Bandon AFC win 4-2 on penalties.

De Courcey Albion will come from this game disappointed yet again that they didn’t come away with a win. Munster Senior League outfit Bandon AFC would have gone into this game as favorites but it was Albion would dominated for most parts of the encounter.

Albion started off well and came close on a few occasions with Declan Murray heading just wide from a corner the best of the opportunities to take the lead.

Albion did break the deadlock midway through the first half when an error in the Bandon defense left John Hipwell bearing down on goal, when he was one on one with the keeper he unselfishly squared the ball to Seamus O’Callaghan who tapped the ball into the empty net.

The Albion defense of Ger O’Connell, Colum Walsh, Declan Murray and Conor Hurley were playing well as a unit and reduced Bandon to very few goal opportunities and at half time Albion lead 1-0.

The second half started much the same with Albion dominating midfield with Seamus O’Callaghan and Conan Dillon making life hard for their Bandon counterparts.

Upfront John Hipwell and Jamie Daly put in great displays running themselves to the ground for the Albion cause.

The youthful Bandon created little clear cut opportunities but the closest they came to an equalizer was a shot that hit of the crossbar.

With the game looking like it would end with a 1-0 victory to the Albion the ball broke loose on the edge of the Albion box with about 3 minutes to play for a Bandon player to control it with a suspicion of handball and slot it into the corner on the net.

With that the game ended 1-1 and went straight to penalties. Unfortunately for Albion they came out on the wrong side of a 4-2 penalty shoot out.

 

Next up for Albion is the 3rd/4th Place play off Vs Council on Thursday KO 7pm Regional Park

Despite the result Albion will take a lot of encouragement from what was a great team performance which will stand to them for the upcoming season.

Team Michael Walsh, Ger O’Connell, Colum Walsh, Declan Murray, Conor Hurley, Jody McNamara, Seamus O’Challaghan, Conan Dillon, Wayne Carroll, Jamie Daly, John Hipwell.

Subs Ronan O’Driscoll for W Carroll, Jason O’Riordan for J Hipwell, Eoin O’Mahony for J McNamara, Darren Daly for J Daly and E Dempsey for C Dillon

Scorer: Seamus O’Callaghan

Penalty Scorers: Declan Murray and Michael Walsh