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Their opponents, London Scottish had been among the early pacesetters in the league, but following their 8 nil humbling by RISSC in early December, had fallen a little off the pace. With Scottish pride stung by that earlier reverse, RISSC knew they would face a charged up and determined side.
The usual RISSC formation of 4-4-2 saw Kelly join Mick Coffey up front with the ageless Paddy McGee getting a rare start on the right hand side of midfield. Showing very little sign of any holiday excess, RISSC started well with the central midfield partnership of Donnie Mullen and Gary Stockwell gaining early control of this area. The defence, surprisingly, encountered little in the way of significant pressure from the opposition and goalkeeper Darren Nolan was having the literal armchair ride.
Notwithstanding their midfield dominance, RISSC were having some difficulty in penetrating a resilient Scottish defence. The players maintained their composure and eventually in the 35th minute, the breakthrough arrived, albeit with a helping Scottish head. A fine freekick was delivered into the penalty area by Coffey and with centre back Karl McGee threatening, a Scottish defender headed the ball past his own helpless goalkeeper. Buoyed by the goal RISSC continued to apply the pressure and reached the half time interval with an increasing feeling of confidence.
The opening stages of the second half saw a more spirited approach from London Scottish but the RISSC defence remained steadfast and seldom looked troubled. Having comforably contained the brief Scottish resurgence, RISSC took absolute command of the match with a second goal. The prolific Coffey added to his mounting goal tally with another of his trademark free kicks when his sweetly struck shot flew into the Scottish net.
New signing Johnny Flynn was introduced into the fray, replacing full back Martin Flannery mid way through the half. As the game entered its final stages both sides showed glimpses of tiredness and London Scottish were unable to capitalise on their only real opportunity of the match when a useful cross played across the penalty area was struck wide. With minutes remaining in the match, RISSC launched another attack which resulted in the award of a corner. The perennial Paddy McGee delivered a superb cross and Mullen applied the coup de grace with a powerful header to make the final score 3 nil.
The RISSC performance, while competent, did not show them at their vibrant best and manager Franklin will be seeking an improvement for the visit of Bristol City to the LPR Ground, Sudbury for a 2.00pm kick off on Sunday next the 15th January 2006.
Darren Nolan
Mark O’Connor, Karl McGee, Dan Healey, Martin Flannery,
Paddy McGee, Gary Stockwell, Donnie Mullen, Tim Nagle; Liam Kelly, Mick Coffey
Substitutes
Johnny Flynn, Paul Franklin