AUL Div3 Sun

Unidare Cup

Castleknock lose out in Injury Time

Ards Celtic  4   Castleknock Celtic  3

The AUL division 3 Sunday side lost out in injury time in the Unidare Cup clash away to Ard Celtic. Castleknock were slow to start and got caught with an early strike to go a goal down. Gradually they took control of the game but were not helped by some very strange refereeing decisions. Midway through the 1st half, their defender Alex Sherwood took a very clean ball but the referee somehow awarded a free kick. The resulting strike crept into the bottom corner to put the visitors 2-0 in arrears. Castleknock attacked immediately from the resulting kick off and this pressure resulted in Ards putting the ball into their own net within a minute. This was followed by a 20 yard strike by midfielder Vinnie Corry which left the Ards keeper stranded to see the sides go in 2-2 at half time.

The second half continued like the first but Castleknock could not turn their dominance into a score. A long ball released an Ard's forward who took the ball wide on the left and fired in a shot. The ball clearly came off Celtic defender Emmet McDonnell's knee but again the referee saw something that nobody else spotted and awarded a penalty which Ards converted. Castleknock responded with purpose and were rewarded when a Robbie Semple corner was headed home by Cian Kennedy to leave the scores level at 3-3 with 10 minutes to go.

The Castleknock attack was continuously foiled by cynical tackling which went unpunished until a blatant hand ball resulted in a red card for an Ards defender. However, a lack of substitutes on the heavy ground took its toll on the visitors' stamina and they conceded an injury time winner  to exit the competition.  As the pundits say "you're better off out of those cup competitions!!"  This reporter is not so sure about that however.