The Celtic girls kicked off their 2012 year with a victory away to Mount Merrion in a blustery Deer Park.
There were a couple of last minute changes to the line up due to late withdrawals and a late arrival.
However, the girls went about their business and had Mount Merrion pinned back from the start. Mount Merrion showed that they could be dangerous on the break when their centre forward went clean through but her effort was easily dealt with by Naoise McAloon in the Castleknock goal.
Other than this effort it was all Castleknock, but a combination of last ditch defending and good goalkeeping kept Castleknock at bay. However, all the pressure was paid off when Lyndsey Kearney controlled the ball inside the box and coolly placed her shot into the bottom left hand corner of the Mount Merrion net. This was quickly followed by another fine finish by Leah Byrne to put the Castlenock girls 2-0 up. A few minutes later a speculative shot from Ciara Brady was deflected into her own net by an unfortunate Mount Merrion defender.
Mount Merrion pulled a goal back on the break to make it 3-1 and were then given the opportunity to get yet another when the referee bizzarely gave them a penalty. The penalty was well struck but indomitable Naoise had judged it perfectly pulling off a great save and holding on to the ball. Half time 3-1.
The second half was all one way traffic towards the Mount Merrion goal but Castleknock failed to pull away. The girls were playing some beautiful football with Kellie Boyle and Emma Boyle pulling the strings in the middle of the park. Rebecca Kearney ensured that nothing got anywhere near the Catleknock goal in the centre of defence while Jennifer Treadwell was having one of her best games at left back. Orla Martin came on in the second half and was a constant threat down the left wing with her ball control and trickery.
Castleknock finally got what they deserved with a fourth goal when an Emma Boyle corner was perfectly placed on the head of Kellie Boyle who guided it into the corner of the net.
The game finished 4-1. A great start to 2012 and lets hope the girls can keep the momentum going.
Team: Naoise McAloon, Sarah Brady, Rebecca Kearney, Fiona Fitzgerald, Jennifer Treadwell, Emma Boyle (C), Niamh Meade, Ciara Brady, Lyndsey Kearney, Allanah Walsh, Leah Byrne, Katie McCabe, Orla Martin, Kellie Boyle, Marianne Power
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