John Healy

NDSL U-11C

Sun. 1st May 2005

Goals galore in Porterstown

Castleknock Celtic’s and Baldoyle’s under-11B teams served up a thrilling, high-scoring game in Porterstown on Sunday. During the game, the lead switched sides several times, as each team scored and then conceded goals. After a pulsating 60 minutes, the Castleknock team emerged as victors, scoring 6 goals to Baldoyle’s 5.

Castleknock were first into the lead with a well-taken goal by Eoin Haughton after 15 minutes. Within 10 minutes, Baldoyle had pulled back 2 goals to take the lead back from the home side. Just before the break, Castleknock level the scores when Paula Cashen pounced on a loose ball to score her first goal.

Early in the second half, Baldoyle rushed into a 2 goal lead after a couple of mistakes by the Castleknock defence. However Paula Cashen, who was having a terrific game in the middle of the park, pulled one back to reduce the lead to 1. A short time later, Eoin Haughton scored from an excellent cross by Thomas Healy to equalise the scores again.

Man-of-the-match Thomas Healy was ‘on fire’ down the right wing, sending in several great crosses from which the Castleknock team scored a brace of goals. He rounded off a superb performance by scoring a great goal to put the home side into the lead once again.

As the game moved into the final period, Castleknock pressed forward looking to add to their slender lead when Eoin Haughton controlled a Thomas Healy cross and sent the ball goalward. However one of Baldoyle’s defenders handled the ball to stop it crossing the goal line! Paula Cashen stepped up to take the resultant penalty and slotted the ball home to claim her hat-trick and send Castleknock into a 6-4 lead.

However the game was not over yet. With time running out, Baldoyle surged forward and scored a great goal from a long range effort out wide. For the remaining tension-filled moments of the game, Baldoyle continued to attack but the Castleknock defence held tight until the referee’s final whistle sounded.