DHFC shut up shop in Dundrum to claim vital three points

Dublin Hospitals Football Club (DHFC) travelled to Dundrum for a noon kick-off in the Leinster Senior League on Saturday 28 January.

DHFC were eager to start off 2023 with a win and were well set up for this with a strong 13-man panel to choose from.

Unfortunately, DHFC’s answer to Oliver Kahn, Paul Schutze, was unavailable for this game but, thankfully, Matty Berkley stepped up to fill his boots for the day. Matty went about his task with great diligence and to a very high standard.

DHFC started the game well and seemed the more likely to open the scoring. The defence was well led by the experienced Ray Winters and Evan Preston-Kelly. Matty made some impressive saves when called upon and he was very comfortable playing the ball out from the back when the opportunities arose.

Brian Conlon showed no signs of nerves on his debut and was very impressive throughout the game. James Clarke stepped into midfield from his usual position in the back four and did not look out of place there. The Dundrum FC midfield did their very best to stop Brian Gaffney by kicking him, but to no avail, with Gaffney ending the game with two assists.

Cillian Grant proved a handful and held the ball up well to bring the wingers, Conor Vaughan and Eddie Wrynn, into the game. Dave Gildea came on for Grant in the second-half and continued this link-up play in the same vein.

DHFC were relatively content with the first-half, but were determined to capitalise on the chance for three points. The injured Cian Ward provided some valuable insights to the team at half-time. Overall, it was a decent opening from DHFC, but improvements could certainly be made.

Only two subs were available; however, these were definitely two very good subs to have. Dave Gildea and Fergus Kerrigan both came on and made a positive impact. Early in the second-half, a shot from Brian Gaffney was blocked by the hand of a Dundrum player and a penalty was awarded. The ever-reliable John Cosgrove stepped up and he calmly sent the keeper the wrong way to give DHFC the lead.

DHFC continued to apply pressure and played some nice positive attacking football at times.

Conor Vaughan was instructed to make more runs in behind the opposition’s back four at half-time and this instruction was vital to the second goal or DHFC.

Good build-up play led to Brian Gaffney picking the ball up in a pocket of space once again. He played Vaughan through on goal who calmly slotted past the keeper for his first DHFC goal. Some compare Vaughan to Aleksandar Mitrovic who initially struggled to score in the Premier League when making the transition from the Championship. Hopefully, the comparisons end here and Vaughan keeps his distance from referees.

DHFC’s defence limited Dundrum to speculative attempts and the game finished 0-2.

The entire team was delighted to register another clean sheet and DHFC will be hoping to build upon this win in the coming weeks.

Team: Matty Berkley, Brian Conlon, Ray Winters, Evan Preston-Kelly, Eoghan Daly, James Clarke, John Cosgrove, Brian Gaffney, Edward Wrynn, Cillian Grant, Conor Vaughan.

Subs: Dave Gildea for Grant, Fergus Kerrigan for Clarke.

Player of the match: Brian Gaffney.