NDSL Under 9A  Muriel McCrory Cup Section A

 Saturday, February 05, 2005

“Ryan………...the cool, clean hero….”

 St.Paul’s, Artane   0       Castleknock Celtic  1

                                                        (Moore Kearney, R.)

It was a bright fresh morning for Castleknock Celtic’s visit to St Paul’s neat home ground off Bothar Ribh in Harmonstown. The match was played in good spirit by two skilful sides who gave their all in the pursuit of glory in the Muriel McCrory Cup.

The first quarter saw both teams pressing forward but both defences held firm. Patrick Rocca and Eoghan O’Donnchu marshalled their lines superbly and did not put a foot wrong and took no prisoners.  Luke Henshaw seemed to relish the early start as he was buzzing around midfield. Tom Fogarty was consistent and solid as ever and was up and down the pitch, winning tackle after tackle. Before Daniel Ring dropped back to defence from midfield, he set up several opportunities for Ryan Moore Kearney in attack. 

The second quarter was a ding dong affair. Both sides were pushing hard for the opener. Ryan was dazzling the opposition with his footwork and ability. He created several chances and was unlucky not to have notched up number 1 before half-time. Patrick and Eoghan were replaced by Danny Byrne and Eve Farrelly in defence .They helped to keep another clean sheet for Eoin Sweeney in goal. Phillip Fitzpatrick was the third sub and he showed great running ability with the ball up the wing and swinging it in to the centre. St Paul’s also ran at Celtic with quick passing movements but the away side held out to keep it scoreless at half-time. 

Phillip Fitzpatrick came into his own after the break and made several surging runs and was unlucky not to be on the scoresheet. All was not lost, he collected the ball in midfield, ran forward and found Luke in the centre whose defence-splitting pass saw Ryan on a 1 on 1 with the keeper. Ryan kept his head and coolly, hooked the ball over the keeper and in under the crossbar.  There were great celebrations from the enthusiastic Castleknock supporters on the sideline.  

St Paul’s fought back but failed to capitalise on good work in midfield. All shots were on target but Eoin was in the right spot each time. In the final quarter, Castleknock wre not going to let this lead slip and could have increased their advantage. Phillip and Tom were outstanding in fighting back and winning the ball to create new opportunities. It was a fair result and was officiated by Ms.T. Coughlan…our first experience of a female referee who was excellent and very fair to both sides. 

It was a gritty, gutsy team performance and a pleasure to watch. All team members fought for each other and are going from strength to strength. 

Team : Eoin Sweeney, Patrick Rocca, Daniel Ring, Danny Byrne,Eve Farrelly, Eoghan O’Donnchu, Tom Fogarty(Capt.), Phillip Fitzpatrick, Luke Henshaw, Ryan Moore Kearney.