NDSL U-8

PMPA Shield

27 Mar 2004

Narrowest of Victories for U-8s 

in Shield Semi-Final

Castleknock Celtic  1    Rivervalley Rangers  0

This was a nail biting encounter between two evenly matched sides. Rangers play in the division above Celtic.They both knew a place in the Shield final was at stake. It was end to end football with midfield being dominated by Tom Fogarty. He won tackle after tackle and set up the winning goal.

The second quarter began with Rangers nearly scoring with the ball hitting the bar. Yet again ‘keeper Eoin Sweeney was in fine form and kept a clean sheet. The goal came from a fine run by Ryan Moore. He carried the ball out the left wing and crossed to Danny Byrne. Danny was under pressure from the defence but managed to get the ball to Tom. At this stage, Ryan had moved into the middle where he received the ball from Tom. With four Rivervalley players around him, Ryan managed to bury the ball in Rangers net. There were tremendous cheers from the huge home support which could be heard back in Laurel Lodge.

The third and fourth quarters were touch and go. The match remained on a knife-edge, although Celtic did carve out a couple of chances, which could have added a couple of goals but for an excellent Rivervalley keeper who kept them in the game. Rangers piled on the pressure. Eve Farrelly and Darragh McCaffrey were wonderful in defence and cut out many an attack. But this was a team performance with everyone doing their bit.

The nerves were shattered by the end of the game and the prospect of extra time was not inviting.The players nominated Ryan Moore as Man of the Match.  They can all now look forward to a cup finals day in the summer when you can be sure this marvellous team will enjoy themselves.  Déanaimid comhghairdeas leo.  Congrats.

Team : Eoin Sweeney,Darragh McCaffrey,Eve Farrelly,Tom Fogarty,Aidan O’Flaherty,Ryan Moore,Luke Henshaw,Cian Anderson,Danny Byrne.