Adam Frahill become the 100th player to score in the Premier League this season, ensuring that Carew Park remain in pole position in the title race, despite an unconvincing display against an improving Moyross United.
In the absence of regular striker, Barry Quinn, the Moyross management team asked midfielder Michael Guerin to play in an unfamiliar false nine role. The visitors were also forced to do without first-choice left back Grant Murphy and the versatile duo of James Cleary and Anthony Lee.
Carew, for their part, took the field without the influential defender/midfielder, Tommy Culhane. Manager, Albert Slattery, sprang a surprise by dispensing with the narrow 4-3-1-2 formation that had been so successful to date this season. Mindful of the threat carried by the Moyross wingers, Slattery instead reverted to the 4-4-2 of old to provide extra protection on the flanks.
Adjusting the shape of the team in this manner to take into account the talents of Adrian Power and Alex Purcell made sense in theory. In practice, not so much.
Carew were second-best all over the field in the first half and their lead – courtesy of a saveable 21st minute Adam Frahill strike from range – was completely unrepresentative of the balance of play. The home side had three big problems that allowed Moyross to dominate proceedings.
Firstly, poor tracking back by the wingers – particularly in front of left-back Richie Mullins – rendered the change in formation completely pointless. As a result, Moyross killed their hosts on the flanks anyway, with Alex Purcell crafting a number of openings that the visitors should have taken better advantage of.
Secondly, switching from four central midfielders to only two meant that Carew were completely swamped in the middle of the park. Moyross were constantly able to get the excellent Stephen Hannon on the ball between the lines as the hard-working pair of Adam Frahill and Barry Dillon battled hopelessly against the numbers game.
Thirdly, the Carew backline were not getting tight enough to false nine, Michael Guerin. Guerin was dropping off, receiving the ball into feet, turning, and playing balls down the channels for fun. Needless to say, this excellent service greatly exacerbated Carew’s issues with their defensive shape in wide areas.
Moyross’ best chance of the half was a snapshot of all three issues besetting this Carew side. Pat McCallig, at right back, was given all the time in the world to play a ball into midfield, where Hannon was waiting in acres between the lines. Guerin then came off the front to provide a pivot for Hannon’s one-two, before Jamie Stewart rescued his team with an excellent save from the Moyross midfielder’s effort.
That was Moyross’ big problem today; what few chances they created, they did not take. Purcell in particular could have done more with the opportunity afforded to him by the isolation of Richie Mullins on Carew’s left. The winger sent two great chances wide early in the second half – albeit with the second of those admittedly a victim of a Carew deflection. The assist for the first, incidentally, was again provided by a free Pat McCallig.
Once Carew eventually plugged up that hole on the left of midfield, through the introduction of the returning Jon Somers, Moyross’ hopes of getting back into the contest were greatly dented. And they weren’t helped by excellent game management from their hosts either. Carew killed the game extremely well in the second period, winning a host off free-kicks in the Moyross half and taking their sweet time over them too.
Moyross introduced a big second striker, in the shape of John Quinlivan, late on but it didn’t have any real impact on their attacking play. The removal of a midfielder did allow Carew to create a few half-chances from the edge of the area however, with Grant and McGrath both going very close from this range in the dying moments.
And so Carew remain in pole position in this season’s title race, with only four points dropped. Another clean sheet also brings them level with Pike in the race to possess the most robust defence, with only 0.9 goals conceded per game. They were fortunate – and it wasn’t pretty – but these are the kind of results that a team with title aspirations needs to earn when not at their best.
Adjusting the shape of the team to counteract the opposition is admirable, but the personnel chosen must be right. It’s tempting to think that today’s hosts would actually have coped much better with the Moyross wide threat in their usual narrow 4-3-1-2 configuration, with three energetic midfielders shifting across the field.
Brian Ahern, who was introduced as a second half sub for the injured Jamie Enright, is unquestionably a player who can and will perform that task for a manager. Meanwhile, Jonathan Somers demonstrated the kind of positional awareness one needs to play as wide midfielder in a 4-4-2 upon his introduction to the fray.
As for Moyross, they were very unfortunate not to build on their impressive 5-1 victory over Nenagh Celtic last weekend here. There are plenty of positives to take though, especially given how well their back four coped with what was effectively a Carew front four at times. Remember, Moyross went into this game with the worst defensive record in the league. On today’s evidence, that record looks like improving significantly over the coming months.
Michael Guerin, as mentioned above, also shone in an unfamilar false nine role, with his first touch and distribution. But for his control of proceedings in the middle of the park today, the man of the match award goes to the skillful Stephen Hannon.
Scorers
Frahill 21′
Man of the Match
Stephen Hannon
Limerick District League 