Castleknock Celtic 10C   4    Castleknock Celtic 10D   1

NDSL U-10s Shield

28th April 2007

Cs prove too strong for Ds

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The eagerly-awaited showdown between the 2 Celtics started almost an hour behind the scheduled kick-off time.  But no one was complaining as the afternoon was one of brilliant sunshine.  And the kids were just out to enjoy their big day, and they certainly appeared to do that.

The Ds were expected to have a difficult time against their opposition which plays in a higher league.  And indeed they did have to defend for long periods, and they successfully kept the Cs at bay until just before the half-time interval.  The Ds were very thankful that their keeper Daniel Hartnett was in superb form.  He was called on to make a succession of saves, none better than on 15 mins, when he got down to a Luke Doyle effort.  Doyle was again a menace to the Ds defence when his shot was just over the crossbar on 17 mins.

Oran O'Donoghue went close, but again was foiled by Hartnett. Eimear Campbell's shot was just wide with her effort.  Hartnett then produced a succession of saves from Paul O'Donoghue and Paul Lynch in one attack, foiling what seemed a certain opening goal.  It was then the turn of Luke Doyle to hit a thunderous shot off the crossbar, only to see the man of the match by a mile, Hartnett dive onto the ball to prevent the goal.

But the inevitable happened as the half closed, when Kyle Patton, who was on the mark the previous week in the 1-1 home draw against Corduff, took a pass from Luke Doyle, and slotted home from close range.  The half finally ended with Paddy Mulhair making a mazey run to demonstrate his ball skills.  Half-time 1-1.

The second half saw the Ds make more penetrating runs forward and Joey Mongeycould have scored a couple if he had been a little more lucky. He was producing some scintillating runs, and often had little support from his team-mates as they were very busy holding the yellow-tide at bay.

But on 10 mins Luke Doyle almost got the second when he brought out the best in Hartnett who again foiled the 10C talisman.  The hard pitch was taking its toll too, and we saw Carl Keogh retire with blistered feet. A tip for these dry days is to put vaseline on the inside of your boots or the outside of your football stockings to prevent friction on the hard ground. And also, wearing the short rubber moulded studs instead of the long studs is very important.  Long studs are fine to get a grip in soft ground, but not in the present dry spell.

Oran O'Donoghue who set up Kyle's goal last week, made a fantastic dribble into the heart of the D's defence, only to see his shot saved yet again.  Aideen Feeney was getting through a trojan amount of work, and could herself have been nominated the player of the match but for Daniel.

Tony O'Leary had a great shot, followed by Paul Lynch who finally got the second for the Cs.  2-0.

Paddy Mulhair was tormenting the D's defence, and was unlucky not to score.  Ciara Lynott was putting in a sterling performance for the Ds, and was obviously enjoying doing the business helping to keep the Cs at bay for such long periods.

Paul Lynch popped up to score the third. 3-0.

Oran O'Donoghue had another fine run, but did not manage to find the net.  Paul Lynch completed his hat-trick to put the game out of sight, and any hopes of a comeback were dashed.

The Ds had some consolation close to the end when Jamie Lawson shot home with the help of a deflection to make the final score 4-1.

This was a great day for the two teams who gave a marvellous account of themselves, and both teams can be very proud of their achievement of getting to the final, and a gorgeous day made it all the more memorable. A final mention of the man of the match. Daniel Hartnett played out of his skin. It reminded us of the Polish keeper, Tomashevski, who denied England a place in the World Cup Finals back in the 1970s with his heroics as he produced a string of fabulous saves.  Also noteworthy was these were the only Castleknock teams in the finals today, although we have our U-8s there on Sunday.