Is it crisis time for Colin Day? Following last week’s two defeats to rivals Tom Burns and Dave Gladman, Day started the night with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Martin Phee but then went down to a 1-0 defeat to John Halpin. So far this season Day has lost 10 goals, an average of 1.6 goals per game. This doesn’t sound bad until it is compared to last season when Day lost only 12 goals in the whole league season, an average of less than 0.5 goals per game. His goals scored average is actually better than last year so it is clear where the problem lies. Colin Day has always been synonymous with sound defence. It’s early days yet, however, and he was certainly unlucky against Burns and Gladman.
It is looking as if 2014 will be the breakthrough year for John Halpin. He is now starting to compete well against the established players. As well as seeing off Colin Day, he was extremely unlucky against Dave Gladman. He conceded the only goal of the game with the very last flick of the ball. It was only in the last five minutes that Gladman began to dominate. Halpin had produced earlier chances and could have won the game. Halpin’s possession game has improved enormously and with that has come more confidence.
Two players looking to achieve more consistency are Baver Bari and Martin Phee. Both are capable of fine play but find it difficult to sustain it over the whole course of a match. They faced each other tonight with Phee pulling back a half-time deficit to draw 1-1. Bari had earlier scored two goals against Barry Corr but had conceded five. It was Corr’s first win of the season but of course it was only his second match. With Dave Butler absent, Tom Burns was able to stretch his lead at the top of the table to six points after defeating John Halpin.
| Corr | 5 | 2 | Bari |
| Halpin | 0 | 1 | Gladman |
| Burns | 4 | 0 | Halpin |
| Day | 3 | 0 | Phee |
| Phee | 1 | 1 | Bari |
| Halpin | 1 | 0 | Day |
It could be an intriguing season. The potential for slip ups keeps on growing.