Last Friday night in East London, the team gained a fantastic 2-1 win against Crawley Towns Under-23s .This was a far more physical test for Gerry Davis’s men than the opening draw against Fulham’s Under-18s, with Crawley pressing from the start.
On a tight pitch it was difficult to find space, but it was Marty Walsh who found enough space in the box to fire home from close range to give the visitors the lead at the break. Crawley got back in to the game with a well-worked move to draw level but with twenty-minutes to go it was Walsh again who found himself in space to receive a pass from Sholanke to secure a hard fought victory.
Having trained at the home of Dorking Wanderers since they arrived the FAI/ETB squad took on their hosts on Tuesday evening. The Isthmian League runaway leaders made up of semi-professional players were a real step up for the men in green. The game started at a real high tempo and the boys in green took a while to settle. The home side playing with some flair and intensity caused problems for the Irish side with Cory McManus being tested on a number of occasions early on. However it was the the boys in green that scored first, through a great team move down the left hand side with Adam Doyle slipping in Regix Madika, to cooly finish from close range.
But it wasn’t long before the home side were in front as two goals came in quick succession. First a quickly-taken free-kick allowed space down the right with a neat finish from Briggs. A fantastic move was finished off by McShane from outside of the box giving no chance to the Irish keeper McManus. Indeed McManus made numerous vital saves to deny the hosts.
But it was second-half substitution Conor Maguire that secured a draw with a sharp finish form close range late on. Delighted Manager Gerry Davis heaped praise on his players stating after the Dorking draw;
“They have been excellent both on and off the pitch and have applied themselves well. In both games especially tonight’s, we had to dig deep to get a result. We are now looking forward to Friday afternoon's game and to hopefully get a result and return home unbeaten."