Under 9B
Division, NDSL
Saturday, September 18, 2004
The
first home match for the 9A’s turned out to be a cracker with end to end
action which either side could have won.
The
first goal originated following a Swords attack. Patrick Rocca cleared the ball
out to the wing to Eoghan O’Donuchu. Eoghan ran down the line and passed to
Ryan Moore Kearney. Ryan collected the ball on the line and swept past a couple
of defenders and fired in an unstoppable shot from the corner of the box. It
flew past the ‘keeper into the
far corner of the net. Swords immediately fought back and scored from a free on
the edge of the box…... 1 – 1.
After
the break, the home side started to play some nice football. Ryan and Phillip
Fitzpatrick had some great one - two combinations. They were unlucky not to
capitalize on some excellent work.
In
the third quarter, manager, David Fogarty had to take off three of his strongest
players,in order that all players have an equal turn during the game. The
heavens opened and it started to pour rain. This did not deter either team.
Castleknock defended valiantly against enormous pressure from Swords. Wave after
wave of attacks were swallowed up by the home defence. In this quarter, Tom
Fogarty was outstanding and seemed to cover every inch of the park. His workrate
and tackling were superb. The home supporters were looking anxiously at their
watches for a quarter that seemed to last 15 minutes. Swords scored just before
the break to make it 2 –1.
The
final quarter was a ding – dong affair. Ryan scored a gem of a goal from a
free at the edge of the box…...2 – 2. This spurred his side on to put
more pressure on the opposition. Victory was in sight. Ryan picked up the ball
from a throw-in and exchanged passes with Phillip. Fair play to Ryan, he
wasn’t selfish by looking for his hat-trick. He fed Phillip who made no
mistake and scored Castleknocks third.3 – 2. In the dying minutes,Swords
snatched an equalizer after they hit the crossbar….. 3 - 3 .
It
was a very clean game and played in
great spirit. All supporters thoroughly enjoyed the game and both teams were a
credit to their clubs.
Team
: Eoin Sweeney, Patrick Rocca, Eve Farrelly, Eoin O’Donuchu,
Tom Fogarty, Luke Henshaw, Dan Ring, Danny Byrne, Ryan Moore Kearney, Phillip Fitzpatrick.