CBL Game of the Week: Cork County Council comeback to win in nine goal thriller

AL Ukraine 2 – 7 Cork County Council

Man of the Match: Robert Susek

Cork County Council came back from two goals down to secure an emphatic win in their CBL Second Division clash with AL Ukraine in the Mayfield Sports Complex, writes Donncha Noonan.

AL Ukraine got off to the perfect start just two minutes into the game. Alim Khametov booted a clearance from deep in his own half forward. The Cork County Council defence struggled to deal with it as the ball landed at the feet of Mykyta Leontiev who sped through on goal, before calmly slotting it into the bottom right corner to give his side an early lead.

AL Ukraine’s good start got even better after fifteen minutes, as they doubled their lead. A quick throw in on the right hand side from Leontiev into the box to Dmytro Bielan allowed the striker to shift past two defenders, before firing it into the top left corner in the box from a tight angle to give AL Ukraine a two goal cushion.

Cork County Council had a lot of the ball, but struggled to break AL Ukraine down. Aswell as this, AL Ukraine looked dangerous on the counter attack, with both goals coming from counters.

Despite the challenge facing them, Cork County Council got a goal back on the stroke of halftime. Grzegorz Sienicki found Michael Jennings with a good pass into the centre of the park. Jennings ran towards the edge of the left hand side of the box, before firing an absolute rocket into the top left corner to shoot belief into the ranks of Cork County Council going into halftime.

Cork County Council came into the second half looking to keep their momentum and find a way to get an equaliser, and twenty minutes into the second half, they got it. They worked it well around the box before it came to Yousuf Al Maawali, whose shot was blocked. The ball fell to Mohammed Alhajri, who pulled it across to Robert Susek, who brilliantly found the bottom left corner to level the game.

Cork County Council were in a groove and they took the lead in the seventieth minute. Alhajri worked well down the wing before pulling it into the box for Sief Abu Saad, whose shot was brilliantly saved by Serhii Pitsevyi. Unfortunately for him though, the parry went right into the path of Robert Susek, who dispatched the rebound and gave his side the lead.

Susek wasn’t done, as he secured his hat trick six minutes later. A long ball over the top from goalkeeper Lukasz Chowaniec found its way to Susek, who battled hard with two defenders before going through on goal and finding the back of the net to give his side a two goal lead. 

It took just five minutes for Cork County Council to get their fifth with nine minutes to go. A deep cross from Colin Galvin on the right hand side found Reece Hogan in the box, whose volley found the bottom right corner to further his side’s lead.
Susek captured his fourth of the game with two minutes to go. Hogan released Susek down the left channel, before the striker cut inside and beat two defenders in the box, before firing it into the top right corner to get his final goal of the game.

There was time for one more for the victors, as they bagged thor seventh in the second minute of injury time. Susek received the ball on the right hand side from a throw-in, before turning and laying it off to the oncoming Grzegorz Sienicki, who fired it into the bottom corner from inside the box to cap off his team’s brilliant second half performance.

And with that, the game finished 7-2. A brilliant second half performance led by Robert Susek allowed Cork County Council to overcome their deficit and win convincingly. This win puts them just five points off the top of the table, while AL Ukraine sit seventh.

Cork County Council: L. Chowaniec, C. Galvin, D. Brazil, K. O’Regan, C. Halpin, M. Jennings, S. Abu Saad, G. Sienicki, R. Susek, Y. Al Maawali, M. Alhajri, E. Mohally, R. Murphy, R. Hogan, B. Kelly
Al Ukraine: S. Pitsevyi, V. Oskodavenko, B. Krykunov, O. Iakovlev, D. Bielan, A. Khametov, M. Leontiev, O. Korniushyn, I. Emets, O. Mitichkin, V. Budovskyi, O. Khimich, D. Dobranskyi, I. Dubasov