Early disputed penalty too much to handle

Editorial Department • Published 29 Jul 2010 16:00 0 Comments

Share this

Fermanagh captain Jake Smith gets in a tackle against Spartak Moscow.

Fermanagh 0; Spartak Moscow 2;

The Fermanagh Junior side crashed out of contention for a Milk Cup quarter-final spot following a 2-0 defeat to a ruthless Spartak Moscow side.

The Russian side booked their place in the last eight of the main tournament with a comprehensive victory over the local lads at the immaculate Warren playing fields in Portstewart.

Manager George Elliott admitted that the Russian side were deserved winners on the day.

"They moved the ball well and there is no doubt that they were the better of the two sides on show out there today.

"However, I feel the referee really did us no favours this afternoon and I personally thought the penalty decision was harsh and that in many of the 50/50 calls he was inclined to give the decision to the Russians.

"However, we will pick ourselves up and get on with it and there is still silverware to be played for."

In front of a large vociferous Fermanagh support, the junior side got off to the worst possible start.

A cross from the right hand side was not cleared and Sean Keenan was alleged to have used his arm in his attempts to clear the ball. The referee pointed immediately to the spot and the Russian skipper stroked the ball past Adam McDonald to give Moscow the lead.

Fermanagh were struggling to come to terms with the Russian side and their movement on and off the ball was superior to that of the Fermanagh side.

Skipper Jake Smith had Fermanagh's best opportunity of the half when his powerful free kick just went agonisingly wide.

The break at half time seemed to spur on the county side and Kevin Curran almost capitalised on some slack Russian marking when his point blank header clipped the post.

Fermanagh were beginning to get a grip of the midfield and Coulter and Smith were beginning to dominate.

The Russian side were still proving to be a real threat on the break and Lee McNulty was impressive as Fermanagh defended resolutely.

Despite Fermanagh beginning to gain more of an influence in the tie, they were dealt their second major blow of the tie.

Diminutive Russian playmaker Samir Masinov made a darting run in-field and fired an unstoppable effort past Adam McDonald in the Fermanagh goal.

This wonderful strike by Masinov put an end to any Fermanagh fight back and the Fermanagh side trudged off the pitch in a despondent mood following this defeat to a talented Russian outfit

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 29 Jul 10

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.