8/9 September 2007

AUL Div3 Sat : Celtic travelled away to Clondalkin and earned a share of the points in a 2-2 draw v. Hillview. Philip Cooney and Alan D'arcy were Celtic's marksmen, as they continue to assert their position following their promotion from the schoolboy ranks.

AUL Div1 Sun : Eddie O'Callaghan and Noel Murray were happy with this 3 points at home to  Finglas Celtic, though in truth, they will admit that the result could have been a lot more convincing if they had taken their chances. Shane Murphy was man of the match, and he rounded off a fine performance with a sweetly volley from close in - click pics.  Ian Flood had opened the scoring with a bullet header in the first half, which was the advantage Celtic held at half time.  Adam O'Callaghan made it 2-0 in the second half. Finglas had been awarded a penalty, with which the Celtic manager was not at all happy. He was however very relieved when Ga nTway made a superb penalty stop to cap yet another clean sheet.  The performance was completed with Shane Murphy's clinical finish late on.

LSL Div1 : Vernon McAllorum's squad were in commanding form against the visiting Confey, hitting them for 6 at home in Porterstown.

11Premier - click

DDSL 12Major : This home game v. Naas FC looked like a close encounter at half-time with the home side shading it 2-1.  But Celtic opened up the throttle in the second half, and went nap hitting no less than 7 in the second period.  Ryan Kearney Moore was again lethal up front hitting a hat-trick.  He had great support in the striking role from Dave Costelloe, who also made a claim for the match ball with his own hat-trick.  Stephen O'Reilly weighed in with 2, and Klevis Kurbreka completed the scoring.  Celtic have recovered well from their reverse the previous Saturday, and have now taken 9 from 12 points, which is a great start following their move to the Major Division. They now look forward to a trip to Whitehall this Monday.

U-15As went down 3-1 at home to Ratoath in a battling performance. They had many notable performances, but special mention must be made of the Celtic centre half who was superb throughout.  Click pics.

Keelan McAnerin continued his rich vein of form with a brace away to Ratoath Harps in the League Cup. It earned Celtic's U-12B side a share of the spoils in a real nail biter in Co Meath. But the Celtic faithful will remember the game for  Keelan's 2 cracking goals.

U-12E played their first match of the season in the League Cup vs Darndale C on Sunday. The outcome was a 3-3 draw with Celtic getting an equaliser like Slovakia with minutes to spare. Good first outing with lots of effort shown by the team and the never say die approach earning the point. Scorers were Aaron Connolly (2) and Darragh Caffrey (1).

Manager Paul Slevin was away for this very competitive and absorbing game between Celtic's 13Premier side and the visiting Baldoyle.  But Celtic have been guilty of sleepwalking in the early stages of games, and this was no exception.  They were again very lack-lustre in the first quarter, and they were punished for their complacency.  Baldoyle showed a lot of determination during this period and they were well rewarded with a 2 goal advantage half way through the first half.  But credit to Celtic for their resilience, and they came  back well.  Dermot Murray made powerful surges on the left hand side.  Conor Byrne niftily got into the box and was tripped by the Baldoyle defender.  Conor himself stepped forward and put the spot-kick away with panache.  The second half was up and down, but the introduction of Mohamed/Mo Mahady made an instant impact.  He was very influential during a vital period of the second half, which saw him receive the ball 20 yards out.  He coolly shot low into the corner for  a  real peach of a goal.  He was unlucky with a header and shot into the side netting during a period of Celtic dominance.  Late on Conor Byrne scraped the crossbar from a corner on the right hand side.  A cracking game indeed and full credit to both sides for great entertainment.  Bernie Elliott and Kieran O'Brien, caretaker managers for the day, were content that they had come back from a very indifferent start, and may even get the assignment again in the future for steering the troops to a share of the points.  Click Photo gallery .

9/9/07

NDSL 11 Premier

Great Performance by Celtic away in Drogheda

Boyne Rovers  1   Castleknock Celtic  2   

Castleknock Celtic recorded their first win of the season, after their draw last week in the opening game.  This was a solid and determined workmanlike performance away to Boyne Rovers.

Celtic started the more determined of the 2 teams, beating the offside trap on several occasions, and were it not for some good goalkeeping by the home keeper, and some unfortunate refereeing decisions, the visitors could have been 1 or 2 up in the first 15 mins.

The breakthrough did eventually come mid way through the half when Gavin O'Reilly lobbed the Boyne keeper beautifully from 20 yards.

Celtic continued to hold firm for the remainder of the half, and despite one or two moments of uncertainty never really looked in danger.

However, it was in one of these uncertain moments when Celtic failed to clear a somewhat harmless looking attack that allowed Boyne to draw level when their striker too full advantage with a solid strike from 10 yards.

The second half was a much more even affair with scoring chances and some good tackles being exchanged.  However, on 10 mins into the second half, Celtic were to make the breakthrough that proved decisive.  A neat exchange of passes released Ben Galvin in on goal, and though the chance seemed to be gone, Galvin managed to poke the ball home from 5 yards.

Boyne Rovers did push Celtic hard in the last 15 mins, and were somewhat unlucky not to draw level.  Some excellent saves, and constant awareness by man of the match, James Henry meant that Celtic were not going to be denied all 3 points on this occasion.

Others to impress for Celtic were Mark Corry, Glen Murphy, Stevie Donoghue, and Brian Allen.

Finally, there was all-round appreciation expressed for  Luke Martin who has decided to play in the other Celtic team this term, after 3 years of sterling service.  He will be greatly missed by his former team mates.