Larne upbeat despite Middletown cup defeat

[chris....@btinternet.com]

Larne upbeat despite Middletown cup defeat

 

AC Larne have a proud recent record in the Dave Phillips Memorial Cup, winning the historic competition two seasons ago, and being runners up in their second consecutive final last season.

 

In truth, this second round cup game at home to fellow Division One promotion hopefuls Middletown Steelers was a welcome relief from league pressures. Larne’s league form has been up and down, but fans turned up to Hope Park with just that, hope for a good game and a route through to the next round.

 

Larne were boosted by the return of striker Hood Junior to strengthen the attack alongside Zanin, while also welcoming back suspended midfield duo Daiquiri and Apollo.

 

Earlier in the league season, Larne succumbed to a 1-0 defeat at home to Middletown in a game with plenty of chances for both sides, but over the course of that game Middletown were worthy winners with a higher shot count and an impressive performance.

 

On Wednesday however, Larne were clearly up for the cup and controlled the game throughout. The missing ingredient was a clinical finish with chance after chance squandered. Nettt van Dijk in goal for Middletown was truly inspired in this game, rightly picking up the man of the match award. Fans started to lose count, but in total van Dijk made 11 saves clocking up over 100 ability points in the process.

 

The game finished 0-0 after 90 minutes, and despite pressing for a goal in extra time, Larne couldn’t get past van Dijk and the game went to penalties. Unsurprisingly given how the game had panned out, lady luck favoured Middletown and penalty misses from Artemis and Apollo meant Middletown won the penalty shootout by a score of 4-2.

 

Coming out from the ground, the mood was strange. Fans were disappointed at their early cup exit after enjoying such exciting cup runs, but equally pleased at having played such an impressive game against a top quality side in the same division. The stats tell a story about the performance… but ultimately only one stat matters which is the final score.

 

AC Larne  |    Middletown Steelers

Attempts on Goal:                     19        |       3

Off target:                                        10        |       1

On target:                                         9        |       2

Possession:                                    53        |       47

Corners:                                           6        |       0

Key Tackles:                                   9        |       15

Key Passes:                                    18        |       8

 

After the match, the AC Larne boss was happier than reporters have seen him this season. ‘I know it might sound a bit strange, but I’m actually really pleased today. In reality, winning the cup this season was always going to be tough, and the league is our priority. But the performance in this game was very important. Middletown came here earlier in the season and we found it tough. They brought the game to us and it was end to end.’

 

‘This game was different. We had total control and to restrict them to so few attempts on target was pleasing. Unfortunately for us, their keeper had a superb game. My concern this season so far has been that even when we’ve won, I haven’t been totally happy with our performance levels. Games have been close, both in wins and in defeats… but we need to be more consistent in our performance, more dominant and more imposing. I thought we did that well today and with better finishing we would have won the game. It’s a small step, but a very pleasing one. Now I want to see us continue to play with confidence and focus when we travel to Shurdington for our next game in the league.’

 

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