Castleknock Celtic  2    Raheny Utd  0

Under 11 Premier

18 Feb 07 

Celtic had to wait till the last minute to know who their opposition were for today's fixture. Originally it was Clontarf, then Rivervalley, and finally, it was Raheny who came forward to fill the gap, and they proved very worthy opponents.  They contested well throughout, and they looked a formidable obstacle to the home side, going in 0-0 at half-time.

The first half was nip and tuck, with both sides looking threatening, and there were some  worried faces on the Celtic line, who have become used to comfortable winning margins. They may also have been looking forward to next week's last-16 encounter in the SFAI National Cup, at home to Avenue Utd from Co Clare, with a kick-off of 2pm in Porterstown. Celtic were tested in this first half, and there was every need for the home side to be on their toes. Patrick Rocca, Celtic's captain, must have felt a bit groggy at the break for the number of times he made decisive headers to clear the danger. He was putting in a storming performance. Conor Stephenson was clearing up anything else that got through the middle, with 2 Eoins, O'Donnchú and Conran, pulling down the shutters to repel attacks on the flanks.

There was a very unusual sight during the first half when Raheny right full back was wearing a black jersey, while his team mates wore white. This gave rise to great confusion. As Celtic bore down on the Raheny goal, if they got round what appeared to be a goalkeeper, they were soon presented by another man in black, the real goalkeeper!!!  A word in the ear of the ref at half time rectified the situation, and the offending jersey was covered by someone's vest. Maybe someone would invest in another jersey for the Raheny U-11s.  Anyway, back to the game.

It took a bit of magic from the mercurial Daniel Bell to break the deadlock early in the second half, when he chimed in with a goal which brought immense relief to the Celtic faithful.  Up to this point, Celtic seemed to be missing the creativity up front with the absence of Ryan Kearney Moore, who is carrying a leg injury. Fingers crossed that he will have recovered for next week's showdown.

Celtic were now taking a grip on the game, and it was virtually all over when Gavin Boyne, having yet another influential game, was scythed down in the Raheny box, as he was about to pull the trigger.  He was soon on his feet again for the spot kick, from which he gave the keeper no chance to put the home side 2-0 in front.  They could easily have increased their advantage as chances fell to Celtic, for whom Daniel Bell was denied by a good stop by man of the match in goal for Raheny. Kyle Turner also went close.

This was indeed a useful workout for Celtic as they prepare for the visit of Avenue from the West next Sunday. Avenue advanced yesterday with a 1-0 win over Dunboyne.  We wish them the very best of luck in their continuing adventure, when they hope to be the first Celtic team to get to the quarter final of the National Cup for over ten years.