Cabinteely FC 2 New Zealand 5
The rain stayed away and a small but enthusiastic crowd were at Stradbrook on Tuesday night to watch Cabinteely FC play New Zealand in one of the more peculiar friendlies of the international window.
The fixture served as part of Cabinteely’s 50th anniversary celebrations, and attracted a mixture of club regulars and the odd punter whose curiosity had been peaked by the visit of a national side to Blackrock Rugby Club.
They witnessed the All Whites – who were decked in all black – run out 5-2 winners in a fixture with a carnival feel but one which also plays a key part in New Zealand’s preparations ahead of their Confederations Cup opener against Russia on June 17th.
With the All Blacks preparing for a series against the British and Irish Lions, and the New Zealand cricket team losing heavily to England in Cardiff on Tuesday, their footballing counterparts had a slightly less illustrious assignment in South Dublin.
But it was one their manager Anthony Hudson took seriously and he started with a strong side – including Leeds United centre forward Chris Wood – in what was the second of three warm-up fixtures this month.
They lost 1-0 to Northern Ireland on Saturday night, and play Belarus next.
For Cabinteely meanwhile, the fixture was another example of the club’s savvy self-promotion. Before kick off the Muse anthem ‘Uprising’ was played over the speakers – the British rock band were also friendly opponents at Stradbrook last year.
There was one national side on show but supporters were treated to two national anthems before kick-off, with God Defend New Zealand followed by Amhrán na bhFiann. Those hoping for a Haka were left disappointed, though.
It was difficult to predict how competitive Cabinteely would be against a nation who appeared in a World Cup as recently as 2010, but who are generally flat track bullies in a largely uncompetitive Oceania Federation.
And the early signs were ominous, with New Zealand hitting the post and then taking the lead through Ipswich Town’s Tommy Smith inside the first two minutes.
But while Cabinteely looked diminutive compared to the visitors they settled into the game nicely and equalised shortly after. Kieran Marty Waters found the bottom right hand corner from the edge of the box.
Cabinteely’s enthusiasm kept them in the first half, without ever being enough to take any control of proceedings, but New Zealand were soon dominating.
Wood had been impressive throughout Leeds United’s botched Championship promotion campaign, and he carried that form with two goals before an Evan Galvin penalty on the stroke of half time brought the hosts back within a goal at the break.
The game adopted even more of a training ground feel when two completely new XIs appeared for the second half.
Shane Smeltz and Kosta Barbarouses increased the Kiwi’s lead as the shadows began to stretch, but it wasn’t enough to dampen the spirits of a young crowd – many of whom donned the colours of the underage sides Cabinteely are well known for.
For Cabinteely their next competitive assignment comes in the form of Wexford – while New Zealand’s next competitive game is against the Russians. Polar opposites, but for one night only on Tuesday the playing field was level.
Cabinteely: Jack Menton, Adam Harney, Kevin Knight, Mark Hanlon, Sean Fitzpatrick, Aaron Robinson, Cory Galvin, Daire Doyly, Jack Watson, Kieran Marty Waters, Evan Galvin.
Substitutes: Adam Maher, Jamie Broderick, Graham Kelly, Victor Ekanem, Christian Lotefe, Steven Ball, Karl Byrne, Robert McGee, Ben Hanrahan, Ollie Hamzat, Jordan Andre, Dean Mahon, Cian Lynch, Michael Kelly.
New Zealand: Stef Marinovic, Michael Boxall, Andrew Durante, Tommy Smith, Kip Colvey, Michaekl McGlinchey, Deklan Wynne, Bill Tuiloma, Ryan Thomas, Chris Wood, Marco Rojas.
Substitutes: Glen Moss, Tamati Williams, Storm Roux, Themi Tzimopoulous, Sam Brotherton, Dane Ingham, Monty Patterson, Clayton Lewis, Alex Rufer, Kosta Barbarouses, Shane Smeltz, Tom Doyle.
