ended in frustrating circumstances

Before the events of Wednesday afternoon completely escape the memory, I suppose the usual match report should be recorded. Renwick’s fantastic unbeaten run came to an abrupt end in the worst possible way this week, as the Belfast Super League showdown with Derry City turned into a bitter and at times disgraceful spectacle at Ozone. Having agreed that Renwick would referee the first half and Derry the second, the Candy Stripes proceeded to find fault with every decision Steelo made in the first half, constantly threatening retribution in the second and showing a pathetically unsporting attitude to the entire game. Whilst they are, in actual fact, a very good footballing team, their play was punctuated throughout the game by shocking language aimed at everyone and no one, and their tackling was ridiculous. As promised in the first half, they quickly fixed up a more convenient score for themselves in the second, and left us feeling cheated out of the game with a 6-2 thumping. However, as we said at the end of the game, if this is how they’ve reached the top of the league this season, they’re welcome to it. But, to the match at hand, which at least for the first 45 minutes, was a good one.

For such a big game, it was a frustrating week to try to pick a Renwick team, between Andy Johnston finally walking out forever after some great performances in recent weeks, and plenty of others declaring themselves unavailable. We did, however, enlist the services of Andy McKelvey for the week, and also welcomed back Ian Buchanan. In our last game we had shown a thinness in midfield, and so, with Mark the only recognised goal scorer available, Manager Dunwoody decided to be ambitious and go for a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Gavin Blackwell, tackler-extraordinaire last week, sitting in front of the back four and Mark going it alone upfront. It being the week of the “Gillette” Bible study in Renwick (wouldn’t you like to know what that is) Robert Cromie was also available, and he took a turn at filling the left wing birth, which has never quite been as strong a position for us since Simon Curry’s retirement! The line-up was also notable for the absence of Jonny McCollum for the first time this season, and for Andy Lynch pulling on the no.1 jersey for the first time ever. Despite the scoreline, Andy put in a great performance and made some terrific saves.

In many ways, the first half was as good a forty-five minutes as we’ve played all season. The formation worked very well, with Gav’s holding role allowing Cromie and Phil to support Mark, and gamble (hu-hoh!) on his knock-downs. Ian and Andy tackled all day in midfield and soon Renwick were forcing the pace, and it was the RPs who had the best of the early chances. Ian went close with a header, after the keeper could only punch away a shot from Mark. Robert Cromie also burst into the box several times but was unable to finish, and Mark played a brilliant pass into Phil at one point, which the winger poked just over the bar. Derry seemed to have underestimated their opponents, just like last year when we played them, and were visibly stirred by the early pressure. They did have some promising attacks at this point, but in reality there was little to cause Andy Lynch serious concern, especially with Dave and Steve controlling things at the back. It was from a clearance kick upfield by Andy, however, that we got our first goal. The Strabane man hit it long and high, and, with Mark, Ian and Phil all putting pressure on the Derry defence, one of them contrived to head it back over their keeper and into the net. Andy can claim the assist, and it was a great time to score, with about twenty five minutes played.

It was about this stage in the match that Derry started to lose the plot. They committed several terrible tackles on the edge of the box, particularly, it seemed, targeting Robert Cromie (ironic, since he was the only citizen of the Free State on the pitch :p ) and it was obvious to anyone watching that Steelo was completely justified in giving the free kicks. First Steve was hauled down just outside the area, and Phil hit the free kick wide of the left post. Then they had another pop at Cromie, a little further out on the left side of the box. Needless to say there was a lot of kicking and screaming and crying when this one was awarded, coming as it did so quickly after the first. Cromie then made a nuisance of himself in Derry’s wall (yooooooo) further antagonising them. Eventually Phil hit the free kick, and it sneaked in under the far post, with the keeper getting close but unable to stop it. 2-0 up and it looked a great advantage. The feeling was that, should we keep playing like this, we could be three points clear at the top of the league. Derry, however were incensed, and continuously moaned the rest of the half that Steelo had blown his whistle twice as the free kick was struck. That unpleasantness to one side, the rest of the half was still a good one. Derry, however, now took the game to us, and whilst it remained 2-0 at half time, we knew they had the momentum, and would be sharp and strong in the second half.

It didn’t take them long to erode our lead. Their first goal came after the referee adjudged Andy to have gotten fingers to a shot going over the bar, and from the resulting corner, an inswinger, they forced it in. Their second came soon after, and really was a joke. Dave Smith was hustling their striker in our box, and, as the Derry man shot at goal, it came off Dave’s foot on the way through to Andy’s arms. The ref blew for a back-pass, and we all had to pile onto our line to attempt to block the free-kick in the box. Their huge centre back, who looked like he’d won a few Derry City burger-eating contests in his day, smashed the ball into the net to “even up” the score. As we got ready to restart the match, one of their midfielders said to the ref, “ok, that’s us square now, do what you like”, which said it all really.

Whilst our heads didn’t go down, it’s fair to say that the rest of the half was about as bad as it gets. Derry monopolised possession and even when they weren’t cheating us out of the game they had taken a psychological advantage, and in all fairness passed us off the park. From another corner they bundled in a third, and then the ref gave a free kick against Phil for challenging for the ball in the air. The Derry lad performed his dive a week too late for the Oscars, and, after throwing some dirt in the face of his opponent, sent a long ball forward which was nodded in for their fourth by the little striker they deployed upfront. By this time Sean had come on in place of Robert, but, fearing that our favourite RP blogger would lose his life should he join the action, Steelo remained on the sideline. We could do little about their fifth, when they performed some nice passing to send their forward into the box, and he hit a great shot on the angle, which went in off the far post. We had lost our shape by now, and didn’t stick well to our formation second half. Mark decided to abandon his lone striker role and stuck himself in the middle of the action, most of which was now taking place in front of our box. We had no one to aim at upfront and so when the ball crossed the halfway line it rarely stuck.

Towards the end, Mark inexplicably raised his arm to block a shot from a corner and they were awarded a penalty, which was clinically dispatched passed Andy. The Renwick lads gave 100%, but it was a hard half, and we just didn’t recover once our lead was so quickly reversed. One counter attack did actually result in a penalty being awarded for us late on, which would have been a nice consolation, but Mark never looked like scoring it, and the keeper saved easily.

The one bright spot of the second half was the arrival of Jonny McCollum, who made a cameo performance in place of Ben at left back, much to the delight of players and fans alike. It was the first time this season that the Culleybackey man has ventured outfield, and the adrenaline certainly seemed to kick in, as Jonny made a fantastic burst down the left flank to give the Derry men something to think about – for half a second or so! Soon after, the final whistle went, on the match, and, most likely, on Renwick’s title push.

Twelve games unbeaten at this level (that is, a level where anybody can beat anybody!) is quite an achievement, and the Renwick lads can be proud of themselves for the way they behaved in the face of such a crowd of…people from Derry. A second place finish has never been done before, and we’re in for two great games in the next two weeks, against old rivals Derryvolgie, and the unknowns of Donegal Rangers. We have plenty of motivation to finish the season strong, and will be looking forward to the last two league matches with confidence. Man of the match against Derry was Steve McCollum, who, giving his best performance of the season, barely put a foot wrong at the back and provided great cover for our first-time keeper. Well played lads. Belfast salutes you!

Team (4-1-4-1): A.Lynch – A.Morrison, D.Smith, S.McCollum, B.Hanna (for J.McCollum) – G.Blackwell – P.Dunwoody (c), I.Buchanan, A.McKelvey, R.Cromie (S.Sorohan) – M.McCavery

Renwick take the lead

Lynch in nets

Not impressed

At least some people were smiling

Sums it up Luke

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 9:12 pm and is filed under General, Renwick Football 08/09. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.