FC Blanchardstown Results

FC Blanch Reports

FC Blanch 3 v 1 Cognotec, 18th November 1997

Last night the gap between arch-rivals IBM City and FC Blanch narrowed even further before the forthcoming crunch game as the latter side stormed to victory over table proppers Cog-no-attack in an amusing encounter at 3RR. Despite pre-match apprehensions in the Blanch side over the absence of stalwarts Tranty, Spencer and the White Emerson, there was, in the end, little to worry about - despite the opposition lining out with one man less.

From the outset Blanch took control of the game, the superiority culminating in a classic goal after four minutes which was claimed by British import, Boycie, who bobbed and weaved his way round three defenders before turning to his left foot and and crossing one over which took several deflections before being driven out of the goalies reach. Hard luck Steve : some day you'll get on the elite list of goal scorers.

Blanch maintained the pressure and pounced again shortly afterwards when goal-poacher Andrew moved out of position to lay off a pass to ace striker Gormley-the-goalgetter who did the business. That was it : one more goal and Gormley was the League's top-scorer. 2 - 0 to Blanch and they were on a roll!!!. Could this be the big frontal attack on the League? Well....

The half-time optimism of a trouncing proved premature as lapses in concentration in all areas allowed Tech to claw their way back in for a goal which raises question marks over the display in the backs. Blanch responded by cranking up the machine, substituting Andrew and scoring another goal again by Don. Optimism restored.

Generally, it was a clean game: Carlo accidentally decked his man; John McCarthy wasn't really hanging out of his man; and John Burke commendably restrained himself from putting the goalie/ball in the net - as Andrew watched in disbelief! This was a good display by Blanch and a well deserved win.

P.S. This match report was written by an Independant Observer, who doesnt know his arse from his elbow.
Scorers: FC BLANCH: [Stephen Boyce (4 mins); D. Gormley (7 mins, 48mins)
WoMan of the Match: Mary Flanagan - our only consistent supporter.

FC Blanch 2 v 0 IBM City, 27th November 1997

"A cunning plan" - by Flor Brosnan
The old adage that the League is never decided before christmas was certainly borne out in a cracking encounter at 3RR last night. The country bumpkins comprehensively defeated the early league leaders in a hugely competitive game which certainly lived up to expectations on the Blanch side, but ended in a damp squib for the League pretenders who lost their first game of this season. Blanch thoroughly deserved the victory, with a combination of skill, courage, determination, honesty, integrity and the will to win carrying them through to success in their penultimate pre-Christmas match which now puts them one point ahead of City.

The Blanch camp have, however, remained tight-lipped after last night's victory and Messrs. Kavanagh and Boyce have placed an embargo on match analysis to avoid imparting any insights to future opposition. In general it may be said that the Blanch performance was the finest so far this season, with concentration and focus maintained for the entire game. This may, of course, have been related to the infamous pre-match 'country bumpkins' episode which is being investigated by the authorities. While the matter is sub judice, certain accusations have been levelled at Flor 'I have innocent eyes' Brosnan and his role in the affair after one of the City players spotted him leaving Tony Quinn's premises on Grafton St.

Whatever about subterfuge, the Blanch team did the business. Gormley-the-goalgetter struck again in the first half to find the net after a deflection that was claimed (in vain) by the former Glasgow Ranger underage trialist, Stephen 'British' Boyce. Aaron Trant showed his versatility as back-cum-forward by smoothly easing in (Dave goodstein take note!!) the second one shortly afterwards. After that, City never troubled stand-in goalie, Tom - Bruiser, note well : our first clean sheet this league!!!

Spencer Prior made a welcome return this week with an outstanding game at midfield. He missed last weeks game as an unsolicited Dept of Agriculture inspection of the home farm in Cavan necessitated the midnight transfer of some 'keeattle' cross the border. Ali Graham, former Antrim County Minor Hurler, shuffled in late with the lame excuse that there were no jerseys left, but we suspect that he was out hurling training. The White Emerson got a bad decision on a bad decision on a 'genuine penalty', and to add insult he's now nursing a suspected broken finger after piling into the net on the tail of a Gormley cross.

Reactions to the game were hard to come by. John McCarthy allegedly told the team that this victory constituted the IS contribution to the November FTF - ś500 and it meant money in the bank - though all of this transacted as fellow team players were buying him drink in Sinnots. More seriously, reactions stateside did not augur well for City. On the satelite link from New York IBM supremo LG3 wryly remarked: 'I guess this means City should consider their position'. So, as Blanch take a well deserved week off from the game, it gives Don a chance to recover, and Flor an opportunity to keep a low profile after post-match advice from City players who suggested he shouldn't park his car near Burlington Rd in future.

Scorers: D. 'the-goal-getter' Gormley; A. 'Tranty' Trant.
Man of the Match : Team Award Actually : Team F. C. Blanch.

FC Blanch 2 v 4 Continuum, 10th December 1997

Having duly ridden the crest of success a forthnight ago, Blanch egos had a 'Knopish' landing as they were comprehensively defeated by a superior (on the night) Continuum side at 3RR last Wednesday night. To be honest, Blanch were not even at the races : this was their worst performance this season - even worse than the disastrous defeat at the hands of Ireland Off-Line. Don Gormley accurately summed up the sense of frustration with the post-match comment : "I had forgotten how bad we could play".

Match analysis is largely irrelevant here for the simple reason that it was not a match : Blanch were at sixes and sevens for most of it. Only the greatest optimist could salvage something from the performance. True it was that the third Continuum goal was a hand-ball; and both Fergus and Flor were unlucky to clip the crossbar. Had these come right, there was potential to add to the second-half penalty splendidly converted by Fergus and the last minute consolation goal - a real peach of a flicked header - by Spencer Prior. But it was not to be. Fortune favours the brave and Blanch were found wanting.

While the Blanch backs have, at least, played with some consistency thus far, this performance raises serious question marks over the contribution of the forwards. There has so far been a dependency on midfield players, and backs, to come forward and convert. And they have come up trumps : Don consistently, while Tranty, Spencer, Fergus, Flor and Boycie have all demonstrated a certain potency which the usual strikers have patently failed to match ( NB : Emerson, Andrew et al ). This will obviously cause the Blanch management to reflect deeply before the next game against table-toppers, SystemHouse, who have won all games so far, bar one defeat.

The less said about this match, the better.

Scorers - F. C. Blanch : Fergus, 46mins(pen) ; Spencer, 60mins.
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F. C. Blanch Party at the Longstone Pub

On a lighter note, the Blanch boys and girls duly recovered from their defeat to party-on on Friday night. Mary Flanagan kicked off the humour for the evening by telling some of the Burlo crowd present that she had been at the funniest Blanch Christmas Pantomine on Wednesday night when Gaz and Boycie kitted out 11 turnips in gear and asked them to play football out at Marley Park. "It wasn't cricket", said Mary, and John Hoade's girlfriend, the delightful Gillian who was at the match, was understandably confused as she thought she went to a Hockey ground to watch a Football match.

There was no confusion when it came to the Blanch Prizegiving Ceremonies for Best Player, Most Committed Player, and an unexpected spot-prize. Don Gormley won the Best Player Award, though this was hardly any surprise as the election was held via Lotus Notes and Don, the Blanch Notes Administrator, had spent all day Monday working on 'unexpected problems on a Notes Server'. There was, however, some surprise at the scale of his victory. A bewildered Francis Plunkett expressed astonishment after Don secured a whopping 25,345 votes, and vowed to examine the security situation. Carlo (Don Carlone - the Italian connection) had earlier attempted to increase his own voting pool by altering his PC Desktop, but it merely resulted in his Mail replying to everything.

The Most Committed Player Award was easily deserved by Spencer Prior. He pulled out all the stops trying to secure a 'motor vehicle' to facilitate those long midnight trips back to Cavan. Spencer, flushed with pride as he received the award, offered to sell the ass and cart to Myles with the sales pitch : "Ah, sure, Myles this will be right handy for bringing up loads of Turf from home for the rest of the winter; auld Neddy served meself and Boycie well on the Navan Road". Myles, who well knew his ass from his elbow, took suitable umbrage at the suggestion and drew laughter with the swift riposte : "I already have a girlfriend, and I wonder what ye boys were doing on the Navan Road?".

The last prize was initially unintended but eventually agreed after Don Carlone approached Boycie before the end of the night and 'made him an offer he couldn't refuse'. All Boycie would say was Omerta, Omerta, Omerta. Before the proceedings ended Gaz stood up on a table, called for quiet and proceeded to make an announcement to the effect that a certain young lady, probably unknown to most present, named Nessa and himself were an "item", as he put it. This drew gasps of astonishment from some of his closest friends. "We'd never have suspected", said Pete 'Five Fingers' Rice who was even more surprised than an average Seagate worker.

With that the boisterous party clambered on - fair play to the boys for opening up the bottles won as prizes!!?? - well into the night, or was it Saturday night ...? Must check with the Blanch Executive Coaching Assistant, Jack Crawford, for confirmation ....

FC Blanch 0 v 2 SystemHouse, 16th December 1997

No Report.

FC Blanch 2 v 2 IBM City, 7th January 1998

The second leg of the IBM derby match on Wednesday night ended all square amid appalling playing conditions at 3RR on Wednesday night. It was verily a game of two halves : the first one Blanch would like to forget; the second one they will never forget as they narrowly missed the opportunity to complete the double over their city cousins. Nevertheless, as Paul Hamilton remarked afterwards, Blanch were still up on the season.

The first half was a nighmare for Blanch, who obviously enjoyed the yuletide festivities to the full and began complacently against 'Baby Blue' who were out to prove a point. Blanch marking was lax and the game plan was difficult to surmise, resulting in the inevitable : City stole in for two 'soft' goals, the first of which, it must be acknowledged, was well taken. Weather conditions did not help the Blanch plight. Apart from sub-zero temperatures at the kick-off, Blanch played against a gale force wind for much of the first half - and it receded for the second half to the advantage of City.

After twenty minutes, Blanch were two goals down and the situation looked bad. Carlo Manselli decided to start warming up - just in case. However, much to the annoyance of the City players ( and Don Gormley), Flor reduced the amount of playing time in the first half in his own inimitable way : the calculation was that ball out of play reduced the threat on the Blanch goalmouth.

But fortune favours the brave. So it was, just four minutes before the break that Blanch struck. From almost on the corner flag, Aaron 'Hercules' Trant threw in a whopper low and hard which ran into the goalmouth and, from the PressBox, it seemed to go in unaided. But the White Emerson, desperate to open his goal tally, immediately raised his hands in exultation and claimed the goal which was really Aaron's. No doubt this one will be disputed and replayed over again down in TR1. Blanch had, at last, regained their composure, but the half time whistle came too soon for them to capitalise on it.

The second half began as the first had ended and Blanch were now in control of the game. It was no longer a question of 'whether' Blanch would score, but 'when'. City actually decided that for them by coming in heavy on Emerson in the box, and handling the ball : it looked like Blanch were in for two penalties, but commonsense prevailed and they were awarded just one. The redoubtable Gus Meharg stepped up and sent a pile-driver to the top of the net to bring his goal tally to four for this season so far.

At this stage, Blanch sensed victory and went in search of it. With fond memories of his last goal, Boycie tried another shot from thirty-five yards and narrowly missed, clipping the crossbar. An exhausted John McCarthy, who had given his all in running on the wing, made way for another McCarthy who nearly sealed it for Blanch. Five minutes from the end the Emerson laid on a beautiful pass to the Use.Less McCarthy who had Spencer free on his left and only the goalkeeper to beat. It was going to be the goal of the season as he couldn't miss : but he did. After that, Blanch did not deserve victory, and so it ended as it began.

The other development of import was the decision after the game to give Thomas Tracey the position of 'Director of Football'. This was in recognition of his contribution to on-field activities and was prompted by the success in recent years of Kenny Dalglish and similar appointees. All in Blanch wish 'Tommo' well on his new appointment. The only other development was that after missing that goal, Andrew had to walk home from Rathfarnam - which is why this report is late.

FC Blanch Reports

This page was last updated on the 21st May 1998.