GIFC were at home in the West of Scotland Cup yesterday against recently formed side Greenfield AFC looking to pick up any sort of result after a string of uninspiring performances.
The game couldn’t have started any better for The Irish when they took the lead after Danny Singh pressured the Greenfield keeper into a poor clearance which fell for Tony Deveney to send the ball home with a first time shot. A superb instinctive finish from the winger. 1-0.
The lead lasted all of two minutes however as Deveney went from hero to villain when he gave the ball away in a dangerous area and Greenfield capitalised all too easily with the Irish defence all over the place. 1-1.
Things went from bad to worse as immediately from kick off Irish defender Joe Kerr surrendered possession on the edge of the area and Greenfield took full advantage of the error. 1-2.
The Irish were shellshocked after two minutes of madness and tried in vain to find their way back into the game.
The chances started to come for GIFC and Juan Carlos Verdejo seen his effort from 22 yards saved by an inspired Greenfield keeper.
Tony Deveney seen a volley go just over and Danny Singh had a first time volley tipped round the post as the Irish turned up the pressure.
Stuart Taylor then crashed a 25 yard free kick off the post when his effort surely deserved a goal.
The full back then came close again from the set piece as he seen his effort from 35 yards turned behind by the opposition keeper.
A wave of GIFC corners near the end of the half seen no end result.
The GIFC management in disbelief at the side of the park.
HT:1-2.
The Irish introduced Tony Garth at half time and he made an instant impact on the game with some powerful running through the middle.
Ryan Mclean should have scored on two occasions for GIFC, his first a weak effort after being sent clear and with a second effort he seen his shot go over the bar off a Greenfield defender.
The Irish had several chances from set pieces in the second half but the efforts were extremely poor from those who stepped up.
The feeling that it wasn’t going to be our day was further compounded when one of the worst refereeing decisions many at the game will ever have seen was to take place.
Tony Deveney burst into the box off the right wing only to be sent into the air via a sliding Greenfield defender. There wasn’t even a question if this was a spot kick or not. Yet the referee waved play on. Not the first time on the day that the match official had left those at the game scratching their head.
To be fair to GIFC they kept plugging away and Mark Paterson got an equaliser when he lobbed the Greenfield keeper from just inside the box to draw the game level. 2-2.
Tony Garth should perhaps have done better on a couple of occasions when through on goal but the story of the day remained the same.
Gerry Hughes was then sent clear in the dying seconds but failed to as much as hit the target when composure was needed.
FT2-2.
The game went straight to penalties and the Irish got of to a good start when Marc Coyne saved Greenfields first effort. Mark Paterson then missed for GIFC with Singh and Gordon converting before Gerry Hughes missed the deciding spot kick.
The Irish only have themselves to blame for poor finishing and poor decision making throughout the game.
All the best to our opponents in the next round.
GIFC: Marc Coyne, Chris Hopkins, Joe Kerr, Drew Keating, Stuart Taylor, Tony Deveney, Danny Singh (c), Juan Carlos Verdejo, Ryan McLean, Martin Hill, Mark Paterson.
Subs: Owen O’Donnell, Tony Garth, Sean Stafford, Gerry Hughes, Jack Gordon.
Acacia Coaches Man of Match for GIFC was Chris Hopkins.