Albion slumped to a 2-0 home defeat against in a very good game on a soft surface in Ballinadee. The lack of competitive games for both sides prompted a friendly fixture to keep from going rusty. Tower looked far from a Division 3 side with a team who controlled & passed the ball with confidence. They created most of the 1st half chances though nothing too worrying. They did break the deadlock when a half cleared header from Albion found their midfielder who scored a very well finished half volley. Steve Nyhan prevented them from going 2-0 up with a snap save down low to his left. Dan Galvin was impressing in centre mid in his first start for the club teaming up with veteran James O’Driscoll. The pair linked up well together. It s probably the first time in Albions history when two left footers played along side each other in centre mid (totally pointless info for ya there). Jamie Daly came closest for Albion when his shot was stopped by the Tower keeper.

That was to go on in the second half though Albion made 6 changes at half time. The Tower keeper made 4-5 outstanding saves to keep his team in the lead. Tim Harrington hit the bar from close range and JP Hayes struck the post from a corner. Jason O’Riordan made the keeper work with a fantastic shot high right but a fantastic save follwed. Gavin Moloney also made the keeper work as Albion were well on top for a good majority of the 2nd half. Against the run of play Tower created a counter which was dealt with, though a sloppy pass directly to their midfielder allowed them to lob Steve Nyhan in goal to make it 2-0. Albion pushed for a goal though it never came.

Positives from the game were the performances from Steve Nyhan, Dan Galvin, James O’Driscoll & Gavin Moloney and also JP Hayes first appearance since May of this year.

Team: Steve Nyhan, Martin Ryan (Jason O’Riordan ’45), Conor Hurley (Ronan O’Driscoll ’55), Colm O’Donovan, Declan Murray, Ben O’Donnell (Gavin Moloney ’45), Darren Daly (JP Hayes ’45), Dan Galvin, James O’Driscoll, Martin El-sahen (John Duggan ’45), Jamie Daly (Tim Harrington ’45).