14^th Jan 2006

U-10 Prem

Castleknock Celtic  6   Firhouse   1 

Castleknock Celtic kicked off the New Year with a friendly match against Firhouse Carmel FC from the South Dublin Football League. Firhouse are lying 3^rd in the League, 2 points behind the leaders, having lost just once all season. The SDFL play 9 a-side matches so Celtic agreed to change from their usual 7-a-side formation. 

It was a beautiful fresh sunny morning, perfect conditions for a match. Celtic sprang into action from the whistle with Gavin Boyne sending a ball over the back of the defence for Ryan Moore Kearney to side foot home after just 2 minutes played. 1-0.  The 2^nd followed soon after with Tom Fogarty winning the ball in midfield and setting up Boyne to float in a cross, nodded down by Moore Kearney for Kyle Turner to slot home. 2-0. Celtic were on fire with Fogarty sending a left foot volley whizzing over the bar from outside the box. The pressure continued relentlessly. Turner floated in a corner for Boyne to score with a classy back flick volley. 3-0. The visitors were stunned and found themselves 4-nil down when the ball broke away to Fogarty on the left after a goal-mouth scramble, Fogarty made no mistake lashing the ball home. All credit to Firhouse as they rallied, forcing 4 corners before the break and scrambling a goal just before half time. 4-1. 

Firhouse came out for the 2^nd half a different team, placing Celtic under a lot of pressure. Excellent defending from Patrick Rocca, Philip Fitzpatrick and Eoghan O’Donnochu kept them at bay. The defence was breached twice in the 2^nd half, only for the Celtic Keeper Richard Delaney to smother the ball at the attacker’s feet.  Quick thinking by Delaney set up Celtic for a counter attack. Moore Kearney scored again after a crisp shot, which took a wicked deflection off the unlucky Firhouse defender. 5-1. Rocca and Fitzpatrick continued an assured and classy display in defence, with O’Donnochu sliding into the tackles with his usual gusto.  Dan Ring working tirelessly in midfield, with his trickery and exceptional passing, created another chance for Turner to fire in number six. 6-1. 

Fogarty fell back into defence with Turner to allow Fitzpatrick to strike more terror into the opposition with his strength and powerful running.  Rocca joined Moore Kearney up front to give a new aerial threat to the attack. Cross after cross were sent in by Ring and Fitzpatrick causing mayhem in the Firhouse defence,  Fitzpatrick going close on a number of occasions with powerful shooting. Another goal was not to be with Boyne walloping the crossbar with a stunning shot from outside the box. 

This was the best display of the season with excellent teamwork throughout the match. Firhouse were a strong side, who came up against 9 Celtic players, who hit top form all at once. The adaptability of a number of this Celtic team to play in different positions is making this team very formidable opposition indeed.