Glen Celtic Ladies   2   Glen Celtic Masters    2
On a cold and windy Sunday at the end of October Glen Celtic AFC held a charity match in the home ground between the All-Ireland Winning Ladies Team and the all conquering (not) Masters Team. All proceeds from the gate were going to a very worthy cause which was the Special Olympics Soccer teams in the Roscommon District League. During the week due to the bad weather it was feared that this fixture would have to be postponed however as usual the pitch was still as good as ever on Sunday and therefore at 3:30pm the two teams took to the pitch. Granted the Masters team probably took to it slightly slower than the Ladies team but in fairness they got their eventually.
And so to the teams - At the beginning David Brady was in goal but much to everyones relief Padraic Burke turned up and took over between the posts allowing the very agile Brady to move further out the field and give the Ladies a chance to give him some retribution for his training sessions during the Summer. At the back a very formidable if slightly ageing back four were assembled with Tommy Warde at right back, the tireless Gerry Carmody as sweeper behind Pat McHugh and the youthful TC at left back. In the middle Tommy Burke and Gerry Rabbitte formed the nuclues of the team with Gerry Hynes marauding on the right wing and Jarlath O'Neill at the start taking up position on the left. Up front Paul Devlin formed a formidable looking partnership with Michael Mee. Waiting in the wings were the Masters surprise packages in Niall Timothy and the legendary Brady.
The Ladies had the ever dependable Sheila Burke in goal (daughter of Padraic) and had their first choice back four with Gillian Molloy, Emma Curley, Claire Raftery and Nicola Fahy. In midfield Marita Fahy was partnered by Susie Fannon, Lisa Dillon and Siobhan O'Grady while up front Lisa Nolan and Noelle Connelly prepared to terrorise the Masters defence. 
The game started at a ferocious pace - well at least the Masters thought so and the Ladies were quick to notice that this Masters defence were extremely quick and agile (Yeah - right!!!). They immediately started to pump in high balls however they were soon to learn that not only were these ageless warriors good on the ground they were more than impressive in the air. As they floated in the high balls the Masters equivalent of the Haka - "Ger's" - "Pat's" could be heard with the ball being dispensed back up the field almost immediately.  
Then with the Masters playing some sublime soccer it was only a matter of time before they took the lead which they duly did when Gerry Hynes went past two players on the right looked up to see both Paul Devlin and Michael Mee waiting for the cross to come over and then totally ignored them and like Ronaldinho hit an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net leaving Sheila Burke with no chance of saving this. The Masters were now definitely controlling the game and Devlin was causing all kinds of trouble to the Ladies defence which was duly noted by the referee. 
Then the Masters scored a second when Paul Devlin scored with a powerful drive from just inside the area despite the attentions of the Ladies defence. Now it looked like the Masters were going to go on and dominate proceedings however this was to be as good as it got as suddenly the Ladies started to dominate the game. With Marita Fahy and Susie Fannon getting plenty of possession the Masters Defence were suddenly under pressure. Despite some good clearances the Ladies got back into the game when a defensive mixup let either Noelle Connolly or Lisa Nolan in to slot the ball past Padraic Burke in the Masters goal. Confusion for this reporter reigns in regards to the goalscorer as I wasnt quick enough to turn and see who eventually scored.
Half time came with the Masters 2-1 up. On the sidelines the Masters were supremely confident that their superior fitness was going to tell in the second half however this was to be the first signs of dementia. As the second half started you could tell that the Ladies knew their moment was going to come and with a rallying cry of "Come on their only Old Men" the second half began. In the first few minutes the Masters seemed to have overcome their defensive mixups but then when a ball was floated in from a corner and players contested the ball the referree decided it was his turn to lose the plot and awarded the Ladies a penalty. Then the confusion started in earnest while the Ladies decided who was going to take the penalty. Winners of You're A Star have been selected quicker but after numerous chants of "Not Me", Noelle Connolly stepped up the blast the ball right down the middle to level the scores. From then on it was exciting entertainment with the play swinging from end to end with the Masters unlucky on a number of occasions not to add to their tally and indeed the Ladies came closer again with one effort from Noelle Connolly just going wide of the post.
Then even the weather decided it had seen enough of this exciting affair and as the rain bucketed down the referee decided that a draw was a fair result even though the Masters would have preferred extra time as they reckoned that their superior fitness would eventually tell. In all a great day and a credit to everyone who participated. 

Watch this space as a replay may well be on the cards ................. 


Click Here to see the Masters Team
1 Sheila Burke
2 Gillian Molloy
3 Nicola Fahy
4 Emma Curley
5 Lisa Nolan
6 Marita Fahy
7 Susie Fannon
8 Claire Raftery
9 Siobhán O'Grady
10 Noelle Connolly
11 Lisa Dillon
MAN Ursula Cunningham


Click Here to see the Masters Team
1 Padraic Burke
2 Tommy Warde
3 Tom Cunningham
4 Gerry Carmody
5 Pat McHugh
6 Gerry Rabbitte
7 Tommy Burke
8 Jarlath O'Neill
9 Paul Devlin
10 Gerry Hynes
11 David Brady
12 Niall Timothy
13 Michael Mee
MAN Peter Brogan
Brendan Mee
Glen Celtic A.F.C would like to thank everyone who participated in the days events and contributed in any way. To all the people who kindly gave donations at the gate, to everyone who supported the auctions later on in the night. To the Ladies Team who were absolutely brilliant throughout the Year and again showed how good they were and to all the guys on the Masters Team who turned up on a Bank Holiday Weekend to play in this fixture. It was truly a great day and night and all for a very worthy cause.

To Martin Conboy and his helpers who work so hard with the Special Olympics Soccer Teams in the Roscommon League we would like to say "Well Done". It is absolutely brilliant the work and effort that they are putting into this and Glen Celtic AFC are proud to help in any way possible.