NDSL 10As: Celtic come alive in second half to secure the points: 3-1

Despite the good start it was Dunboyne who began to look the more dangerous. The defence marshalled by Mikey  Rogers had to be on their toes and it took some fine defending by Rogers, Alex San Emeterio and Keith O’ Donohue to deny Dunboyne the lead. However mid way through the half Dunboyne took a deserved lead following a quickly taken free kick where the ball ran to their No 7 who hit a thunderous shot that left Dylan Mc Donagh in goal with no chance. Indeed within minutes Dunboyne could have had a second were it not for a fine reflex save by Mc Donagh.

Having weathered the storm thanks to some tireless covering by the Castleknock midfielders Turner and Kane Castleknock brought on fresh legs with Hughes, Reilly and Russell entering the fray. Castleknock started to up the pace of the game and were now using the width of the pitch to good effect. Dunboyne defended stoutly but finally came undone with two minutes of the half remaining. O’Donoghue played a good ball to Mark Hughes who from the half way line proceeded to beat 2 players before hitting a beautiful chip towards the left hand top corner of the goal. The Dunboyne goalie did well to get his fingers to the ball but could not hold on and it fell to Sean Mc Clean who had taken up a great position to tap the ball over the line. A deserved goal for Mc Clean who had worked tirelessly all half. HT 1-1.

Despite levelling the score the Castleknock players were on the receiving end of some straight talking about their below par performance but it seemed to work as from the start of the second half Castleknock clearly upped their work rate. Reilly, Hughes and Mc Donagh were winning nearly all of the Dunboyne kick outs and this allowed the Celts to dictate the play. Hughes and Reilly were tormenting the Dunboyne full backs and on another day their fine crosses may have resulted in goals. A goal finally did arrive when Alex San Emeterio found Leigh Reilly on the left with a fine pass and his cross was met by Mark Hughes whose first time shot beat the goalkeeper but was fortunate to see it deflected off the Dunboyne defender into the net. Young Reilly nearly made it 3-1 when after cutting in from the left he beat 2 defenders before forcing a fine save from the Dunboyne goalie. Not to be denied Reilly, who had come alive in the second half with his tricky wing play, made it 3-1 when finishing in style following a long range drive by Turner. 3 – 1 and cruising or so the Castleknock support thought but Dunboyne had other ideas and would have scored were it not for some excellent goalkeeping by Sean Mc Clean who ran off his line to bravely save at the feet of the Dunboyne attacker.

In the last quarter of the game Castleknock’s fitness told as they dominated the play and could have increased their lead following good efforts by Russell, Mc Donagh, Hughes and Reilly.

And so Castleknock continue their recent good run with a victory but this was far from vintage. This young team have set themselves high standards and today they did not meet them. However credit must be given to the boys for the character they showed when 1-0 down and playing poorly to recover so well to deservedly secure the points in what was an important game.  Additionally it was nice to hear a word of support from the Referee who complimented the Young Celts who he said are a pleasure to Referee as they play attractive football – well done Boys.

From Dunboyne’s perspective they should be proud of themselves as they belied their U10C status particularly in the first half as they matched their illustrious opponents. Dunboyne will progress to the Shield and will not be a team that anyone wants to draw. Castleknock meanwhile have one remaining fixture against the table topping Maynooth and will need to be at their best if they are to secure progress to the next stage.