MK Irish Justify Their New Home Stand With a 3-2 win

As expected, newly promoted MK Irish have had a harder season to date as they struggle to survive in a higher tiered league which is presently topped by Leighton Buzzard. Instead of their usual top of the league perfirmance from the 24/25 season, they now are less than middle table and needed a win today to move higher up the league and start getting a higher position to justify the recent improvements on their ground.

Above- MK Irish ground with new home stand

Below- Mk Irish and Leverstock Green arrive,with

a noisey MK Irish drummer in the new home stand

The first 10 mins were non eventful with no serous chances created by either side. In the 8th min, Leverstock. got their first corner which curved nicely into front of the MK irish goal mouth but nobody was there to successfully connect with it. By the end of the first quarter it was beginning to look like Leverstock were getting a bit more of the match, with more runs occuring into the MK irish end. By the middle stage of the second quarter, Mk Irish started to push the ball bit more up but still no first serious shot on goal until the 20th min when MK Irish got a penetrating run followed by a long shot at goal which was tipped over the crossbar by the Levistock keeper. In the same minute, Leverstock were able to counter attack and get a long shot of their own which went more over the crossbar. As the match moved into the final quarter of the first half, it was becoming clear that MK Irish needed to speed the game up and get some control of it if they were to stand any chance of scoring. Their play looked a bit over cautious and hesitant, very different to what GMK News witnessed in the previous season. An Mk irish player got injured in the 30th min and had to be substituted, adding to their problems. Even the solo drummer was less active with only a few drum beats every 10 odd mins or so. However, in the 32nd min everything changed, a loss of Leverstick defensive concentration, resulted in MK Irish managing to get a dangerous attack on the right hand side which culminated with a MK Irish shot at goal which went in. The drummer now beating every few minutes followed by spurning his team on for more. With a now one nil lead, MK Irish started to come more alive and in the 35th min, a run came in from the left side this time, which was followed by a shot which went a metre or two over the Levistock cross bar. Leverstock to their credit kept trying to counter attack, kept their heads up but never really looked like equalising. When the half time whistle finally went, all Leverstock could hope for was that with a new half, their fortunes might change. They were down but far from out as we had seen some good competitive early first half play from them. Second half, Irish were kicking against their own end but there were no supporters in the new stand except the drummer to give them the advantage. Five mins,

Irish got a shot at goal, kicking off from where they had last left off. Leverstock immediately counter attacked and got a long chance shot at goal which to the goal keeper’s suprise dipped towards the goal and needed saving. By the end of the first quarter Leverstock were hunting for more play and a chance of a serious go for the equaliser. MK tried to counter this by trying to get more posession but it miserably back fired on them with Leverstock

managing to keep control of the ball and press on with more attacking runs at goal. Finally, their never say die attitude worked and they got the equaliser in the 63rd min. More followed and two mins later came a ground shot which the MK Irish goal keeper had to dive and save to stop Leverstock fron now going 2-1 up. The match pendulum continued to swing in the second quarter of the second half as the match was now begining to look like taking for the team who wanted it the most. By the final quarter of the match, MK Irish were begining to get a bit more of the play but there seemed to be no difference beteen the two teams in terms of fitness levels and who was going to tire the first. Sensing the match pendulum moving towards Irish, Leverstock stepped up their game more and put more pressure on by creating more attacks. Eventually, it paid off and in the 70th minute, Leverstock were 2-1 up. A match which had looked liked theirs had now turned into a nightmare for Mk Irish until they were awarded a penalty in the 89th minute and levelled. In terms of even play, a 2-2 draw would have been a fair result. However, in extra time and the 94th minute, Irish were able to snatch a win with a very late decisive goal from George Shrives. A new stand, a 3-2 victory today, MK Irish are looking good as we move towards Christmas and who knows what the New Year will bring for them.

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