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Guildeas propel Shamrock Over-30s past Atlas

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

All five Shamrock goals came in an explosive second half, two of them from the brothers Guildea: old-timer John, a mainstay of the Shamrock organization over the years, and his younger sibling Bobby, a recent arrival from Dublin.
Carlos Gundy, Mick Haley and Paul Wilson were also on target as the Shamrock veterans sent the formidable Greeks reeling to their first defeat in 18 months.
“The [scoreline] was a little bit flattering for us even though we played some good football,” the elder Guildea, who finished off the rout, modestly conceded. “They had chances.”
Victorious only three times in their rookie season last year, Shamrock made a cagey start and trailed 1-0 at half time to a John Stavros goal.
But they kicked it up a notch on resumption and were level after 10 minutes when the Guildeas combined to pry Greek-Atlas’ defense open.
“A cracker of a goal,” John said of 31-year-old Bobby’s equalizer, on which he assisted.
Their tails up, Shamrock took a 2-1 lead on the hour through Gundy, and were seemingly given a further boost in the 63rd minute when Greek-Atlas had a player ejected.
However, the visitors were undaunted and even managed to tie the game, courtesy of Gus Tsirkas (69th), before Shamrock took charge. Haley (73rd) Wilson (78th) and Guildea (85th) secured Shamrock’s first victory of the season.
Fourth in the pecking order among Shamrock’s CSL teams, the Over-30s climbed from bottom of the “B” Division to second place (1-2, 3 points) on the strength of the stunning victory.

SMASHING WIN
A week after warning of a gloomy season for his Shamrock first team, coach Billy Henderson gave his undermanned side a boost on the field by starring in a 4-2 result over New York Fury at Roosevelt Island.
“Smashing win,” said Shamrock president Scotty Shevlin.
Hughie Daley, last season’s top scorer with a club-record 20 goals in 18 league fixtures, starred with a hat trick that opened his 2003-2004 account, while Steve Kenty got the other goal.
“This was a big win for the club,” Henderson, lauded Man of the Match by his players for his midfield contribution, noted. “We played bad and were disorganized last week, [but] the backbone of the club came through. It’s a good step in the right direction and it’s lifted the spirit of the club.”
As in the previous week’s 2-0 upset loss to CI Iberia, the Rocks were missing key players. Still, others, among them defenders Anton McKeon and Mike Bishop, and the hard-running Jaime Philpott upfront, stepped up to give the Irishmen a timely victory.

DOUBLE DUTY
Shamrock reserve coach Robbie Walsh pulled double duty again, leading the second team to a 2-0 decision over their Fury counterparts and then suiting up for the short-handed first team in the 4-2 victory.
“The guys played well. A good result,” Walsh summed up the reserve outing in which Collie Madden and John Walsh tallied to put Shamrock (2-0, 6) at the top of the Div. 1 Reserve standings.

GAELS DOWNED
Astoria Gaels blew a 2-0 lead on a muddy pitch at Wards Island to succumb 3-2 to BW Gottschee in a Metro Div. 1 fixture.
Steve Mullins (20th) and Derek McKenna (35th) had Gaels cruising before Milton Ospina (43rd) and Danny Franco (60th) sparked a Gottchee comeback.
Ospina then clinched it for the early season leaders (3-0, 6) from the penalty spot after Gaels’ goalie John Watters had fouled him five minutes from the end.
“Very bad,” offered Niall Sugrue, Gaels co-manager, in reference to both the defeat and the conditions on a rainy morning.

DEAD EVEN
Mark Sgambetteri snatched a late equalizer for McCormack’s FC in a 2-2 tie with Lansdowne Bhoys at the East River Park Field.
Sgambetteri had opened the scoring earlier (10th) in the Second Division fixture whose action was described by McCormack’s John Delaney as “dead even.”
Lansdowne’s reserves won 4-0.

BRENDAN’S TREY
Brendan Watkins and ex-Homenetmen goal-poacher Blondy Deshong both bagged hat tricks in ASA McCarthy’s 7-3 drubbing of SC Eintracht in a Metro Div. II affair at Firefighters Field on Roosevelt Island.
Mathias Lilja was the other McCarthy marksman
Eintracht, one of the oldest clubs in the Cosmopolitan League, made it respectable through Dave Hammil, Juan Andrade and Tommy Strumpf, who had also scored earlier in the day for Eintracht’s Over-30 side in a 2-1 decision over Barnstonworth Rovers on the same ground.

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