Match Review: Gaelic Lions FC vs Hibernians FC

• DF Wilfried Lapierre
• MD Jean-Baptiste Bois
• MD Petesy O'Brien
• MD Rich Sexton
• -- Tadhg Lowe
• -- Krish Sibal
• -- Lee Banbury
• -- Rob Church
• -- Conor King
• -- Matt McCole
• -- Simon Lloyd

• DF Will Sexton
• -- Darragh Frost
• -- Robert Moore

Hot and bothered

Well a 3.00pm kick-off at PSA against a revitalized Hibernians FC proved to a bridge to far for the boys, who struggled with the heat, temp and general fitness. We knew it was going to be a tough game and with several key players missing we switched to a 3:4:3 formation which was ultimately our undoing. The gaffa has to take responsibility but two mistakes, losing the ball in the middle of the park, left us exposed to a counter-attack and we paid the price. Both finishes by Hibs were excellent and it was clear they were up for the challenge. We were better organised thereafter and managed to pull one back just before half time with great header by Lee Banbury from a perfect corner by JB. To be fair we huffed and puffed in the second half which saw us looks our legs in the searing heat. Quite honestly Hibs deserved the result and as the game went on we seemed to be chasing shadows, with little to show for it in the last third of the pitch. Given 5% dehydration leads to 25% reduction in energy, we were clearly not prepared for the conditions and failed to put our stamp on the game. The loss, while disappointing reaffirms my view that there are no easy games in this league. Good luck to Hibs for the rest of the season and for the Lions, we go again against Casuals this Friday night.

• Vishnu Murali GK
• Jamie Barnes DF
• Joe Poulton DF
• Julio Vasquez MD
• Tiago Coelho MD
• Daniel Martin ST
• Mark Bufton --
• Ryan McAneaney --
• Steven Bracke --
• Thorin Duffin --
• An-Rui Chiew --

• Joe Dutoit --
• Chaouki Saybi --
• Niko Rieder --
• Luke Liperis --
• Mark O'Halloran --

Fortress PSA

Hibs were excited to be back on the PSA turf and it looked and played wonderfully. Hibs had much the better of the chances in the first half and really should have been out of sight. The two goals were not the easiest chances and credit to Buffy and An Rui for their finishes. Buffy's goal started with Steven making a strong run out of defence and Dan's pull-back invited a late arriving Buff to hit into the far corner. An Rui's was a slide tackle finish that took the defender by surprise and it gave the keeper no time to set himself. 2-0 and the chances kept coming. Dan had one brilliantly cleared off the line by the wing-back (yes a wing back on the PSA at 3!) when a goal looked certain. Hibs switched off for a set piece in the last minute of the half and 2-1 it was at HT. Tiago and Thorin continued their energetic displays into the second half and the half was a bit scrappy with very few clear chances. Hibs were wasteful when they got into decent positions and Gaelic huffed and puffed and it ended 2-1. Joey was excellent and got MoM for Hibs and the Gaelic WING BACK(11) gets their MoM.